THE PENDULUM

Another good work from the Japanese scene of prog/melodic hard rock:yet this "The pendulum" is characterized by a new arrangement regarding a couple of old songs ("Empty lie, empty dream" and "Orpheus") and other controversial tracks.in the same manner as within for example some albums by Cast, the Japanese ensemble and-in particular- Toshio Egawa, the keyboardist- is self-indulgent during the solos, sometimes very prolix in their performance.apart from such defect (it reminds me of the virtuosity concerning some albums by Ars Nova.), the melodic lines (Uriah Heep-like) are pretty and more interesting than their harmonic solutions!! Their first debut album-dated 1984- stands alone as one of the best Japanese albums of the early eighties (in spite of a few minor defects), while the present "The pendulum" is too much controversial and sometimes uneven, in spite of showing an improvement.check it out anyway and then make your own choice once again!