THE MOMENT OF HEARING

After finishing their debut album the band decided to relocate from New Orleans to Atlanta, Georgia. Not long after the move the vocalist (male) along with the bass player left the band. So this Atlanta lineup sounds quite different as they added a female singer, a new bass player plus a second guitarist who also played mellotron. Since i've already reviewed the debut album which is included on this compilation i'll focus on the songs from the "Atlanta Years". The music here is less energetic than the "New Orleans Years" which isn't a bad thing at all, but like the debut the vocals (although different of course) I would classify as below average at best.The variety of keyboards is the highlight on this one. At one time we could be hearing the keyboardist, the guitar player playing mellotron and the singer playing synths.

"Perspectives" opens with drums and keyboards then it settles as acoustic guitar and vocals arrive. My favourite section is the instrumental passage before 4 1/2 minutes to after 7 1/2 minutes. Nice. "The Toast" is led by synths(I think) and drums as male vocals join in.The sound quality isn't the best here. Not a fan at all although the mellotron after 5 minutes is good.

"The Waiting Room" opens with mellotron, strummed guitar, bass and drums as the vocals join in. She sounds like Kate Bush here with those high pitched vocals. "The Masque" sounds good to start as it's quite pastoral. Vocals after a minute. Some aggressive guitar before 5 1/2 minutes.Some male and female vocal arrangements follow. "Wind Psalm" opens with organ then it settles with drums and piano. It picks up before 3 1/2 minutes. Orchestral-like sounds after 5 minutes to end it.

There are a lot of fans of this band out there so if your into Symphonic music with a fair amount of mellotron this might be for you.