TIME OF LEGENDS

This is the third release from this fantastic American symphonic prog band, but unfortunately it was also the last. And it's too bad, because the band was finally honing it's own voice in it's songwriting, getting away from the keyboard riffs that sounded like they were lifted from the classic ELP albums (not that this was a bad thing, they did it quite well).

The compositions here are more concise than on the previous albums, but a bit better written. Where on the first two disks by this band, the music seemed to get much simpler during the vocal sections, here, driven primarily by bassist John Evans' nice moving lines, the music stays complex during the verses.

Keyboarist extraordinaire Mark Robertson is still the center of the show. While he does still sound a lot like Emerson when he plays the Hammond organ, he plays much more on his synths, adding lush density to all of the tracks.

If you're out there Mark, keep recording. The world never has enough great prog keyboardists.