COMING UP TO CONSCIOUSNESS

Jon Courtney returns sans founding member Chlo' Alper, here replaced by the more-available and very talented Annicke Shireen. Jon also enlists the support of his producer, Bruce Soord, for guitar and effects as well as Bruce's The Pineapple Thief band-mate, Jon Sykes, and legendary journeyman Guy Pratt to cover some of the bass parts.

1. "Prelude: Coming Up to Consciousness" (0:32) 2. "Dig Till You Die" (4:36) though there is a lot that sounds too borrowed from the band's debut album (specifically the pattern and sound palette of the rhythm foundation), there is enough wonderful stuff here to make this a wonderful listening experience. Vocal is too compressed. The bass, too. I love the intro. (8.875/10)

3. "Interlude 1" (0:23) 4. "Betrayal" (4:05) some nice elements that don't quite gel. (8.75/10)

5. "The Gallows" (4:36) great bass playing, great sound palette, and nice melodies--especially in the ear-candy-themed second half. A mature, well-developed, complete-feeling song. A top three song. (9.25/10)

6. "Interlude 2" (0:21) 7. "Useless Animal" (3:56) great lush vocal arrangements to some rather lackluster lyrics. A pretty solid, complete- feeling song. (8.875/10)

8. "Interlude 3" (0:12) 9. "Worship" (5:02) opens fronted some simple guitar chords being arpeggiated while Jon sings. Annicke gets some appearance time before the full band kicks in at 1:13. The band's old pedal steel guitar's presence is nice. Again, the main fault with this song is in its leaning back on old patterns, sounds, riffs, and themes. (8.75/10)

10. "Interlude 4" (0:17) 11. "Bend the Earth" (6:19) a song that feels like the most original content on the album: palette (that unusual bass sound and programmed drum sequence), chords, structure, flow, rhythm patterns--everything except the chorus motif feels new and refreshing. (9/10)

12. "Lifeless Creature" (6:10) tension filled piano arpeggios open this one before Jon enters positing an-almost whispered vocal. Then synth bass, syncopated drum machine pattern, and other tension- and atmosphere-building effects enter, creating a very interesting and highly original motif to which Jon and Annicke add much magical vocal work. After the singing is done around the 3:50 mark the tension just builds and builds. This is awesome! Love the deep bass thrums. At 5:00 the tension bursts and we come back to Jon's guitar-supported vocal--which is then joined by the full ensemble to the song's finish. The most interesting and, perhaps, the best song on the album. A top three, to be sure. (9/10)

13. "Interlude 5" (0:38) like a hundred distorted accordions recorded and somehow warped in the taping process. (My favorite interlude.) 14. "As We Disappear" (4:49) another delightfully unique and unusual song with treated piano, bass, gently arpeggiated electric guitar, atmospheric synths, Jon's voice with Annicke's wonderful harmony support. Drums kick in around the two-minute mark. That distinctive piano, however, is the main attention-getter for me. My final top three song. (9.125/10)

Total Time 41:56

Note: Only the digital versions of the album have short interludes included as separate tracks. The physical issues don't list interludes as separate tracks, but instead incorporate them into the tracks occurring either before or after them.

While I loved Chlo' Alper on The Dark Third, I never thought she was given enough of the spotlight after PRR's first album. The role and prominence given to Jon's new female counterpart, Annicke Shireen, is wonderful--and quite welcome--as Chlo''s strong presence on The Dark Third is one of the reasons I fell in love with the band, music, album. The vocal arrangements, however, too often fall into the realm of "syrupy" and/or "overdone." The bass contributions are also quite welcome; nice, smooth and confident bass makes such a difference. I only wish I could find out who is performing them: which performances come from legendary journeyman Gary Pratt and which from Bruce Soord's sidekick.

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of crossover prog; an album that I really enjoy and so want to promote as a five-star masterpiece but it just falls short: so many very enjoyable songs just fall short. Highly recommended: decide for yourselves!