TO THE WORLD OF THE FUTURE

An epic, a hit-single and some good to great songs to fill the album. Well, I started my review of "Atlantis" almost in the same way. Earth & Fire definitely uses the same artifices throughout their releases (this is the third one in a row; out of four).

The title track won't be as much influenced by the classical genre. It actually starts as an electronic-soul piece of music. Rather unexpected I would say.The song is very melodious and again the duo mellotron / Jerney works perfectly. At almost half time, a Floydian mood ("Echoes") is raising this good song to another level. Fantastic guitar solo, while the whole band plays in unisson. It is a fabulous moment of symphonic rock. There won't be many more of these performed by this good Dutch bandin the future, so let's enjoy it as much as we can...A very good opener.

As usual, we'll get some transitional tracks (only one on this album) : "How Many Flies". A bit flat, I should say.

When you listen to the keyboard sound during "The Last Seagul" intro (just before the start of the jazzy part, it is amazing to hear how close they are to the ones of Tubeway Army a little later - well four years or so). I'm not very attracted by this track but jazz is not really my cup of tea. The same jazzy touch will also be featured in "Voice From Yonder", but it will also feature some sci-fi parts (you know lke during the intro of "Diamond Dogs" from who you know) as well as true symph ones; so globally this one is substantially better.

It is remarkable how easily Earth & Fire will be able to release great hit-singles. Incredible melody, gorgeous keyboards and those vocals... Let's be honest. These songs might be pop ones, but they are fantastic. I wish all pop songs would be of that caliber. "Love Of Life" is pretty much similar. For the first time, Earth & Fire will record two pop songs on one album. I really do not mind since they do this with great skills.

With the closing number, the band releases another very pleasant song. "Circus" is as emotional as "Only Time will Tell" but its lenght allows to be far much more elaborate. This is my fave of the album. This might as well be the last album featuring so many symph moments, but we'll see...

This album is well balanced. No blunder, several very good songs. Of course this is not a masterpiece but three solid stars seem to be a decent rating (I wish I could rate this seven out of ten).