A SEER IN THE MIDST

I reviewed YOKE SHIRE's debut album "Masque Of Shadows" in Prog-Reviews nr 9 - 2001 and gave it a 9 out of 10 rating. It was a stunning debut with a modern sound but music with 70's influences. The band is at the moment only two brothers named Brian and Craig Herlihy. "A Seer In The Midst" isn't a new album, but a compilation of material from their entire career. The first two opening new songs have reminiscences to JETHRO TULL and is a nice appetizer of things to come. The 28 minutes long live version of the "Maiden Voyage" Trilogy is really real nice too. It's recorded live at Durgin Hall, Lowell, MA, USA at the "Masque of Shadows" CD release concert on April 17, 1999. The original 17 minutes studio version was released on their debut album "Masque Of Shadows". Finally there are three tracks from YOKE SHIRE's first studio sessions, recorded on a shoestring budget and released as an EP in 1995. YOKE SHIRE's music has reminiscences to the already mentioned JETHRO TULL, but also PINK FLOYD and 70's hard rock and progressive rock. My personal favorite is the closing masterpiece and title track "A Seer In The Midst" with its medieval influences. If you don't own their debut CD I suggest you buy it immediately. If you like it then you have to buy this compilation album too!

Back in 1998 I became aware of this little band from Boston area that were producing some pretty big sounds. Their debut album was truly original and musically inspiring and this has continued with their latest "A Seer In The Midst". This CD is really a collection of new, old and borrowed with 2 fresh new tracks, a live version of their epic "Maiden Voyage Triliogy" and a couple of old tracks re-mastered. Without a question these are 3 very talented lads who play a wide range of instruments and deliver very original musical compositions. Their sound as always is quite crunchy with some great instrumentation and sound dynamics. For me the icing on the top of this one is their 4 older tracks on the CD which really do groove. This CD is also very well recorded with rich deep tones and dynamic sound for your speakers to produce. Overall a great album and if you loved their first this is an essential buy !

Maybe this wasn't the place to start my exploration of Yoke Shire, but here I am. This really does feel like the mixed bag that it is, with only the first and last tracks being uniformly good thanks mostly to imaginative keyboard work and melodies. Very heavy folk influenced prog, with a lot less of the celtic aspect than I might have hoped for, and mostly wretched cretinous vocals, which luckily do not appear that often. It seems that, in spite of the huge migration of the Irish to Boston harbour, very little of the subtlety that marks ancient Emerald Isles music is manifest in area bands, and Yoke Shire is no exception. It does fit the progressive label however, especially in tracks like "The Brook, the Mirror and the Maiden", which pretty much hits on the best and worst aspects of the group in its 20 live minutes. Some of the CD is unlistenable in terms of atmospherics gone awry, and for that I dock a half star. Without having heard their debut, I am guessing that you should start there if you are one of those people who simply must get the Yoke.