LUNAR CHATEAU

LUNAR CHATEAU were the first American band that was signed to the French Musea Label. The band consists of Novak, Paul and Milo Sekulovich, three musically skilled brothers. Their melodic progressive/symphonic rock is based on keyboards and has some jazz and fusion influences. There are reminiscences to ALAN PARSONS PROJECT, CAMEL and EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER. They don't have a guitarist, which is quite unusual.

Some of the songs are really complex and interesting while some are quite uninteresting. Paul Sekulovich's vocals is similar to Eric Woolfsons's (ALAN PARSONS) although they aren't that strong. Some of the keyboards sound very dated 80's, but overall this is yet another strong release from the Musea label.

Well this is an American version of Alan Parson Project, with hints of ELP (in the lighter vein)and something else resembling the stuff by Camel too,which is not bad!!

It's a keyboard oriented trio from Wisconsin, which has produced a pretty album in the nineties, suitable for the lightest moments, not so original but quite inspiring and fitted into the Pomp Rock scene (listen also to the works by Robert Berry or Billy Sherwood with "World Trade" and you understand what I mean)... of course you are not in front of a masterpiece, but it's quite personal and well arranged too!!

Good stuff, characterized by a simple but direct music harmony!!

I came across this one in old CDs of a friend of mine, who's deep into AOR and Pomp Rock. Later I found LUNAR CHATEAU here on PA, and decided to check their music out.

So, we have a nice brotherhood trio here...but nothing like ELP or GERARD, it's more like ALAN PARSONS without guitar or any other 80s AOR-related Prog. Nice melodies, vocals are too sweet and lack emotions, I think, but musicianship is pretty good and the sound quality is fine as well (though some parts seem to be played by PC-soft instruments, not the real ones). Closer to CD's end some really interesting things emerge (drum solo of 'Fearless' and 8-min long well-structured 'Aurora Borealis' epic), but the only piece I really like here is 'Ancestors' (ironically, almost typical AOR-like ballad), others fail to impress me that much. Nothing special, but if you're Neo/AOR collector or looking for 80s' ELP clone, check LUNAR CHATEAU out.

The story of LUNAR CHATEAU begins back in 1992,when they were formed by brothers Novak,Paul and Milo Sekulovich on keyboards, bass/lead vocals and drums respectively.They recorded their first eponymous album in 1994 at Music Head Recorders in Wisconsin,mixed by Richard Denhart,who has worked with Andrew Belew and David Bowie.The same year they signed with Musea Records,which distributed the work worldwide...

...a work of light-weight progressive rock with a touch of spaceness and a few pop-vocal leanings.LUNAR CHATEAU seem to be great fans of E.L.P.,and actually they sound a lot like a less bombastic version of MASTERMIND,a band also influenced by E.L.P...The album contains a lot of heavy keyboard doses,led by Novak Sekulovich, with some FLOYD-ian work on the distinctive guitar parts.All tracks are quite melodic and generally the musicianship is supported by great and ethereal vocal parts,which add a pop flavor to the whole effort,reminding a lot of Canadian band VISIBLE WIND.Surprisingly these few pop leanings work extremely well and LUNAR CHATEAU's debut is worth purchasing for its emotional atmoshere blended with well-crafted melodies.