ILÚVATARIluvatarNeo-Prog |
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Indeed, at first glance, ILUVATAR sound very much like PENDRAGON (musically) and RUSH (vocally), and their material is just as lively. After only a few listens, however, I got a little bored with them because despite the nice sound 'packaging', their music lacks a certain depth - although I never felt that way about PENDRAGON whom I absolutely adore.
Of the nine tracks that make up the album, you'll find some well-dressed, catchy pieces such as "New Found Key", the 10-minute epic "In the Eye", the melodious ballad "Eagle", the sweeping "Exodus". But none approach the craftsmanship and magnificence of the haunting 7:26-minute long "Marionette". This one starts with eerie circus sounds (like pipe organ notes from a merry-go-round), where children's voices in the background mingle with the introductory keyboards notes - very effective and potent stuff. It develops into a magnificent wall of sound, something solid, a veritable symphonic rocker you can actually sink your teeth into, complete with musical phrases that will sweep you along. I'm glad I have bought the album if only for this incredible tune. It is also the one which prompted me to buy all their other albums. Not bad, really...
For those not familiar, Iluvatar is typically classified as a neo-prog group heavily incorporating elements of classic groups (Genesis, Fish-era Marillion), performed earnestly but lacking anything especially interesting to catch one's ear. Songwriting is mildly ambitious, in regards to its atmosphere and occasional rhythmic flash, but performances are as bland as one could imagine. The production and style is very banal, with cheesy synth and straightforward guitars-- not bad mind you, just corny and ordinary; the listener will be struggling to find much to latch onto. McLaughlin's vocals are a mish-mash of influences, but lack much in the way of range and emotion.
Nice but not enough to stand out among the other neo-prog bands doing more, better.
Songwriting: 3 Instrumental Performances: 2 Lyrics/Vocals: 2 Style/Emotion/Replay: 1
This debut is the last one I bought but the first I will review to keep things in the right order. First track is the title track (same name as the band's name) and is a short instrumental overture with a dreamy atmosphere (3*).
In the Eye is a short epic consisting of three parts. First part is the longest (Look us in the Eye) and starts pretty fierce for Iluvatar standard. The band is not known for an aggressive approach but here they prove they can also play in an energetic way. The second part (Blind) is more in the same style but totally instrumental. With the third part (Through the Eye) the vocals are back and round this great mini-epic off in a worthy way (4*).
Eagle is a wonderful, more ballad like track with a much more quiet impact than previous song. With this one we are introduced to the two extremes this band is capable of. Another high class track (3,75*).
New found Key is one of the shorter tracks and is not really of the same high quality as the previous two. Still the basic standard of Iluvatar is so high it still deserves 3,25*.
Exodus is a song that's charactarized by a continuous acoustic guitar riff of 10-15 notes going on for 7 minutes and is thus played somewhere between 75 and 100 times. You would think this starts to bore after some 20 times but somehow it doesn't. And that's amazing I think, the other elements of the song are so impressive it keeps its value and beauty. For instance another acoustic contribution from 4:00 till 6:00 is very compelling and makes this another successful song (3,75*).
Wait for the Call is a song for which the same description as the one for New found Key can be used. Also the rating is the same (3,25*). Good, but not really significant.
Dream Visage starts strangely with a deep vocal sound but soon after gets to become a regular Iluvatar track. Special feature of this one is the stand out vocals besides a nice atmosphere at times (3,75*).
Marionette is the highlight to me, a song that can compete with the best songs on their later albums. Especially the instrumental part in the second half makes it a magical composition (4,5*).
Emperor's new Clothes is a dignified closer of a very good debut by Iluvatar (3,75*). Some great guitar here.
I give it 4, although rounded up (3,7). Recommended for all neo progressive fans. This band deserves more attention than it got so far.
Sure enough, this is fairly straight-ahead neo-prog in the mould of early Marillion, with perhaps a dash of Pendragon added. I was ready to give this one an average rating and move on... except that to my ears there's something special to it which makes it earn a higher rating than I'd usually give to fairly unoriginal neo-prog groups. Take, for instance, vocalist Glenn McLaughlin, whose vocal style is in the main rather generic and bland... except he's able to add just a little extra pinch of emotion and sincerity to his delivery than the vocalists of many similar generic neo-prog groups. The same goes for all the other instrumentalists, the band's talents coming together to powerful effects on tracks such as the spooky Marionette.
In short, Iluvatar play a style of perfectly generic, middle-of-the-road neo-prog... except they play this style significantly better than any of the other groups partaking of this particular style. Maybe they don't have the sheer personality and individuality of the top rank of neo-prog bands, but I'd say they're amongst the best of the second tier.
ILUVATAR Ilúvatar ratings only
chronological order | showing rating only
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