FULL SCALE

Strangefish has been a nice surprise to me as I have grown tired of listening to one generic neo prog band after another. My latest discovery Shadowland was no exception. Strangefish defies the boundaries of neo prog and incorporates elements from other genres to make a fresh approach. Neo prog with hard rock/ Soft metal elements wouldn´t be and unfair description of the music on Full Scale.

Especially singer Steve Taylor sets Strangefish apart from other bands in this genre. First of all because he has a strong and distinct voice which he uses in various ways. He can sing both hard rock and more mellow vocal styles and even more theatrical progressive vocal parts. What a great singer. The lyrics are pretty weak though.

The music is influenced by Marillion, Genesis, UK and others in the symphonic genre but with a hard rock edge. Songs like Ocean Deep and Wallflower are pretty fantastic in my book while the silly Take a Holiday could have been ommited for my sake.

The conclusion is that Full Scale is an above average neo prog album not fully deserving the 4 stars but on the other hand too good for only 3 stars, so this is a small 4 star rating. Very recommendable though.

NOTE: I have downgraded this album after some consideration. 3 big stars instead of 4 small ones.