THE SCENE OF PALE BLUE

The third album by Outer Limits is my favorite one from their first era (with Tomoki Ueno, the Japanese Geoff Mann on lead voice and additional keyboards): in fact, The Scene of the Pale Plue is not only their most compositionally inspired album in the 80s, but it is also the epitome of their progressive offering - neoprog with a real rocking attitude, ornaments from Crimsonian nuances and Gothic ambiences, careful yet ballsy treatment of the various moods that take over during a track's expansions. The album's original repertoire consists of tracks 2-5. This Musea CD issue includes the opener 'Marionette's Lament', which originally appeared in an EP released 1 year after this album, while 'Pteridophyte' was rescued from an old Japanese prog rock compilation. It's curious how a bonus track can serve as an effective opener, indeed: 'Marionette's Lament' is an amazing (and a bit extravagant) example of mysterious yet catchy atmospheres within a format that reminds us of early Marillion and classic Twelfth Night, disturbing and stylish at the same time. 'Mixer' bears a kinder mood, starting with a friendly motif that may remind us of typical 80s European pop-rock, although the complacency is not too much. The violin and synth adornments that emerge later bring some unexpected folkish moods, in this way allowing things to get more bombastic for an impressive finale. The instrumental 'Platonic Syndrome' is very powerful, somber as it is elegant, kind of an anticipation of the symphonic prog sound that somewhere far away Abraxas will evolve in Poland. It's just a coincidence, I know... The violin solo in the middle is abrassive and the final motif displays a captivating darkness. 'Antipodean' (my fave trakcin the album) gets started with familiar airs brought back from the CD's opener: lyrics are somewhat minimal, but Ueno's chanting is really something weird enough to not leave the listener unaware (they may find it pleasant or not, that's another matter). At minute 6 comes a beautiful, Baroque-inspired classical guitar motif accompanied by recitation and soft singing. A screw turn makes things get bombastic with a predominant presence of synthesizers, taking charge of the orchestrations, harmonic basis, ornaments and a mesmerizing solo (Bardens-meets- Jobson style). The climax is genuinely orchestral, like UK going Gothic. The namesake track is a 20 ½ minute suite that kicks off with mysterious church organ layers, soon followed by a sinister symphonic section that shouts B-horror movie!! in the listener's face. The succession of a variety of sections based on guitar riffs, the Gregorian-like chorale interlude, and a beautiful piano sonata augmented by guitar effects that leads to a violin.-centered passage, all of these portions together clearly tell a story whose narrative is up to the listener's imagination. After the aforesaid violin passage, comes a colorful section that reminds us of Yes at their most candid. Outer Limits don't get more ambitious than this: these 20 minutes have been just amazing. Last, the closer 'Pteridophyte' with a rich pallet of colors that includes wild violin lines, Frippian guitar leads, inventive keyboard passages that go from dissonant orchestrations from clever counterpoints and well-ordained solos. An excellent closure for one of the best albums by the best Japanese neoprog band ever. Now that the band has reinvented themselves for the new millennium, it is a good time to enjoy their eearlier input - IMHO, The Scene of the Pale Blue is their zenith for their Umeno-era.