IRONY OF FATE

Gerard is the first Japanese progrock band I ever heard and they are still my favorite, especially because of keyboard wizard Toshio Egawa his amazing skills on Hammond, Korg and Melltotron. After their two excellent first two albums Gerard (1984) and Emptie Lie, Empty Dream (1985) it took six years before Gerard released their third and I remember that I was very glad to receive Irony Of Fate from Japan. Until I listened to it and gradually I realised that the music on this CD was way from the exciting and bombastic symphonic prog on Gerard and Empty Lie, Empty Dream: mainly polished, predictable and lacklustre tracks, only some great work on keyboards but in general this album is a weak effort. Five years later Gerard took revenge on themselves with their strong fourth studio- album The Pendulum but it's no coincidence that Irony Of Fate was not reviewed until now.