PERFECT BEINGS II

Perfect Beings debut album was one of the pleasant surprises of 2014. The performance by all band members was strong, the songwriting and production was excellent, and the album itself is one of the best examples of how to organize tracks to build up to a crescendo at the end, leaving the listener wanting to hear more from the band.

Their second release, coming out just about a year after the first is very similar. As I listen, each band member frequently evokes thoughts of "Damn. That guy's good!". The songwriting, as in the previous album, is impeccable, using influences from both past and present to come up with a truly original "Perfect Beings" style.

The only thing I have issue with on this is the order of the tracks. Where as the debut started out with quirky pop-styled tracks, that evoked (to me) the classic art-rock of bands like 10cc and XTC, and worked its way up to strong symphonic pieces, this one does the opposite. The first track, "Mar del Fuego" begins the album impressively, similar to a Flower Kings style symphonic prog extravaganza.

The next two pieces, "Cryogenia" and "Samsara" have a moody Roger Waters/Pink Floyd sound, with outstanding keyboard sounds, as if Richard wright was resurrected for the sessions. "The Love Inside" is where I might have started the album. The song begins as a light, poppy tune, but builds into grandiose, and sometimes eerie prog.

"Volcanic Streams" begins with beautifil jamming in an Eastern motif, and mellows into a smoother, slightly fusion track. Nice, but the volcano seems to ebb too soon.

The second half of the album is where the prog seems to be, unfortunately, held back. The songs are certainly nice, and somewhat catchy, but to a prog fanatic like myself, bunching them all together after such a strong first half is something of a letdown. Still, these musicians are too good to not throw in an inventive riff or passage here and there.

I would give this a strong 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.