THE CREEPING VINE

This was the first Cyan CD I bought and I must say it took quite some time to write a review. Since I found Magenta I had been curious to anything related to their members, specially Rob Reed, for he writes all their songs. And Magenta is one of the top progressive bands nowadays. So Cyan was my next target.

Well, Cyan does not sound much like Magenta. In fact it is quite different. The CD did not imediatly capture my imagination. At first I thought it was dull and I put it aside after two or three listenings. Recently I decided to give it a new shot and I was quite surprised how good it sounded! It's not the synphonic sound of Magenta, but it has many styles and shows that Rob Reed is indeed a very gifted and prolific songwriter. Not a bad song in here. Some people may complain it lacks direction, but I don't see it that way. The guy can write quite different styles and still the album does not seem patchy or confused. In fact, it is quite smooth. Reed is very good at writing fine prog songs and every tune in this CD should be heard as an independent piece. . He also seem to have a good eye (or ear) for the musicians he chooses to play with. Well, some are obvious, like Nick Barret of neo prog legend Pendragon (the guitar parts are very well done, with some amazing solos like the one in Goodbye World), but everyone involved here does a fine job.

In the end I can not rate this CD less than 4 stars. I recomended it to anyone who likes neo prog music. It has great melodies and enough musicanship and progressive elements to surprise you, in a good way. Unlike I thought before, Cyan is more than just a side project.