THE WISH

While there has never been any doubt as to Daniel Gauthier's classic progressive influences and favourites, on "Above the Storm" he established his own viable signature by incorporating them into a style that blurred the lines between symphonic and space rock. As a musician without a backing band, he deftly avoided adding too much multi tracking by adopting a softer more melodic approach than that demonstrated by most of the works of YES and PINK FLOYD, while appropriately flaunting his considerable prowess on the bass. It worked extremely well.

The follow up has been years in the making, yet little has changed in the overall mood and approach, which in itself bodes well. The main differences lie in the more subdued bass work and the lesser appeal of the melodies. As a result, while this isn't STARCASTLE, it sounds far more like a YES wannabe than did "Above the Storm". Tracks like both the bookending title cuts, "The Clock" and "Once in Time" simply pass by without notice, while others like "Just for a While" and the epic "Song for Them" are decent with occasionally inspired themes but promise more than they ultimately deliver, their powerful sections alternating with passages that simply dissipate into the background.

"Axis of Men" is the best cut overall, with some clever vocoder work and contrasts, but even here his vocal passages do not carry as well into the instrumental sections, which seem more unfocused and doodling than they ever did on "Above the Storm".

My expectations were high for Gauthier after all this time, but I confess to being disappointed, my wish unfulfilled. Still if you enjoy the above mentioned artists, as well as ELOY and CLEPSYDRA, you might appreciate this slightly above average release.