BEYOND THE CLEAR AIR

Only recently was I aware of the japanese prog scene of the 80´s, and I have to thank PA for that. Somehow not a lot of prog fans seem to reckon that country fertile musical culture in the 80´s and 90´s. And I guess that was true to a lot of progheads, because that´s the only possible answer when I found about this fantastic symphonic band and when I looked there was only two reviews concerning this CD and none by collaborators nor experts. So I am writing one now and warning all the symnphonic lovers about Beyond The Clean Air.

I was amazed by the incredible creativity and skill of those musicians, specially Eigo Utoh, their leader, violin player and vocalist. The guy is simply great on his instrument, sometimes reminding me of Curved Air´s Darryl Way. His interplay with keyboards maestro Eishyo Lynn are breathtaking! And while their music is definitly influenced by the british symphonic great of the 70´s, the sound on this work is still Midas own. Interestingly there is absolutely no guitar on this album. Even if I think it would be good to have such instrument added to the overall sound, I didn´t miss it too much.

There are no real highlights, although the epic 18 minute title track with its shifting moods and dazzling violin and keyboards solos is a classic. The only weak spot I could find in the whole CD is on the vocal front, and yet only partially. Utoh does have a nice voice that sits very well for the slow to midpace parts. On the fast numbers it is simply annoying. Still, I can live with that. The production is fine, the songwriting is superb and the arrangements are very tasteful. In other words, everything you´d expect from a first rate group. highly recommended. 4,5 stars.