THE ANCIENT TALE

A well-played but unoriginal vintage prog album marred by poor lyrics and average singing. A must for fans of Mellotron and keys in general. It will appeal to those who prefer emotion rather than creativity.

City of Zerich: This tells the childish tale of a hero freeing a city of its evil lord, nothing less' Mini- Moog opening followed by choir Mellotron then classic rock riffage and keys: the tone is set. The intro stops around 2min and half. Gentle guitar and the singing begins smoothly. The song morphs at 5 min and half: wall to wall Mellotron, guitars, the tone is darker. Later on demon-like voice adds anguish. A good jam between the 13 and 16 minute then the grand finale, as cheesy as can be: ' Zeeeerich, people of Zeeeeeeerich I have saved you from the darkneeeeeeess! I am your chosen oooooone!' This story may please some teenagers but I just can't go beyond that. Without the juvenile lyrics and singing the song would have been enjoyable.

Halls of Amenti: A 9 minutes song that should have been half long. The first 6 minutes keep the same pattern in a non-prog manner with very simple and repetitive instruments. Mellotron to add ambiance and Mini-Moog for the spacey effect here and there. Then a minute long guitar solo and back to the same pattern. A change with some repetitive keyboards 30 seconds before the end, too little, too late.

The Divine Comedy: My preferred song of the lot by a good margin. It's an instrumental with lots of keys. They almost over abuse Mellotron (choir) in particular, although I don't think there's lots of prog fans that will complain. Not me for sure! This songs floats, it's not fast-paced for the most part except around the 2/3 where it accelerates but to slow down after 2 minutes. Again it's very repetitive but not in a bad way this time. All in all not a very complex song, nor original, but it creates a grandiose effect.

Tears I've cried: Harpsichord opening, gentle flute & classical guitar later on. Cheesy lyrics once again. This one has similar length and is built like the second track with a guitar solo near the 2/3 of the song and keys solo near the end. The singer tries to create passion (Teeeeaaaaars IIIII've Criiiiiiied) but it doesn't work at all.

The Ancient Tale: Short piano-voice intro followed by uninspired repetitive instruments for the first 4 minutes. Gentle Mellotron (violin) follows with smooth voice for another 4 minutes. When the singer doesn't push his voice beyond its limits it's not bad. Then passed the 8 minutes mark, faster guitar paced section for a little more than a minute. A talking voice telling a tale accompanied by piano follows, disturbing the flow. The piano is nice though. A duo of Mellotron and singing to the forefront after that. The singer is replaced by a pleasant classic guitar solo still accompanied with the Mellotron. Then comes the ending section: keys and slow burning electric guitar solo creating a poignant finale. This one is a mixed bag.

If you have a knack for vintage prog and can tolerate the singing and the childish tales then you might appreciate this album very much. For my part I can't. The Divine Comedy saves the day, hence the 3 stars rating, but without this song it would have been a 2 stars rating.