DAYS

"Days" is the debut full-length studio album by Polish progressive rock act Peter Pan. The album was released through Mystic Production in 2007. Peter Pan was formed by Satellite and former Collage drummer Wojtek Szadkowski. The band have opted for relatively regular vers/chorus structures and most of the songs on the album are also "normal" length (3-5 minutes). The title track is 7:24 minutes long and although it´s the longest track on the album it´s not a particularly complex track, it just ends with a really long guitar solo.

Stylistically Peter Pan play a heavy and energetic neo-progressive rock style with audible nods towards both Satellite and Collage, but Peter Pan is predominantly a bit more heavy and sharp. It´s not heavy metal by any means, but there is certainly a heavy progressive rock sound here, which you don´t find on many neo-progressive releases.

The keyboards are omnipresent throughout the whole album, but surprisingly enough it´s the guitar playing by Radek Chwieralski which dominates the songs. This could in some places be considered a hard rock album if it wasn´t for the use of keyboards. Chwieralski plays many great blistering/expressive solos/leads/themes on "Days", and even though the keyboards are omnipresent, I think the keyboards are a little more subtle than on other neo prog albums (or at least not in the foreground as much).

The vocals are performed by a guy named...Peter. He dosn´t have the most interesting voice, and his delivery isn´t always particularly pretty, so to my ears the vocals are a weak link of the album. "Days" is otherwise a good quality release, featuring strong musicianship, a powerful, clear, and well sounding production job, and some memorable songwriting too. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.