TRACE

This is a pretty amazing album! If you love the keyboards, and are a fan of Keith Emerson or Jurgen Fritz (Triumvirat), you're going to gobble this music right up! Rick van der Linden can COOK on the keys, and he plays a mighty array of them throughout this album. But he also gets great support from the very tight and melodic bass playing of Pierre van der Linden, and the jazzy and sure drumming of Jaap van Eick. Is there some "wanking" going on here at the expense of some melody? Yeah, probably - but is it ever a dazzling display of wanking! From the very first song, there is a fantastic assault on the ears of keyboard wizardry. And there is some pretty good songwriting here too - it ain't all notes and showmanship, folks. Van der Linden was one of the be best, and it's sort of a shame that he was just never better known.

With two bonus tracks, this cd clocks in at just under 59 minutes. I like it a little better than their follow-up "Birds". Progressive rock is known for its great use of keyboards; this album could easily be the flagship for all prog keyboard lovers. Essential.