TIME MIRROR

A decade after Veni Vidi Vici the release of Time Mirror took me by surprise, mostly because this is no longer the wonderful mini orchestra called PÄR LINDH PROJECT but a power trio headed by Par Lindh and William Kopecy plus four different drummers (Al Lewis who also takes the role of lead vocalist, Svetlan Råket from the DVD In Concert - Live in Poland, Stefan Bergman and Pär himself), one for each tack.

I don't have any problem with the new band because Pär is exceptional as usual, William Kopecy is an outstanding bass player,. the four drummers are capable and Al Lewis does a great job in the vocals (Sounds like a not annoying Jon Anderson) but something is missing, maybe the lack of guitars, or the magic of a real band instead of a keyboard driven trio, the point is that they are technically flawless but part of the magic is gone..

Until now I always disagreed wit the people who said that PLP was strongly influenced by ELP, as a fact I always considered that Pär is cleaner with more classic approach, surely less spectacular, but technically superb, now I have to agree with them, because in his new role as a one man orchestra he borrows a lot from Emerson, mainly in the first two songs..

The first track Time Mirror is chance for Pär to demonstrate his skills, with church organ solos as usual, and Jazz fugues, but seems that he has too much work covering the instruments he usually added, yes it's pompous and brilliant, but as I said before there's something missing.

The first half of Waltz Street seems like a comedy relief track in the vein of "Jeremy Bender" or "The Sheriff", but a few organ solos in the instrumental break make the difference, a good song but not in the level of previous material.

With Death Unreconciled reminds me more of the old PÄR LINDH PROJECT, the piano and organ work are simply delightful and Pär Lindh allows himself to be the keyboardist we all admire again, much more original and imaginative, even the vocals and percussion remind me of Gothic Impressions, all the Keith Emerson references are left behind, the magic is back, at least for one song.

The album ends with Sky Door, a very interesting instrumental, because represents a change in the bands sound, even when doesn't remind of previous albums, they keep a healthy distance from ELP and again Par Lindh sounds as Par Lindh, they sound lighter than the rest of the album but must recognize that the sound is absolutely original.

The header of this review, says "An acquired taste", because used to fall in love with every PLP release at the first listen, but Time Mirror took me several attempts, as a fact I felt that I wasn't before PÄR LINDH PROJECT except for With Dead Unreconciled, but once I got used to the new atmosphere and sound, discovered an excellent album that deserves no less than four stars.

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