HANDS

Grab a pot, throw in a load of Gentle Giant, some Camel, a smidgen of Kansas, Jehtro Tull, Happy The Man and King Crimson, add a pinch of Italian symph and you have a stew called Hands. And what a stew it is. These guys from good-ole Texas USA are some incredible players. Every instrument under the sun is played and played with professionalism. Starting out with the track "Zombieroch" a Gentle Giant-like instrumental, you'd swear it was cut from the 'Octopus' lp, it's that good. Most songs are instrumental, especially in the beginning. Of the songs with vocals, "Antartica" is my favorite. In fact, it's the only song that doesn't sound like any other band. And that's the only reason why I give this album four stars over five. It's fine to be able to sound like other bands. But for my money, originality merits masterpiece ratings. The track, "Dreamsearch" is a case in point. Starting out with an incredible take on classic Italian symphonic prog, four minutes in it switches gears into a blazing Gentle Giant boogie to then settle back into the Italian prog sound masterly. Yet, if you played the track not knowing who it was, you wouldn't think, "Oh, that's that band Hands." Come to think of it, the name of the band is rather the point. They dip there hands in all sorts of bands. Maybe they should have been called, 'Chameleon'. I'm not knocking the playing, which is awesome. But derivative, my name is Hands. Still, when compared to other US bands from that era, Hands are tight, talented professional players who, if given time, money and started out earlier could have been THEE best prog band ever from these shores.