A PLACE IN THE QUEUE

Oh what kinda musical taste that I have? It's too broad, I think . and it's probably undefined. After having reviewed what so called prog met album from Andromeda, now I'm moving into different kinda music which is totally different than the Andromeda kinda thing. Oh taste taste taste . what kinda taste? It doesn't matter, really, as long as the music is okay with my ears, I would go ahead enjoying the stream of music produced by different bands with different styles. That's the beauty of having no preconceived mind about certain type of music. But . there is another part of the coin: so many wish list that I've made for good CDs that will create serious dollar from my pocket. Never mind! I have to work very very hard (of course with prog spirit) to finance my needs for good CDs. What is work for prog man? To purchase CDs!

Yeah, let's get started with this great album by The Tangent. Roine Stolt, one of the best prog musicians we have nowadays, is out from The Tangent in this record. But, the music of The Tangent is still great- even it's much better than their second album "The World That We Drive Through". One thing, Roine Stolt is great, but the band still demonstrates excellent musical quality even after he is not involved in the project. Like its previous predecessors, this album offers you great prog music combining musical styles of Canterbury music like National Health, Hatfield and The North, Egg with Return To Forever music and also some flavors of rock music. It's definitely an album that no one who claims himself/herself as prog lover miss it. Yeah, it's powerful full stop.

It kicks off softly with great jazzy piano and heavy vocal section in "In Earnest" (20:03). You might be wondering that this long duration track will get you bored - it's not at all. It's terrific! There are multitudes of styles and tempo changes with great textures of organ / keyboard sounds and solos, plus powerful vocal line. The music sometimes turns complex with all instruments play difficult chords with some solos: piano, guitar and keyboards. Oh yes, if you love Canterbury, this track is definitely yours. No doubt. I can sense sometime the music resembles a style of Brian Auger but also a bit of ELP. Krister Jonsson who plays electric guitars also demonstrates his solo stunningly in the vein of classic rock music. It's an awesome song with great composition and structure. I know the track is long but I always repeat the track whenever I listen to it.

"Lost In London" (8:08) opens up in jazzy style combining vocal, flute, drums and bass. Flutes play in some lyrical segments wonderfully with high energy. This track might favor those who love jazz music. Even though there is practically no complexity offered in here, I do enjoy this track. I can see the positive energy cast by Andy Tillison when he sings this song. You can hear beautiful organ sounds along the track. Wonderfully composed!

"DIY Surgery" (2:16) pushes the music further into a bit of avant-garde style, maintaining the original sound of Tangent. The singing style is also different. Saxophone solo is really great in the middle of the track. Well, actually I do not favor sax, in general, but this track offers an attractive sounds and style. Drumming is also top notch! "GPS Culture" (10:07) has different style in terms of rhythm section composition but it's similar in terms of singing style of track 1 and 2. Pulsating organ sounds combined with guitar work make the music is rich in textures. Oh yeah . you might love how the organ is played at the back. Awesome! There are some riffs that remind me to Kansas' "Carry On wayward Son" followed with acoustic guitar work close to the middle of the track. The intertwining work of organ and guitar, played by Dan Watts of Parallel or 90 Degrees is truly stunning; especially when it's combined with silent part using flutes as interjecting sounds. Oh man . this is really cool ..!!!

"Follow Your Leaders" ( 9:21) starts off with dynamic organ punch followed with good guitar rhythm, augmented with dazzling drum. The music is presented differently than other tracks with relatively fast tempo. Andy's vocal quality still proves to be a good enjoyment thing of this one. Oh yeah . I never mention the basslines yet. Yes, it's a great bass guitar playing by The Flower Kings' Jonas Reingold. This tracks offers relatively long keyboard solo combined with flute. It's better playing this album in relatively high volume at your power amplifier.

"The Sun In My Eyes" (3:44) is like a poppy music with heavy brass section - it sounds like R&B music. But .. again, the singing style of Andy Tillison has made this song is different from any other pop songs. I even view this track serves as a "break" after enjoying wonderfully crafted and a bit complex composition. It's a disco song, but it's dynamic and it's nice . it's okay for a break. Why not? It does not jeopardize the cohesiveness of this album. Good.

Now we enter the album title track "A Place In The Queue" (25:19) which serves like an epic that concludes the album. It starts with music using sax as its solo, performed in medium tempo. When the silent part enters with beautiful acoustic guitar fills and rhythm, the clarinet (or alto sax) takes the lead melody very nicely - touchy, indeed. Vocal enters in ambient style in a bit of bluesy texture. The keyboard solo at approx min 6:00 combined with saxophone is well laid out in the whole structure of this epic track. One must pay attention to this part which in my case has made me "nggeblak" (sorry, am using my local language which means: my mind is totally paralyzed listening to this music segment and cannot think sane anymore. Scary isn't it? Well, am not exaggerating .). At approx minutes 10:00 the music changes dramatically in terms of style as the tempo moves quickly. Oh, I love the guitar rhythm at this part. The ending part of this track brings the music back to the intro part with saxophone as main melody, in relatively slow tempo.

What can I say after penning a long review about this album? In fact, I can make the review as long as a novel. But I'm sure, you're not gonna read it. Hey, you don't need to read this review actual, just take a recognizable action: buy this CD!. Oh by the way, the artwork is great! The sonic quality is excellent!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

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