A BILLION YEARS OF SOLITUDE

This is an album that takes some time to "get," but it's definitely worth it. The first track, "The Curious One," is a long, space-y epic, that begins with a drum roll into a great melody that sounds like something out of a movie, followed by a lot of sound effects and overall weirdness that really sets the tone for the song and the album. The next parts of this song are loaded with great singing and Mellotrons and exciting instrumental passages. There is a quiet, slow, blues-y section towards the end of the song that is followed by an instrumental section that manages to be exciting and continue to evoke the space theme of the album with its organ and guitar playing. "Wormholes" is a really fun song that has time signature changes and atmospheric vocals, and like "The Curious One," it is definitely a highlight of the album. "Tides" is a relatively simple song, but it still has proggy moments that still flow well with the song. "Elegy of a Solitary Giant" is another long track with really interesting lyrics about occurrences in space, and the music is great as well, with an 11/8 instrumental section near the beginning that still manages to sound right, a part with a catchy but not annoying melody that is atmospheric with the vocals and low drums and what sounds like some kind of horn, a sad piano part suddenly changing to a fast guitar riff that fits the lyrics, and the well-written dark and heavy ending that fits the song perfectly. The instrumental "Jim's Ride to Hell" is not quite as memorable as the other tracks, but it has some good guitar and bass playing. "Revolutions" is another highlight of the album. It has very well-written and interesting guitar and keyboard parts as well several different time signatures done in such a way that it still feels like a fun rock song, and the military-like feel of some parts adds to both the excitement and to the song being musically interesting. The ending of the song is also a great buildup. The last track, "Traveller's Last Candle," is a dark track with mood changes and weird parts and it really feels like an adventure. The heavy section with angry guitar playing and sound effects that fades out at the end really adds to that. Overall, this is a great prog album that is definitely worth getting into.