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Spock's Beard - Feel Euphoria CD (album) cover

FEEL EUPHORIA

Spock's Beard

 

Symphonic Prog

3.24 | 423 ratings

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ZowieZiggy
Prog Reviewer
3 stars After being orphan of his leader, the Beard could either die or survive. They could have released another cloning affair, or go into another musical direction. They opted for the latter.

However, they almost went (prog) metal. This is not the genre I prefer. Both "Onomatopoeia" and to a lesser extent "The Bottom Line" are in this vein. I admit that to call an album "feel euphoria" is rather daring. You'd better be sure that you release a great work or you would suffer many critiques.

The heavy impression is just confirmed. If "The Bottom Line" was a fine mix between prog and a harder approach, "Feel Euphoria" is just a dull electro-heavy song with little inspiration. Vocals are not brilliant either and the finale could have been featured on a "Dream Theater" album. Quite.surprising.

Floyd is also revisited during "Shining . Star" (especially during the chorus) but the heavy parts are bouncing again (they were not absent for long) in "East Of Eden.". Some fine mellotron lines (but too few) are highlighting this dull first part, while the beat catches up and the synthesizers are going wild for a superb instrumental section. The guitar play is on par as well: just great. This is the best moment of the album so far (but too short).

It seems as things are going a little better while the album advances. Ghosts Of Autumn is a very good song. More on the mellow side for a while, it lifts off thanks to a brilliant guitar solo: somewhat like .Mostly Autumn does frequently.

Now, let's listen at the epic track. Some twenty minutes divided into six sections. Same mix of heavy sounds and brilliant keys are the ingredients. You'll get them in almost each part, almost alternatively which breaks the heavy impression. At times, the music sounds as Atomic Rooster (Same Old Story) which is fine with me but again, it is quite unexpected.

If you fancy some Gentle Giant mood like the one the band was used to play, it is available as well during the very short Sid's Boy Choir.

The whole of this piece is finally pleasant and confirms the second good part of this album.

I strongly suggest that you just forget that this is a Spock's Beard album. It has little to do with their previous releases. I prefer this one far much better than their previous and dull Snow.

Three strars.

ZowieZiggy | 3/5 |

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