MOVIN' ON

Circus is a not very well known progressive rock band. On this album, it seems no keyboards are used, but it is very hard to believe! The influences seems come from everywhere, as i am going to explain below.

When you think about influences, then comes to mind Van Der Graaf Generator, as reveal the typical sax parts. Some drums parts & sax combinations will easily remind you King Crimson's "In the court of the Krimson King", especially the end of the "Movin' on" track. There are some excellent percussion parts, sounding like xylophone, reminding me Dire Straits' "Love over gold". The beautiful, relaxing & peaceful flutes remind me PFM's "Photos of ghost", the mellow flute parts on the Gryphon albums and the early King Crimson albums. The very dirty effects on electric guitars clearly remind me Jade Warrior, especially on the "Last autumn's dream" album: it sounds like if there was a dirty organ played all the time! There are other electric guitar sounds which slightly remind me the mellow tracks of early Judas Priest ("Rocka Rolla", "Sad wings of destiny" and "Sin after sin" albums). The music is often very delicate and subtle; the acoustic guitars parts are absolutely delightful and VERY refined, like on "Laughter Lane". "Movin' on" is the epic track of the album, lasting more than 20 minutes. The are some great lead & backing vocals which remind me Quebec prog band Harmonium.

Rating: 4.5 stars