TWIST OF EVENTS

The battle for musical direction continues on "Twist of Events," and leads to the band's demise. Is it pop, or is it prog? Where prog was the dominant force on "Foreign Skies," pop seems to be winning on this one. There is no overall theme, and there is no epic.

There are moments where there seems to be some stylistic growth. There is a bit of darkness, and even some alternative influence. But the quest for a hit single seems to be taking precedence. Those moments are barely listenable to me. "Don't Fear the Changes" could have been on the soundtrack for a really bad '80s comedy ("Mannequin" anyone?).

It's not all bad. There are some quality songs here. The problem is that none of it is overwhelmingly good. It's average at best for prog, and just plain cheesy for 80's pop. It is too bad Volker couldn't have found a collaborator better suited for what he had in mind. We might have had something very special for a follow up album. As it is, this is just an extrapolation of the problems with first album. It may have some value as a collectible, but not much more than that.

H.T. Riekels