AGAINST REASON

The kind of second-tier 'prog rock' that bores and alienates many of the listeners who like music with more intricate, multi-layered compositional content, less predictability, and more virtuosic or 'classically trained' musicianship. High points: all of the electric guitar and keyboard soli; "Intimate Strangers" (9/10 despite its "Sky Moves Sideways" beginning). Low points: shockingly simple song constructs; rhythm sectio;, lyrics. Seriously, my first impression as I listened to "Staring at the Sun" (6/10) was that this was a 'wedding singer' band that is trying to venture out on its own. They are, IMO, on a par with other decent 'second-tier' bands like Unitopia, RPWL, Astra, Mystery, Black Noodle Project, Cirrus Bay, Combination Head, David Minasian, Dredg, Airbag, Gazpacho, Grand Stand, IOEarth, IZZ, Guilt Machine, Knight Area, Maze of Time, Mindflower, Hostsonaten, Moongarden, Outerlimits, Overhead, Parzival's Eye, Pineapple Thief, The Reasoning, Satellite, Sense, Silhouette, Slychosis, Sky Architect, The Source, Subsignal, tinyfish, Touchstone, Trion, Vienna Circle, XII Alfonso, and Xang. Not sophisticated enough for me. Good, but by no means essential.