FADED LEAVES

2000-02 period finds La Tulipe Noire on the rise.Fans worldwide became enthusiasts of the ''Shattered image'' sound, an album very well received by the foreign press.With Y. Boukoulas out of the picture the band would recruit Kostas Savvidis as a second guitarist for the sessions of the upcoming album ''Faded leaves''.The recordings took place at the famous Studio 111 in Moschato, Athens and the album was released in 2002 with the support of Musea.

This new work talked about human solitude and, thus, required a special sound and atmosphere, which was actually quite close to the style delivered in the previous album.No doubt, the band was in great shape, they provided highly symphonic, deeply emotive and very grandiose music throughout the album, surrounding the central idea with mid-tempo compositions, highlighted by the poetic and crystalline voice of female singer Ima.The consistency of the compositions is one thing to admire about the band.The concept opened the doors for a slightly more FLOYD-ian mood with the slow guitar solos and the dreamy keyboards dominating the album, but MARILLION were still a huge influence for the band, especially the atmosphere on ''Faded leaves'' recalls the darker paths explored by Fish & Co. back in the 80's.Piano and ethereal keyboard parts along with series of impressive guitar melodies are the basic characteristics of the release, which ends up to a be a combination of memorable material and a genuine female-fronted lyricism.It's one those albums with no weak tracks at all, I'd rather say it's one of the albums you could easily play a second time after a listening.Extremely well-crafted with an atmosphere rare met in Neo Prog bands and a trully gifted singer.

On par with ''Shattered image'', maybe with a tad more haunting mood.This is grandiose Neo Prog of the best quality, struggling a bit to escape from past influences, still offering a lot of amazing moments.Highly rcommended.