TURBULENCE - LIVE IN POLAND (DVD)

I have seen this fine band a few times and still remember vividly one time when I was invited to join the band after a concert on a dinner. During that dinner I discovered that bass player Steve Gee had seen Genesis performing The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. I am a 'Lamb Freak' so asked him to tell his experiences. Gradually more and more people on table got involved and eventually everybody was talking enthousiasticly about "the Peter Gabriel dummie", "Slipperman", "the slide-show" and "Rael", an unforgettable evening! Back to the music by Landmarq, I know this band from the very first beginning because they were on the label of SI Music, part of SI Magazine I worked for at about five years. On this DVD four members of the original line-up (the debut CD Solitary Witness is from 1992) are still Landmarq musicians and female singer Tracy Hitchings joined the band in 1998. You can hear that while listening and watching Turbulence Live In Poland because the band sound tight, inspired and they play with pleasure. From the first moments on this DVD there is also a great atmosphere and the concert is filmed very tasteful with lots of good shots on interesting musical and visual moments. I am (still) delighted about guitarist Uwe D'Röse his performance, this man has such a wonderful flowing and emotional sound, especially on the intro in Solitary Witness (soaring and sensitive), the mid-part of Calm Before The Storm (powerful and propulsive) and lots of great soli and riffs in most of the tracks. I was stunned by Tracy her powerful and inspired voice, she sings a bit theatrical but that matches with her 'progrock vamp presentation'! On the bonus video (five tracks) I enjoyed Between Sleeping And Dreaming (live recorded on The Whitchurch Festival in 2000) and Dancing On Stones - Why Am I Standing featuring a Nineties Tracy, the song Killing Fields (recorded in my home country Holland in Uden, 1993) with the original singer Damian Wilson (what a very distinctive voice, even Rick Wakeman was impressed!) and Janison Egde - Beneath The Boy (also recorded in my home country Holland on the annual Progfarm Festival) including a flashy syntesizer solo. The bonus audio contains a great and exciting instrumental medley (live recorded in Belgium,1998) with the tracks Killing Fields , Cutting Room, Ta'Jiang en Narovlya, Uwe D'Röse on his best! Other extras are an interview, the band history and a photo galery along lots of other items.

Personally I am a bit more in the early Landmarq era but if you like Landmarq or you are up to melodic, tasteful and modern neo-prog, this DVD is yours!

Landmarq were at the forefront of the second wave of English neo-progressive rock bands that had their formative years during the late '80s and early '90s. During that time their line- up remained stable with Damian Wilson handling lead vocals on their first three studio releases. During the late '90s Wilson's solo career began taking off (performing in the British stage production of Les Miserables, working with Rick Wakeman, etc) so for their fourth studio album (Science of Coincidence), Landmarq recruited Tracy Hitchings. The band gelled and as two subsequent live albums proved, Tracy breathed new life into Landmarq's music (both newer material and older Wilson-era songs).

So, here they are nearly ten years on from Science of Coincidence and the band has released their third live album; a concert from 2005 consistently of almost entirely un- released material. To understand this, one must look behind the scenes. At the time the band was asked to perform in Katowice, Poland for the filming of a DVD, they were well underway with the writing of their next album and wanted to test the material in front of an audience (and also not duplicate as much material that had appeared on their previous live releases).

Shortly after the DVD was released, Tracy was diagnosed with cancer. For the next few years the band's future remained in limbo while Tracy devoted her energies to coping with and eventually overcoming the disease. Now in 2009 as work once again resumes on the fifth studio album, Landmarq has released the soundtrack to their DVD performance (carrying the same title and even the same artwork).

As customary for shows recorded at the Wyspianski Theatre, the audio mix is superb. As for the performance, that's a little harder to gauge. Most live albums showcase a band breathing new life into their studio recordings; perhaps indulging in some new song arrangements or sneaking in some improve. Without having the studio recordings as a frame of reference, it's hard to assess the balance of this recording. Yes ' the new material on the whole sounds good. There are two new epic tracks ('Calm Before the Storm' and 'Mountains of Anglia'); a soft ballad ('Prayer'); two up-tempo rockers ('Entertaining Angels' and 'Walking on Eggshells'); and a couple of 'traditional' Landmarq tracks ('Aftershock' and 'Timeline').

I detect a certain amount of stiffness to the earlier tracks on this CD; perhaps nerves from performing so much previously-unheard music. The band seems looser and much more effective on the closing tracks 'Mountains of Anglia' and 'Lighthouse'.

Although this is a solid release and I am a huge fan of Landmarq, I do have reservations about whole-heartedly recommending this particular release. For a truer representation of the band in a live setting, Thunderstruck is essential (in my opinion, one of the best live releases from a neo-progressive rock band). And as for the material contained on this release, one is much better off getting the DVD.

actualy 3.5

Landmarq only DVD released so far from 2006 , Turbulence Live in Poland is a good example of how this band manage to be great on stage aswell not only in studio. Featuring now on voice the great Tracy Hitchings who was already a member since 1997 on Science of Coincidence, sine Damian Wilson left Landmarq to join Threshold. The keyboard player is on this DVD is from Janison Edge and Shadowland and done a simply great job here. The rest of the musicians are the same as on previous albums. The pieces choosen for this DVd are totaly excellent, the highlights are the instrumental track from Solitary witness Landslide and some couple of other pieces like Spiderman or Lighthous. Is easy to see thet the band plays here very confident, with pleasure, each member is in good mood on stage and in sound is all transmited with a positive vibe. While I prefer my miles Wilson voice, Tracy Hitchings performing here is no less then great, he is more the king of technical female vocalist, but a great one, specially on higher register is brilliant. I also know her from Quasar, her solo album and Strangers on a train and in each album where she is involved she dne agreat job, here aswell. I like alot the instrumental passages from this DVD, specially the guitarist Uwe D'Rose is excellent, he dome some gret amnouvres and some intrsting chops, I also like the bass player , he is a hard working musician who complete very well the sound of Lanmarq. All in all a good DVD taht worth purchase, I don't know if is really essential or one of the best I've seen, but defintlly caught Landmarq in good form. 3.5 stars. Lots of bonus material aswell that worth to be seen or heared, because are from both sides here.