UNFOLD THE FUTURE

Given that Spock's Beard have just released a double CD in 'Snow', it is really not a surprise to see that Neal's Transatlantic bandmate has also come up with a double album lasting over two hours. I have recently been playing Roine Stolt's tremendous solo album again and it was interesting to be able to compare the two. In many ways it is a shame that I did as although this is a huge undertaking, encompassing many differing musical styles, I kept wishing that Roine had kept a bit closer to the musical template he had originally set out for himself.

What do I mean? This is in many ways a very progressive album, in that it is deliberately taking musical strands of various types and weaving them together. My personal complaint is that these are sometimes taken to extremes so that the music is too much one way or another. The opening number, "The Truth Will Set You Free", is a great number and at thirty minutes somehow still doesn't sound too long. What it does sound like as if it belongs on 'Close To The Edge' as it sounds at times so close to classic Yes that I wondered if The Flower Kings had gone for a break and Jon and the boys had played some of it for them. It is great music but it doesn't really sound like the band themselves.

Add to that some songs that are so jazz that they are totally removed from prog. It can be argued that this isn't a bad thing, but I am not a great lover of jazz although I do play some from time to time, so if I wanted a jazz album I would have bought one and some of these songs are so self-indulgent that one wonders who the audience is. But, when they get it spot on, then there are few that can touch them. The result is an album that in many ways is a disappointment, yet does contain moments of brilliance, so perhaps a severe editing would have been the right thing to do. Masterpiece or overblown, that opinion has to be your own

Originally appeared in Feedback #70, Oct 02