GÖRLITZ

I find it hard to believe that this was previously rated with one star! I have all the Pulsar albums , which happen to be all of irreproachable quality and made their mark in Prog history. Yes, Gorlitz is very different from the three other symphonic monuments but it reflects a different time in the late 80's when Prog was for all intended purposes almost non-existant except for a few courageous artists, who later would pioneer the Prog Resurgence or Renaissance .

This is a great piece of nostalgic music , the title cut referring to the collapse of East Germany (and the Eastern Bloc as a whole) and the ability of these famously devoted Iron Curtain prog fans to finally obtain the right to travel wherever they would want without a damn Stalinist government telling them " NO". The themes expressed evoke both great sadness and utter joy , with grand musicianship led by Gilbert Gandil's heaviliy "Hackett" influenced playing abd Victor Bosch' steady, militaristic drumming. This stunning record fits very nicely with another East German bashing opus, the whimsical "Stationary Traveller" by Camel, one of Latimer's crowning achievements, equally critisized by some progfans. Hey! I am a history buff too, which explains my love for Prog and even Al Stewart's at times proggy recordings like "Time Passages" ," Last Days of the Century" and "Russians & Americans".

To each his own, after all instead of thrashing iffy prog albums, look at all the pop garbage out there that deserve one or no stars ! We could spend 24/7 getting all our frustrations and inner demons unleashed with choice words for the Spears, 50 Cents and all the other MuchMusic/MTV crap millionaires out there. Give this record a chance and you will be rewarded .

4 stasis

As someone who did not know Pulsar the first time around, I can say objectively (?) that Gorlitz is actually better than Halloween. Halloween is roughly 40 minutes long, with about 15 of those being mood setting, and a bunch more being almost unlistenable, all supposedly in the name of placing atmospherics and arrangements ahead of flashiness, but please. Gorlitz appeared a decade later and not only avoided most of those pitfalls but produced several stronger melodies, most notably of course in the long title cut, but also in "Autour de Toi", while "Fin de Voyage" was a direct descendent of those early yawners, and, unlike Halloween, manages to avoid sucking all the air out of the room. The production is also impeccable. Buy if you like melodic prog, period.

I was not really laudatory about " Bienvenue Au Conseil D'Administration", the band's previous album and even if this album is not as strong as their first three albums, some perfume of them can be smelled here.

The central part of this album is of course the the title track. This twenty minutes piece of music is a complex song with different themes. The spacey atmosphere is mixed with harder sounds at times, but the problem is that it will never really kicks off. nor overwhelm the listener like during some wonderful sections of "Halloween" for instance. Pleasant all the way though but too little great passages are featured to make it a great song. Being the vocal or intrumental parts.

"Fin De Voyage" is so close from this mood that it could have been integrated into "Görlitz".

"Pulsar" will even investigate the French rock mood (like "Ange during "Vu D'Un Chien"). Needless to say that it is far from being great. "Naufrage" is the weakiest of all from this album. And I still wonder if bands do it on purpose with the choice of their title. Because naufrage means wreck. I bet you !

More theatric vocals during the acoustic and peaceful "Pour Un Autre Départ". A short and break lacking of inspiration, I guess. Still better than "Autour De Toi" which is similar to "Naufrage" and remains an averagee French rock song.

"Tara" is fully in the ambient style and closes this average album. The band will enter into a looooooong lethargy. They will get back together almost twenty years later for a better release than this one.

If you except "Görlitz", this album has not very much to offer. Two stars.

My only experience with PULSAR up to this point was with "Halloween", an album many consider their best and most symphonic. Well I couldn't get into it at all, in fact I agree with kennethlevine's thoughts (second review up) on that one.Their last album before this one was back in 1981, so about an eight year hiatus, although they kept busy in the music industry. What I love about this album is the atmosphere, there is tons of it. There is an eighties vibe as well that I like.

"Gorlitz" is the opening side long track at over 19 minutes. It opens with the sound of this guy talking, then in the background we can hear this sound that gets louder and louder. It's a train ! See album cover. Suddenly we can't hear the guy at all, just the train. Cool. Keyboards take over with some atmosphere, you can hear children playing, then a change as drums, bass and guitar take over. Vocals 4 minutes in. Lots of atmosphere after 7 1/2 minutes as drums and bass throb while the guitar cries out. A more powerful atmosphere arrives 10 minutes in then the guitar fades out a minute later. It turns heavier 11 1/2 minutes in then the guitar starts to solo before 13 minutes. Nice. Vocals are back after 14 minutes. It's heavy again before 16 1/2 minutes as the guitar lights it up. The atmosphere rolls in a minute later as the heaviness subsides. What a great track !

"Fin De Voyage" opens with drums, atmosphere and vocals.I thought of DEAD CAN DANCE right away here. The guitar after 1 1/2 minutes starts to grind away. "Naufrage" opens with pouring rain as keys and atmosphere join in. The guitar comes in as the lightning cracks. We can hear voices and then it kicks in reminding me of ROXY MUSIC. Great sound ! "Pour Un Autre Depart" is a short mellow tune with keyboards and fragile vocals. A touching song. "Autour De Toi" has a good beat with atmosphere. Again "Avalon" era ROXY MUSIC comes to mind. Sax after 2 minutes then the guitar solos beautifully. "Tara" opens with a keyboard soundscape. Sax after a minute joins in. Lots of atmosphere and no vocals.

This has been such a pleasure to listen to over this past week. A solid 4 stars.