HOW MUCH ARE YOU WILLING TO FORGET?

A collection of very strong crossover Prog songs with wonderful melodies, great structural and instrumental hooks in the vein of PORCUPINE TREE, AIRBAG, PINK FLOYD, and even a little bit of THE WHO. 2. "Go" (3:02) (7/10) takes me back to the 70s Fripp-assisted work of Peter Gabriel or Brian Eno. Some of the songs (like 3. "Out There" [6:00] [8/10], 6. "Everywhere Face" [4:37] [9/10], and especially 8. "Breathless" [8:20] [9/10]) sound so much like STEVEN WILSON/PORCUPINE TREE that it almost could be. (Is "Flicker" yet another Steven Wilson project??!!) Listening to the gorgeous Satie- and Rachmaninoff-inflected 9. "Is This Real Life?" (6:35) (9/10) I thought I was listening to RADIOHEAD!

My favorite songs are the album's two most original songs--the ones that, to me, sound the least like other bands: 4. "My Empty Head" (6:43) with its awesome final four minutes' instrumental jam (9/10) and 5. "Counting Time" (7:31) (9/10), and the Marco Gl'mmann/SYLVAN-like "Falling Down" (6:35) (8/10).

I have to admit that this is a very, very nice set of songs--especially for a debut album. Though often a bit familiar, they all stand on their own--are not total 'remakes' or ripoffs of the groups that they sound like.

Solid four stars.

P.S. Anyone else out there think they're hearing the voice of Pete Townsend singing on "Out There"?