TALL TALES

Imagine a blend between the sounds of Discipline's debut album and Genesis' A Trick of the Tail, with the lyrical subject matter geared much towards the latter rather than the former: there you'll have a fairly good idea of the sound of Crucible, who like Discipline straddle the worlds of symphonic prog and neo-prog and are happy to pick the best ideas from both subgenres in producing their whimsical fairy tales. The Esposito brothers are the star players on this album, with Dan Esposito proving a capable guitarist in the Steve Hackett/Steve Rothery vein, whilst Bill Esposito has the vocal presence of a young Geddy Lee (but not quite such a high voice). Not game-changingly original, but very capably composed and delivered nonetheless.