DREAMS

"dreams are a little ship at sea, a shelter of mind far from reality."

"dreams" is a very stylish and accessible album of elegant jazzy pop neo-prog music with just a tad of punchy attitude. It sometimes seems too conventional to be a part of a progressive music collection but the more you listen the less you will care. It's very pleasant ear candy combining the catchiness of The Police with the sound of Joni Mitchell's instrumentations during her late 70s and 80s jazzy period. The players are very talented but for the most part everyone is committed to the overall sound rather than flashy solos.

The songs are conventionally structured with lots of vocals, refined playing, and tasteful arrangements. The guitar sound is mostly clean electric with occasional acoustic use. The percussion is nuanced and nimble. The lyrics concern mostly matters of the heart and on the back of the album they even thank their girlfriends for their patience at the rehearsals and add "What a great thing is love!" True enough. The final track "Dreamland" is a sophisticated instrumental with layers of lovely keyboards, electronics and bass.

The cover is a delectably classy painting by Tonino Romano that was an absolutely perfect choice for the music contained within. The booklet includes lyrics printed in English and Italian with nice color photos of the boys. Vocals are sung in English. Recommended to anyone looking for some high-end addictive pop music with smooth jazz styling. It's certainly not what I expected from the "neo-prog" genre but I ended up liking it anyway.