THE WORLD THAT WE DRIVE THROUGH

This album is pure class - like a fine wine it deserves to be enjoyed at leisure in comfortable surroundings. The musicians are top notch and contribute to a beautifully crafted collection of prog songs which you will enjoy time and again. The opening track 'The Winning Game' opens in a sombre, mellow mood before expanding gradually and languidly into a laid back prog masterclass. Roine Stolt seems to have an ability to catch one unawares at times, he isn't a flashy guitar-hero, his area is more Gilmour/Latimer and he carries the song effortlessly, whilst the keyboards have a Floydian echo occasionally. 'Skipping the Distance' is more upbeat and has Tull-esque flute at the beginning, and quickly rattles along nicely. I love this song, it has everything for me - the drums are exuberant and there are lush syth passages (yum!) and generally the whole band has a ball, playing tight and well. Twenty minutes in already and we come to only the third track 'Photosynthesis'. This again has a nice flute section at the beginning, and tasteful, cool piano lines. Its a haunting song, but for me not as memorable as the first two, and only develops a hook in the last third of the track. The albums title track follows, and is the longest, clocking in at approx eighteen and a half minutes. It is a complex song and has quite a few influences, one being The Flower Kings, which may be obvious. It has a lot of time changes and is characterized by some phenomenal guitar near the end. 'A Gap in the Night' closes the album and has elements of cool, mellow jazz, and tasteful passages.The last third of this song is my favourite, as I prefer my prog a bit more uptempo. Echoes of Hackett are present in this section, and Stolt is given a run for his money by the keyboards of Tillson and the sax of Travis. An excellent album - well worthy of a listen.