THE MUSIC THAT DIED ALONE

This originally started out as an Andy Tillison solo album but it turned into much more than that.This really is the joining together of the core of two bands, PARALLEL OR 90 DEGREES and THE FLOWER KINGS. Three members from each band plus David Jackson from VDGG. If you know Tillison you know that he is a huge VDGG fan, and his old band PARALLEL OR 90 DEGREES even did a whole album of Hammill cover tunes called "No More Travelling Chess". So he must have been thrilled that Jackson came on board. Even though Stolt is part of the band at this point, it has to be made clear that THE TANGENT is Andy Tillison's band. He wrote all the songs and as i write this review their latest "Not As Good As The Book" is perhaps making even bigger waves then this album did when it came out.

"In Darkest Dreams" is a 20 minute song divided into 8 parts. Interesting that Roine, Andy and Guy all sing lead vocals at some point during this epic track. It opens with "Prelude-Time For You" a tremendous uptempo instrumental where organ, drums, guitar and sax stand out. It blends into "Night Terrors" where as Roine starts to sing as it settles down. Some nice bass line from Reingold after a minute. Both sax and guitar offer up some melancholic solos. "The Midnight Watershed" opens bombastically before a tasteful solo from Roine as bass throbs. Love this section. Sam comes in with some piano melodies after a minute which is followed up with some powerful organ from Tillison. The whole time the bass is very prominant. "In Dark Times" features mellow vocals from Andy to begin with.The song becomes more passionate before 2 minutes,and then calms back down with sax. "The Half-Light Watershed" is kind of spacey before a short mandolin piece from Manning that blends into "On Returning". Guy sings lead here as sax and drums stand out. "A Sax In The Dark" features quite a bit of bottom end as sax comes in, organ follows. "The Night Terrors Reprise" has Roine back on lead vocals.This is such an uplifting ending to an amazing track. When i was writing these notes today as i listened to this, the sun came out. This is the first sunshine we've had for three days. It was such perfect timing.

"The Canterbury Sequence" is next,and it's divided into three parts. "Cantermemorabilia" has some cool lyrics like : "I seem to spend my whole life shouting, perhaps i should be cool, put on some Caravan or Hatfields, like i used to do at school". A very jazzy number and there's even some vocal melodies. Love the Canterbury flavour 3 minutes in. Great tune. "Chaos At The Greasy Spoon" is a HATFIELD AND THE NORTH cover. This is a fantastic instrumental with some great organ work early followed by piano and flute trading solos. Roine lets loose on his guitar and continues that later on "Captain Manning's Mandolin". "Up Hill From Here" is another incredible tune with Andy on vocals. This is an uptempo, catchy tune that makes me smile. Guitar and organ shine. "The Music That Died Alone" is divided into four parts. "A Serenade" opens with some beautiful piano melodies. Just before 1 1/2 minutes i'm reminded of CHROMA KEY and Kevin Moore everytime. "Playing On..." features Andy on vocals. Sax and flute are amazing. The tempo picks up and the mood brightens 3 minutes in. "Pre-History" is a guitar / piano led song with a ripping guitar solo before 2 minutes. "Reprise" is jazzy with the bass, drums and sax standing out. Vocals after a minute. The last words we hear are "...the music that died alone".

I really can't find any faults with this album. It's a joy to listen to, and at just under 45 minutes it's just the right length.