BOOMERANG

Looking back 10 years in 1996 to an album I discovered just a view months ago, I need to write some words on this. I got this record from a friend who was a part of the "Prog Scene" in Germany some years ago. First of all I couldn´t believe that this was coming from Germany. These guys did really a good performance in terms of innovative musician ship and songwriting. Very good balance of instrumental and vocal phases. Very good drumming and good rythm section at all - listen to all these odd time signatures grooves without having the feeling of a real 9/8, 6/8, 5/4 or whatever beat. Good sounding production ( I think this is low budet selfmade ) and very good keyboard/piano and guitar work. The voice is not my favorite and sometime also a little bit flat. But overall this is a great modern prog album which can be seen at an eye to eye level with records out of the same decade of bands like Dreamtheater, Spocks Beard or Cairo. I think they band shows a lot of influences from "classic prog" like Yes and Genesis up to a mixture of Rock/Jazz Fusion. Especially tracks like "edging the tongue" and "Boomerang" are having a great intensity and very good lyrics. As far as I know this was the last album of the band - too bad !!! It would have been really interesting to find ou how their music would sound today - I would assume somewhere between Spocks Beard and Porcupine Tree.

Ritchie

Second offer was issued two years later in 1996 named Boomerang. It's another good release, maybe in places little less intresting, but worthy neo prog, there is plenty of memorable sections here. I can say that Tea in the Sahara is unfairly unnoticed, because to me at least is sounding far more intresting then many neo prog acts from that period. The voice is more then ok, the instrumental parts are many times killer showing that the musicians really knowing to hadle the instruments. All pieces are good with a plus on opening Edging the Tongue and ending A Lamentation of a Scapegrace, both are lenghty pieces with a lot to offer, as neo prog must sounding. Again 3.5 stars maybe very close to a 4. Strong band that for some reason never made it in neo prog zone. Both albums worthing to be investigated.

Well, really not bad. The guys sure know how to play, and how to arrange, but there's some lack of inspiration, as usual, so tracks are not so solid, nothing bad but they don't leave no trace, with the sole exception of "Sometimes In Winter", which is really very good. I think maybe repeated listenings could allow to get into music better, but I don't have all that time. The singer after some minutes turns out to be boring, vocal melodies are not so impressive, and I don't remember backing vocals so I think something better could have been done. All in all, a good record.