AND I'LL RECITE AN OLD MYTH

By late-90's the majority of the early Providence line-up had changed.Gone were drummer Chiba Hideki, guitarist Miyamoto Kenichi and bassist Kazuno Tsuyoshi, replaced by Yuichi Sugiyama, Satoshi Ono and Yasuyuki Hirose respectively.Now with a more stable crew Tsukada had the opportunity to record the band's first officias album.''And I'll recite an old myth'' saw the light in 1989 on King Records,featuring the contribution of Christian Beya,guitarist of Atoll,on the 20 min. epic of the album.

Four long progressive tracks with a variety of tempos and styles is what this album is all about.''Galatea'' is a 14 min. fusion adventure,very much influenced by U.K. with definite hints of Eddie Jobson's style on keyboards and Holdsworth-like guitar solos.Female singer Yõko Kubota has a sweet voice,singing mainly in high notes,while most of the track consists of complex interplays between keys,guitars and drums,except the last calm section,where some mellotron and piano gears things down.Good track,which however lacks in somewhat of conveincing solid structure.''Eternal children'' clocks at 8 minutes (the shortest of all tracks) and the U.K. influence becomes clearer,as this track is more song- based,maintaining its fusion-eque edge delivered by dominant keys and a heavy rhythm section.''Dream seeker's mirage'' comes like the slavation after the first 22 minutes fusion attack.Soft mellotron and acoustic guitars blended with Kubota's smooth vocals create a MOODY BLUES-like ballad atmosphere,though the track becomes a little boring through the way,due to its long duration and lack of changing moods.

Facts seem to disappoint me a bit by this point and I had to wait for the 20 min. opus to see if my taste for this album would change.The calm opening notes are followed by mellotron/organ-led nice 'n' groovy passages and a soft symphonic approach later.At the middle vprepare for a jazzy piano/drums obscurity,before Tsukada returns with grandiose symphonic keys to introduce the listener a heavy prog territory with fantastic guitar and piano work.Closing to the end and after a mass of complex fusion parts,Kubota accompanies the band with high-pitched vocals on a mellotron-filled ending with an acoustic closing part.Not a killer track,but a very interesting one.

I'm torn between 2 and 3 stars for this one.The first three tracks are not above average.The band is technically skillful,but all of them are missing of memorable moments.The closer is actually quite good,stepping nice and easy from acoustic music and Fusion to Symphonic Rock and Heavy Prog.At the end I will have to go with the 3 star rating,trying to compare this with U.K.'s (the band sounding closer to PROVIDENCE) masterpiece debut.Not even close to it in terms of composition level,but technically at the same level.Go for it at a reasonable price. (The album has been re-issued on CD)

PS:How the hell is this band listed as Neo Progressive?Not a moment of neo prog in here!