HALLOWEEN

I had high expectations for this record after reading so many positive reviews but I couldn't agree more with hdfisch's thoughts and feelings about "Halloween". The biggest problem for me are the vocals.They're not that good and almost spoken most of the time. And in English for some reason instead of French.

The highlights for me are the liberal use of mellotron on "Tired Answers".This song is fantastic the way they create tension for about 6 minutes as the beautiful waves of mellotron flow. The acoustic guitar interjects for brief moments, then flute comes in. It's after 6 minutes that things speed up as drums take the lead. I also like the guitar melody during "Colours Of Childhood". The highlight for me on Part II is "Dawn Over Darkness" where the guitar is uplifting and the flute and light drum section is enjoyable. "Fear Of Frost" opens with what is supposed to be spooky synths, but they sound more like sci-fi noises from a bad Flash Gordon show. The final short song "Time" is rather haunting though.

Good album, but far from the masterpiece I was expecting. Although if I could remove the vocals I would say 4 stars easily for this haunting and spacey style of music.