CHASING THE DRAGONFLY

The music of Galdriel finally made some noise back in late-80's, selling over 2000 copies and with Musea showing an interest to sign the band.This way ''Muttered Promises From an Ageless Pond'' saw a CD reissue in 1990.In the meantime the band with a re-constructed line- up led by keyboardist Jesus Filardi started rehearsing on the new album in Madrid.The album was ready before the summer of 91', but Galadriel suffered during the recordings from serious come's and go's almost in every position.Eventually ''Chasing the Dragonfly'' was released in March 1992.

The strong YES influence remains the band's driving force both in the vocal and guitar department, while Galadriel insist on creating smooth, delicate arrangements over a more complex and progressive material.The violin is more evident in the instrumental parts, the guitar work lies somewhere between the technical view of STEVE HOWE and the more melodic side of STEVE HACKETT, the keyboard work remains steadily in the background creating some ethereal dreamy soundscapes, while Filardi's voice sounds exactly like JON ANDERSON.The style follows the vein of the previous album, somewhere between Neo Prog and light Symphonic Rock.However the huge changes during the recordings seem to have hurt the band badly.''Under a Full-Colloured Sky'' is just a New-Age piece of uninteresting music, the rest of the tracks rely heavily on Filardi's voice, the instrumental parts are limited to smooth and careful interplays while the melodies are a bit pale and unmemorable.The compositions follow constantly a down-tempo, almost hypnotic at moments and only when the members are in full collaboration one can see the full potential of the band.

While things were going the right way for Galadriel regarding their marketing and distribution, musically the band made a step backwards with some less-inspired musicianship and a mediocre composition level.Even this way a couple of early tunes are easily compared to their decent debut and enough to make the album recommended for Neo-Prog fanatics...2.5 stars.