THE VOW

Musically the style of The Vow hasn't changed a bit, insisting on a very British-styled Neo Prog akin to CYAN, PENDRAGON or SHADOWLAND with balanced vocal and instrumental parts.However the songwriting seems more convincing and the melodies became more memorable, while the music remains deeply emotional and atmospheric.Quite long tracks with slight symphonic vibes and lots of interesting guitar work, both in up- and downtempo offerings.The sound of synthesizers is pretty sharp and bombastic, the vocals are very good, especially considering there is a German behind the microphone, and the arrangements are pretty solid with a decent cohesion.Some long keyboard preludes and a few minimalistic moments with little goin' on are the most evident flaws of the album.The listener will be nevertheless rewarded by a slightly theatrical atmosphere, some great keyboard textures and the guitar work of Link, which ranges from decent to outstanding.Do not expect though any kind of originality.The whole album is very British-sounding with no signs escaping from the fundamentals established by acts such as MARILLION, IQ or TWELFTH NIGHT.Fortunately the music is too good to be surpassed.

Dedicated to all fans of British Neo Prog of the 80's.Melodic, atmospheric music with plenty of grandiose explosions.Recommended.

"Devil In Disguise" opens with thunder and rain as light keys and reserved vocals join in. It gets fuller around 2 1/2 minutes. Spoken words 4 1/2 minutes in and a spacey atmsophere as the birds start to sing.Yes all is bliss. "Talking Pictures" is a laid back, mid paced tune with vocals. It reminds me a little of EVERON. "Held On To Your Dreams" opens with atmosphere and strummed guitar as reserved vocals join in. Not bad. "The Whole Of Mankind" has a beat with background synths. It calms down when the vocals arive. It does get fuller then we get another calm as contrasts continue. "At The Seaside" opens with atmosphere as a beat and more joins in. Reserved vocals 1 1/2 minutes in. Another relaxing song. "The Girl With No Name" sounds exotic. It's because our female subject is a stripper.The music sounds excellent before 2 1/2 minutes.

"Paradise" has this relaxed sound with vocals and background synths. A beat also eventually joins in. "Trojan Add-On" is the 29 1/2 minute closer. Keys and atmosphere to start as the guitar comes in. It gets more aggressive after 1 1/2 minutes.Vocals come in when the guitar backs off.Tasteful guitar 4 minutes in when the vocals stop. It settles with spoken words before 6 minutes. It then kicks in fairly heavily a minute later but it's brief. Atmosphere before 11 minutes then the vocals return. A change 15 minutes in as synths become prominant. A calm 17 1/2 minutes in. It turns pretty intense 25 minutes in before turning mellow again to end it.

A pretty good album overall but a low 3 stars for me.

Back to business. Indeed wow - I realised that this is a 2-men project only when glanced at the booklet. They sound like a BAND, really, apart from most of 1-2-3-men projects I heard. We have enjoyable Neo-prog (close to IQ, COLLAGE, ARENA and other bands from the 90s wave of Neo) here with melodical and well-written/recorded pieces varying in tempo and mood (from ballads like "Another World" to rock-hits like "Stony Broke"...isn't this one about Stonebeard? ;-) ). Opening epic has a bit boring piano/ vocal-only coda (not even coda but a half of the song!) while the closing one has a bit too long spacy but also boring intro filled with noises (good lyrics here,btw) - I think they both should have been shorter.

Again, nothing special here, but if you're a fan of a genre or a Prog Collector, you need this one. Recommended? OK, recommended, it's a pleasant album