A PLACE IN THE QUEUE

An uneven and eclectic double album, 'A Place in the Queue' was recorded with an eye on maintaining the momentum and attention given the first two albums. Roine Stolt and Zoltan Csorsz (guitarist and then-drummer for The Flower Kings) left the band, but were replaced with other Swedish musicians in Krister Jonsson (who played with Karmakanic, Jonas Reingold's band) and Jamie Salazar (who was the original drummer for The Flower Kings), so the Swedish connection continued. Theo Travis had already replaced David Jackson in the last album. With this new line-up, the band began touring extensively in support of 'A Place in the Queue'.

There is a ton of material on this album. Even on just the original CD the capacity is maxed out, with two 20+ min epics, three roughly 10-minute tracks and two shorter pieces. But the version I have is the deluxe/extended double-CD release, which contains another 17 minutes of music recorded at the same time, a long 9-min mix of one of the short tunes (the single 'Sun In My Eyes'), and 20 mins of improvisation (including a live track written by Travis). This album has more compositional collaboration too, with almost half the tracks here written collaboratively (with Travis, Manning, Baine, and Middleton, and Jonsson). The result is an album that feels like a real band album. The music varies in style more than the usual Tangent album, with some pieces actually danceable (again, the single "Sun in my Eyes"), others decidedly avant-jazz (DIY Surgery), and of course the usual Tillison/Tangent social critique. It takes a lot of time and effort to listen to the whole thing, and it is important to give this a full listen to understand its merits. Unfortunately, with so much music, many will be tempted to focus on the first track, which unfortunately is the weakest one here.

The album begins with the first of two long epics, "In Earnest", which suffers from being too true to its name. This long song is about a World War II veteran named Earnest who is now aged and forgotten, and impacted by his memories. Tillison uses his story to make a comment about the immorality of war and the plight of veterans. While I like the general theme, musically this is one of the weakest Tangent pieces. The lyrics are among Tillison's more trite, his singing is a bit more off-key than usual (or at least I notice it more), and the music is generally weaker - it seems mostly written not for music's sake, but instead as backing to the extensive lyrics. But the worst part is that virtually the whole 20 min song is taken up with lyrics, there is no space for the music to speak. The instrumental sections and solos are very brief - it always comes right back to more lyrics. And it goes on and on. Interestingly, Tillison states in the liner notes that Yes's 'Tales of Topographic Oceans' was his inspiration for this album. However, Tales had lots of musical instrumental sections and long solos, it wasn't all full of lyrics like on this song. And all the music on Tales is better than on Earnest. This is hands down the weakest Tangent epic they have ever recorded in my opinion. This is the only song I can't listen to any more on this album. And at 20 minutes, this is a lot of song.

Thankfully, the album picks up from here, and there is still tons of music on it. "Lost in London" is also a Tillison social commentary, this time more personal (about his own experiences feeling lonely when first arriving in London), and it works much better both lyrically and musically. However, it is "DIY Surgery" that finally shakes the listener free from the tired feeling remaining from "In Earnest". Zany jazz avant-funk piece written by Travis, this song wakes the listener up some new sounds, and in the process makes instantly clear what was missing from opening epic. From this point on, the music is all excellent. GPS Culture is another Tillison social commentary, but one of the first of what I think is his main lyrical strength - a social critique of the effects of information technologies in modern life. Continuing with some of the thoughtful critiques begun in 'The World we Drive Through', it is on this album that Tillison really begins commenting on how the internet, digital technology and the like have their dark side. These particular insights are one of the things I really appreciate about The Tangent albums, and about Tillison's writing. This critical ethos continues with "Follow Your Leaders", and perhaps most delicious of all, the groovy dance-hall hit single "The Sun In My Eyes", which is actually a pean to progressive rock and the ability of good music to get one through tough times and social ostracism! (yes, a dance song that promotes progressive rock!). I love it. I also happen to really identify with it - so often in the face of life's challenges (and when younger of the cruelty and unfairness of other human beings, from schoolyard bullies to rotten employers) I have found my inner strength in music. And I think Tillison has found a good metaphor - it is very much like having the sun in one's eyes.

But it is the title track, the 25-minute epic "A Place in the Queue" which is the shining star on the album. Combining Tillison's previous insights about loneliness in modern times (from 'In Darkest Dreams" and "A Gap in the Night", from the first and second Tangent albums, respectively), with the critiques of the way we live (e.g. "The World that we Drive Through"), and his new-found insights about information technology (from spreadsheet accounting, to big-data surveillance), noted above, Tillison builds a dystopian critique of the way contemporary modernity means a life that is increasingly regimented, watched, planned largely to benefit the interests of others, exhausted of possibility and spontaneity, and defined by how willing one is to sell out one's principles for temporary scraps of time. It is devastating. Yet it is not overblown - nothing Tillison says in the piece is an exaggerated claim, or over the top. He simply generalizes from real life. We might not necessarily agree with the implications, but the lyrics here come across as authentic and believable, not pretentious. The music is co-written with Travis, and the music is really excellent, jazzier and different from any other piece, and thus quite original. And there are real musical breaks that given the listener some space. This is one of The Tangent's best epics, a good counter to the one that opens the album.

The pieces on the bonus disc included in the deluxe/extended double-CD version are also worth having. In fact, the 17 minutes of music recorded at the same time as the rest of the album is all better than "In Earnest", both musically and lyrically. "Forsaken Cathedrals" is particularly good. I also really like (of course) the 9-minute version of "Sun in my Eyes". The live track "Grooving on Mars" written by Travis is excellent, and the 13-minute instrumental improvisation "Kartoffeisalat Im Unterseeboot" is also good.

Overall, this is an important album, and one that despite the weak opening epic, I really like. Of course, when reviewing an album, I need to take into account its entirely. On balance, including everything, I give this album 8.2 out of 10 on my 10-point scale. If "In Earnest" had been left off this album, it would definitely score higher, in the high 80s.

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