ALMOST A DANCE

Since I wrote a review for "Always...", I thought I'd do the same for "Almost A Dance". I got this album out of curiosity, since even die-hard fans on The Gathering's official forum advise against buying it. They said the male vocals, although non-grunting, are rather off key.

I'm afraid they were right. I've listen a couple of times, and I can't get into the voice of Niels Duffhues. It's clear, but I don't think it sounds beautiful at all. He goes off-key quite a bit, too...especially when he sings louder (with more passion) and extends words. You know, like "There's so much to discoooooooveeeeeeer".... the "o" and "e" sound... *shudders* Well, hear for yourself. The female vocals are good enough, but a bit soft at times and not very impressing.

The music itself is fun and good. It's not quite "Always...", but not quite "Mandylion" either. I believe this album, like so many of The Gathering, falls in its own category. It shouldn't be compared with any other album this band has released...it's simply too different for that.

A track-to-track analysis is something I probably won't do this time, since I'm really having trouble appreciating Niels' voice. All in all, this is a good album, but they should really have looked for a different male singer. There were plenty of them in 1993, I'm sure... oh well.

Conclusion? The music is good in its own right. A step forward from "Always..." (progress!), but the male vocals, which are used most of the time, kind of make it quite hard to listen to. 3 stars in general from me.

Yours, Tailscent