CLOSER TOGETHER

The Box

Crossover Prog

3.72 | 13 ratings

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debrewguy
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator

The Quebec band the Box hit big with this album. After some radio airplay from songs like Must I Always Remember, L'Affaire Dumoutier, and My Dreams Of You, this one put them on top.

While the singles from this album - Ordinary People & Closer Together - were not prog, they were definitely not throwaway pop. Ordinary People was a call to arms of , well, the ordinary people of all countries to recognise the shared concerns & joys of daily life - "Well, I wonder what the Soviet Rambo looks like in their pictures, and I'm sure as hell he's just as sweet as ours" .

But there was also something more than most North American rock or pop of the time ... a european flavor in many of their melodies that shared some commonalities with mid 70s keyboard prog. Crying Out Loud for Love, Tell Me a Story, and Emile could as easily have been fitted into a symphonic album with their meld of traditional motifs and classical structures , even if they were 4 minute compositions.

The only synth pop remainder from their early days was Front Cover Lovers. Quaint and a bit twee, it didn't sound out of place, but it felt like a fading link to their past works.

In essence, this release stands as a lesser known example of what many would call symphonic pop. Well crafted, with a view beyond the day's charts, standing as the band's most inspired piece.

debrewguy | 4/5 | 2009-9-27

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