FLY PAPER

I've been listening to "Fly Paper" longer than I usually would a cd before reviewing it, hoping it would turn into a 4 star rating for me, but no. I've been trying to put my finger on the reason why without having any success so I put on one of my favourites from them, the amazing "Fence The Clear" to see if that would shed some light. It did. First of all this one isn't nearly as powerful or heavy as "Fence The Clear" but for me the main reason is that the songs just aren't as good. Now I have to say that there are some great songs on here, but there are also some that for me sound either too straight forward or i'm just not that fond of them.

"Hide In My Shadow" is a fantastic opener with the guitar grinding away as drums and bass pound away. It settles before a minute then vocals join in.The contrast continues. I just love the way this song sounds. Gotta love the bass as the guitar rips it up. "Sacred & Mundane" opens with mandolin followed by a heavy soundscape courtesy of Alex Lifeson. Apparently he spent 8-9 hours or so working on this guitar soundscape with Terry Brown. It comes and goes throughout.This is the first time they (Brown & Lifeson) worked together in about 20 years ! Something about the actual sound of this song doesn't seem right. I mean the vocals with the guitar soundscape. Maybe it's just me but right from the first listen i've felt that. Anyway you can tell it's Lifeson here. Check out the guitar before 2 1/2 minutes as the bass throbs, the drumming that follows is incredible. Good song. "Back & Forth" is fairly straight forward. Best part is the drum solo before 4 1/2 minutes followed by a guitar solo. Not a fan of the song though.

"Landscrape" still doesn't work for me. I like the heaviness, but the song itself i'm not a fan of. "Markers" is a top three track for me. Love the mellotron early (thanks to Matthew Parmenter) with the percussion. Reserved vocals come in.I like the guitar that comes in it reminds me of the sound on the OPETH album "Damnation". Check it out ! The song kicks in before 2 1/2 minutes. Nice. The guitar grinds away and the vocals are passionate. Amazing sound. This is more like it. The guitar lights it up before 6 1/2 minutes. "Dragons, Dreams & Daring Deeds" opens with riffs and chunky bass, I like the vocal melodies that come and go. Drums really shine too.The guitar comes in around 2 minutes.The chorus is much fuller than the verses. Kim Mitchell offers up a guitar solo before 6 minutes and proceeds to set the soundscape on fire.

"Crowded Emptiness" is again a fairly straight forward and positive sounding track. It's ok. It does features some keyboards, orchestration and choir from Hugh Syme who of course did the excellent cover art on this album. "Hide & Seek" is a nice heavy and aggressive tune.There is a calm with mellotron courtesy of Matthew Parmenter again 3 1/2 minutes in. Love the sound a minute later as it gets quite heavy. A nice guitar solo as the bass goes deep and then they seem to jam.

Better than "Window Dressing" overall in my opinion, but it doesn't touch the glory of "Fence The Clear" or "Presents Of Mind".