OVER AND OUT

Another band resurfacing after a generation of absence only to rehash its old sound. Don't get me wrong: it's a great sound (except for the 1990s-sounding keyboards--something I've always complained about--even in the 1990s when my brother was collecting keyboards), lush and beautiful--with highly emotional, loud lead guitar leads and very pleasant vocals--but it is a sound that the band made a name for itself in the early 1990s, nothing new, nothing more; I was hoping so much to hear something new, something fresh, instead of more of the same old. (I guess I'm one of those music listeners: not wanting more of the same from a band but wanting to see/hear them grow, experiment, take risks, explore, reinvent themselves, instead of rely on one sound for their "gimmick.")

A song-by-song review will probably be added to this posting later, but for now let's say that this is a great sounding album of nice songs that all feel like I've heard before (minus the nice lyrics); a NeoProg band retro-ing themselves! I may change my mind, but it's very difficult for me to reward bands that "update" old stuff when other bands are working so hard to create fresh, new music.

Four stars; a nice addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially if you love the old Collage sound from the 1990s.