AFTER ALL...

Very interesting french neo prog outfit that offers their second CD. After All... is a concept album of sorts and while it is a ´true´ neo prog record, with everything that makes this kind of music so appealing to me (dramatic vocals, beautiful Latimer/Rothery inspired guitar solos and dreamy keyboards) , it is also clear that the band has not reached a point where they you can tell they have a sound of their own. Eye 2 Eye was obviously influenced by Pink Floyd and, specially, early Marillion. That´s part of the problem: some parts sound too much like PF while others are pure Marillion (not as much as canadian band Red Sand does, but close).

On the other hand it is also obvious that the group has very talented musicians and their songwriting is, at least, above average. Oddly enough, singer Jack Daly delivers his parts more like Steve Hogarth than Fish, even if several hints of Fish lyrics are present along with the music (a homage?). The addtion of a violin player on some tracks is a plus and I hope they use this instrument more in the future. As expected the guitar solos are brilliant and the keyboards are great too. Ok, nothing really new, but brilliant parts anyway. Production is very good.

Conclusion: a great promise. In 75 minutes of musis, After All... has lots of tasteful moments that will please the neo prog lover for sure. But the band has to hone their strong songwriting skills to make something less derivative and more original. Certainly they are more than capable of doing so. I´m looking forward to hear their next release. Maybe this will THE one. For now, they are good (most of the time very good), but hardly essential: 3,5 stars is a good rating.