THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

Back in 2010 I reviewed my first AIRBAG album, their debut from 2009 called "Identity". I still remember spending way too much time trying to decide between 3 stars or 4 stars as for me it's a 3.5 star debut. Really impressed with it but a couple of so-so songs in there too. Here I am back over a decade later to review their third studio album "The Greatest Show On Earth". Man they have improved as far as my musical tastes are concerned. Still very FLOYD-like and ANATHEMA came to mind at times, their "Judgement" era. So much spacey atmosphere and three of the five musicians play keyboards.

This is simply a very consistent record with all six tracks bringing lots to the table that I like. Emotional vocals, emotional soaring guitar leads, interesting lyrics are all part of this album. This is around the time that Norway was just starting to leave a mark in the Prog community, a mark that has continued to grow in 2023 to the point that Norway is at the very forefront of progressive music, leading the way. Like PINK FLOYD this band are masters at contrasting the mellow and powerful sections to great affect. PINK FLOYD is the first band that I noticed used to this style back on "Dark Side Of The Moon" even though it wasn't new or anything at that point.

I really like how uniform the sound is here and can't get enough of that spacey atmosphere and those soaring guitars. A 4 star album without question.