CHILDREN

While not creative at all, this American new-prog band had written a nice and melodic neo- prog album with a similar style of Marillion's 80s albums. Keyboards dominate the album, while Guitar acts more as a 2nd dominating instrument. The bass is interesting and interplays nicely with the other instruments at points. The drumming is nothing to write home about, but it good enough to create the relatively simple rhythms of the album. The vocalist has a great range, making his voice what I like the best about this album.

1. Haze is a powerful opener of the album with nice keyboard work and powerful guitar riffs. (6/10)

2. In Our Lives is an ok piece with good soloing but simple and uninteresting arrangement of sound. The second half is more interesting, with the children choirs. (5/10)

3. Given Away is a good song from the band that again fails to be creavite and powerful. (5.5/10)

4. Late Of Conscience is an overlong song with some good ideas (like the choir + harpsichord riff) and some filler. (5/10)

5. Cracker is less interesting than the first 3 tracks. There is some good guitar soloing around, but the song composition is slightly dull and uninteresting. (4/10)

6. Eye Next To Glass is a typical neo-prog ballad, and unfortunately ... I do not like the melodies. (3/10)

7. Your Darkest Hour is actually "eye next to glass" or seems like it. It is a heavier track than the previous one, but once again, the songwriting and chord progressions are not interesting (4/10)

8. The Final Stroke is a good track like the opener is. This is a big epic with nice musical arrangements and solos. The way the song is written makes it far from being a masterpiece though. (6/10)

So there you have it : a good album that unfortunately isn't groundbreaking, nor essential to a prog collection. While the musicianship is good, the musical arrangements and songwriting of this album is not very interesting, making it tend to bore the listener in some occasions. The melodies are also not very interesting either, making it not as memorable as most prog is.

My Grade : D+