THE RINGMASTER - PART ONE

Have to say that I am a bit divided here. On one side, the listener in me tells me that this is a masterful recording, complete with great compositions, sky-high production values, and the principal thing: every musician involved performs to the outmost perfection, without any excess or shortness. But, on the other side, the critic in me tells me that this is hardly an original piece of music, since it's so overly based on the legacy of Mike Oldfield, and maybe also some drops of Anthony Phillips here and there. Adding on this side of the balance, we have a clear air of Fleetwood Mac's Albatross gracing The Defeated Army, one of the coolest moments of the album, probably my favorite track.

Concluding, if you are not easy to put off with influences that sound so utterly recognizable, you might enjoy quite a bit this excellent album.