THE GREAT LEAP

Phideaux

Crossover Prog

3.30 | 258 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

ZowieZiggy
Prog Reviewer

Phideaux brought mixed feelings to my ears. From poor to very good and then back to average...It was difficult to know what to expect from this new Phideaux album.

Wake Up holds all the might of a great and powerful new-wave tune (don't forget that the man started his career in this genre). A sustainable and highly energetic track. I hope you would like it as much as I do.

When one listens to the early tracks of this album, it is obvious that the folkish and dull mood of its predecessor ("313") is all gone. What we get here, are more straight forward songs, more rhythms, more fun.

Several songs are on the heavy edge as well. But this is no novelty: same took place during "Ghost Story". As far as I am concerned, I far much prefer these harder sounds than the mellowish and uninspired ones form Phideaux prior release. All the mighty and melody of "Rainboy" is such a pleasure to listen to.

The whole mood of this album is on par. This is prog music on the hard side. The melodic parts are not alien, but they are rather shortly formatted if you take the whole into consideration.

This "Great Leap" is an album full of dynamics, which is probably not the essence of the man ("Long And Lonely Way"); but which is more than welcome IMO. There are an awful lot of catchy songs in here. They are mostly passionate, which I have always considered as quite an achievement ("They Hunt You Down").

Phideaux's music is very personal. There is nothing as pastiche or borrowed music from the seventies in here. A fresh and innovative album, that's it. But no masterpiece either. This album is not really on the prog edge; it is more of a modern rock release ("Tannis Root", "One Star").

This album is actually in the middle of the road in terms of "Phideaux". Not as strong as"Ghost Story", not as prog and creative as "Chupacabras"; it is still a pleasant musical moment and should deserve much more attention than six reviews with comments.

Three stars for this good rock album.

ZowieZiggy | 3/5 | 2008-9-18

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Share this PHIDEAUX review

Social review comments () BETA

Review related links

Send comments to ZowieZiggy
Report this review (#182801)
Buy PHIDEAUX music online with PA partners
Show all PHIDEAUX MP3/Stream
Go to PHIDEAUX page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
Go to The Great Leap page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
Search the Forum for PHIDEAUX related discussions