PROPHESIES

The next work of Ed Macan was meant to be even more daring, his band even quit from live performances to focus on the sophomore's effort writing.''Prophesies'' came out in September 1999 on Magnetic Oblivion.Macan was supported by drummer Matt McClimon and bassists Nate Perry and Andy Durham.

The all-instrumental album opens with a cover of ''Jacob's Ladder'' by Rush,a vibraphone-seminar,which makes the song totally personal and very dreamy to say the least.The follower ''Intrigue in the House of Panorama'' is on the same path,vibraphone-driven musicianship under steady drumming and complex bass.The next to come is a really hard and eclectic adventure,the 6-pieces 41-min. grand eponymous epic.In this track Macan adds the moog synth,organ and piano in his armour,the composition recalls the complexity of the suites created by the classical composers and it is an unmet travel between classical music,jazz with also touches from Indian folk on flutes in an often minimalistic enviroment.A complete musical experiment only for the mystified!Experiments do not stop here.Macan goes even further,covering ELP's ''Tarkus'' suite with only his grand piano,a track recorded live in at the Shannon Center for the Performing Arts, Whittier, California,on April 1, 1992.The risky effort ends up to be rather succesful,as ''Tarkus'' is a composition close to the preferences and the style Macan wants to present.

The final taste is bittersweet.''Prophesies'' should be a superb album and a major listening for every serious student of music or any common music explorer but it is also a hard to get into-work for the average prog lover.The truth always lies somewhere in the middle,I guess.