SOMEWHERE BUT YESTERDAY

"Somewhere but Yesterday" is the second full-length studio album by UK, London based progressive rock act Citizin Cain. The album was released through SI Music in 1994. It´s the successor to "Serpents In Camouflage" from 1992. There have been three lineup changes since the predecessor and only lead vocalist George Scott "Cyrus" and keyboard player Stewart Bell remain from the lineup who recorded "Serpents In Camouflage".

Those two are the most dominant figures in Citizin Cain though and to my ears the lineup changes haven´t meant much in terms of development of sound and style. This is still neo-progressive rock which is greatly influenced by Fish-era Marillion, IQ, and late 70s Genesis. The latter influence is predominantly felt in the voice and singing style of "Cyrus", who has a voice and singing style which is relatively close to sounding like Peter Gabriel. While I initially wrote that little development has taken place since the first album, it´s not completely true and I´d say Citizen Cain has spend more time composing slightly more memorable and impactful parts than on the overloaded and busy debut album.

They still have a tendency to drag their ideas out and compose songs which are way too long considering that not enough of their songwriting ideas are particularly memorable or stand out from each other. The 25:40 minutes long "Somewhere but Yesterday / A Word in Your Ear" is a bit of a chore to get through and you still have to get through another four 10 minutes long tracks before the album ends.

So the term too much quantity not enough quality applies here. This is not bad by any means, it´s just feels like a band full of neo-progressive rock fans who know all the tricks in the book, and perform them without much emotion and without trying to put their own spin on things. If you´re content with listening to a band with zero identity and unique ideas and just can´t get enough of 80s influenced neo-progressive rock, I guess "Somewhere but Yesterday" is as good a choice as anything in that style, but if you crave just a tiny bit of originality and uniquenss from the artists you listen to, I can´t recommend this album. Objectively A 3 star (60%) rating is still warranted for the qualities featured on the album.