THE STORM INSIDE

One of the many 90s neo-prog bands that caught the bug in the wake of the British 80s prog revival propelled by Marilion, IQ, Pallas and Twelfth Night amongst others, the Dutch LIKE WENDY was basically the brainchild of guitarist / vocalist / keyboardist Bert Heinen who frequented the pubs with his mates. While he and his friends all aspired to play in a band all but Bert Heinen kept it as a mere fantasy. Heinen's passion was fiery enough to carry through and after a few years of forging an arsenal of material and technical skills started LIKE WENDY and has been active in the neo-prog scene ever since. While the 'band' has been a duo since 2005, basically the early albums are a one-man act with a few guest musicians popping in to add some extra touches.

Such is the case with this debut THE STORM INSIDE that was released in 1998 with Heinen covering guitars, vocals and keyboards with someone simply named Marien adding drums and extra keyboards. LIKE WENDY basically followed in the footsteps of the English neo-prog scene with all the typical neo-prog traits that were all the rage in the 90s with bands like IQ, Arena, Pendragon, Fish, Jadis and Citizen Cain. That being dreamy melodic passages that feature mid-tempo rock with a grooving bass line, guitar sweeps and layers of atmospheric as well as virtuosic keyboard runs. Add to that the passionate vocal delivery that brings and 80s Marillion vibe to the mix. This album was long for a debut as it featured eight tracks that sailed on for 65 minutes.

Although the Netherlands found bands jumping on the neo-prog bandwagon right from the start, most of them released an album or two and fizzled out quickly becoming mere footnotes in history however even by the 90s this nation still wasn't a huge neo-prog hold out and although a few bands like Flamborough Head and Egdon were dabbling in similar terrain. LIKE WENDY though was one of the few to emerge in the 90s and remain relevant throughout the 2000s but never reached the heights of the top dogs of the British and Polish scenes. Basically this debut skirts on going through the neo-prog by the numbers routine without adding anything significantly different to the craft. While the 90s was a bit of playing catch up for many bands it wasn't until the 2000s when the genre really started to explode into myriad directions.

Overall THE STORM INSIDE is fairly impressive for a single guy to create simply fueled by his love of the neo-prog genre and everything is performed quite elegantly and sounds like a classic neo-prog album in every aspect including Heinen's vocal style however the album also feels very generic and simply copying what's already been done without developing a distinct LIKE WENDY style that set the act apart from the multitude of other neo-proggers getting in on the act at this point. There were so many crafty creative bands at this point in the genre that the bar had already been raised a few notches. This is a perfectly listenable album with every box checked off with grace however it doesn't provide much that latches on and takes a hold of ya either. Nice beginning and LIKE WENDY would evolve as time elapsed but this debut is the perfect representative of a merely good album without being great. Add to that the album is way too long for what it has to offer.