KING OF ARAGON

GALLEON's fourth studio album is both melodic and keyboard driven and very accessible. I love the picture of these Swede's in the liner notes, they could not possibly have bigger smiles on their faces. It's great !

The record starts off with "King Of Aragon" with a keyboard intro, and a good beat, a good way to start. The vocals are very good and there is a synth melody and some keyboard, drum interplay. "Crime Wave" features a piano melody throughout and some great keyboard runs.

"From Square To Circle" is an upbeat tune with lots of keys. "Illusive Exhibition" is a happy, upbeat song, with tempo shifts contrasted. I really like the pastoral passages. "Fall Of Spring" is a favourite of mine, with tempo changes and some heavy passages. "Long Lonely Shadows" is a dark and heavy tune, with what sounds like church organ and some GENESIS sounding keyboard sections.

This is fantastic NEO prog that I highly recommend. Well done !

Third album of Galleon named King of Aragon. Again this swedish neo prog band did a great job, delivering a great neo prog album. To me this band is among the best from neo prog zone, quite underrated by many, with excellent musicianship ant clever arrangements. While this third album is not so outstanting than the previous one Heritage and visons, is a worthy album all the way. Tight compositions, clever ideas, every musicians shines on every instrument. This is kinda neo prog i like to lesten every time i need this kinda of music. Up tempo beats, great riffs, intelligent solos, and above all the key passages are very fine and well executed, Ulf Pettersson from keys is excellent. In the end but not least the voice is very pleasent, typical for this kind of music but with own potential and brilliancy, again great. All track are very well done and played with a plus on From Square to Circle - the longest piece and the most developed one as manner of composing, sounds very melodic but in the same time very accesible to every one. Fall of Spring and the opening track Crime Wave, the rest are above average neo prog. So, all in all, a great album that worth 4 stars, but, there is a but, to me is less enjoyble than the predecesor, more like 3.5 rounded to 4.

My third review of an album by this Swedish band and it seems as if they get better and better the more works I hear by them. Actually I hadn't expected too much of this one since it had only 4 ratings. On the other hand it had a high average so that gave me hope of having bought a winner.

First track is the lengthy title track and it's the kind of song that sets the tone for the entire album. It's an inventive composition with lots of variation and it still sounds very accessible. And then I mean accessible in the positive way, the way of it's pleasant to listen to and not in the sense of being a simple song. 4,5*.

Crime Wave is an energetic short song sounding cheerful and positive. Despite this it's the least track of the album but that also says a lot about the other ones. 3,25*.

From Square to Circle is actually a lot like the opening track. Same length, same variation, also accessible, inventive and really great where the musicianship is concerned. Especially the last few minutes are impressive and delightful. 4,5*.

Illusive Exhibition is again more like the second song making tracks 3 and 4 more or less a repeat of track one and two. Of course the song is in detail completely different but in general sound it's somewhat the same. Fine compositional effort once again. 3,5*.

Fall of Spring is a totally different story all over sudden. This is probably the most original song Galleon has ever produced. I already described Galleon is an accessible band usually playing the very melodic sort of songs. But with Fall of Spring we move in very unknown territory, this is a totally eclectic song making a band like Gentle Giant look pale I can tell you !! What an incredible surprise, this track is full of dissonants and sounds extremely distorted, at least for Galleon standards. Still I like it a lot. They prove with this one that playing the difficult, complex and dissonant material is even feasible for a typical neoband ! 4*.

With Long Lonely shadows they fortunately return to their own style again. It's the third long track but in fact neither of the three are real epics, more long songs. This one is again impressive in the same way the other two are. I can only conclude these Swedish masters are huge compositional talents. 4,5*.

I can subscribe the words by John Davie noticing these guys probably have a lot of fun making their music. I would too if I had the abilities these guys have. They make perfect compositions and execute them in a flawless way. The average score so far of 3,97 is totally deserved. And they have another fan with yours truly I can tell you. It's a shame this fantastic album has only 5 ratings. What are you all waiting for ? Try and get it I would say. At least if you are a neo fan.

My first entry into the marvelous world of this swedish band. I must say I was not really ware of their CDs till recently when a friend on PA asked why I haven't write anything about them. And I must thank him, for although not very famous, Galleon is an excellent prog group. They have a respectable number os albums out and this is their third efford. I was curious about how they sound and was quite glad to find they are in fact very original.

Ok, obviously early Genesis was a strong inspiration, especially on the keyboards department (a lot of Bank's like lines and some Rutherford's trademark rhythm guitar licks here and there), but they managed to make up their own style of music quite fast. It was helped by Göran Fors unique voice: he has a warm and elegant way of singing that reminds me of no one else. Yet, their music is melodic and accessible, leaning heavier on the symphonic side of prog. More symphonic than neo, really. The band kept the old symphonic tradition of being a keyboard driven band. The guitar is not featured as proeminent here as on most neo prog acts. I loved the way they used the ol' good Rickenbaker bass guitar with its characteristic 70's prog sound!

The CD as a whole is very good, but I loved their two epics: the opener King Of Aragon (long historical narrations sorrounded by fine keys and tight rhythm) and the closer Long Lonely Shadows (great orchestral synths, fine arrangements and shifting moods). From Square to Circle is another powerful number, while Crime Wave with its more rocking rhythm is also very good. The quality falls short a little on Illusive Exhibition and I really dindn't like the alternative, dissonant style of Fall Of Spring. Those guys are much better when they stick with their melodic prog side. Production is only adequate.

Conclusion: even if not perfect, an excellent work form this swedish bunch. the two epics are worth the price of the CD alone in my opinion, But in the end I think I got more than that. I'm looking forward to hear more from this group. I list hope they get more noticed. 4 strong stars.

Moving on steadily as a quartet and with keyboardist Ulf Pettersson having an active role on songwriting,Galleon recorded an EP entitled ''At this moment in time'' shortly after ''Heritage and visions''.However their label had other plans and pressed the band for a full-length release.Under this inappropriate circumstances the band records the new album ''King of Aragon'',released in 1995.

Regarding the heavy schedule of the band,this is quite a decent album,not as good as ''Lynx'',but better than the plain ''Heritage and visions''.Petterson seems now in a better shape,delivering nice symphonic synths and delightful piano passages,even flirting with Classical music at moments.The vocals of Goran Fors remain a positive sign.Some flutes here and there add a pastoral flavor to the generally modern sound.Guitar work is melodic and demanding at the same time.Alternating between catchier moments and more elaborate arrangements with symphonic textures,Galleon follow the mix of early-80's symphonic IQ and powerful prog in the vein of RUSH.Unfortunately the lack of sufficient time affects the final result,some tracks are really great like the awesome ''From square to circle'',while others are in a plain level as in ''Heritage and visions'' like the flat and plastic ''Fall of spring''.

A typical Neo Prog album with its ups and downs.Not bad but not among the great of the genre definitely.The band of course was really pressed around the time and regarding the bad conditions the album comes recommended, especially for fans of Neo/Symphonic Prog.