A SORROW IN OUR HEARTS

For some reasons, my first impression of this album was it had a lot of Al Stewart vibes in it. That's during the first two songs. Then it turns more inland again through the valleys of Pallas, Pendragon and Genesis.

This is the debut album by this Dutch band. They played together since 1975 under the name Saga and took a small break before they returned with a new setup under the name Us. That's the history bit.

The music does have a lot of Al Stewart vibes in addition to the strong Pallas vibes. The songs are pretty anonymous during the first listening sessions. This album does require a lot from the listener before it's values shines through. I have really been struggling with this album. It is far too much rock and not enough symphonic in my view. The tangents are a bit anonymous in the mix too. This water here is still water and not sparkling. But despite of my grumblings, it is a good album, although it fails to make me go of the rails in joy. As a debut album, this is a good effort. The album shows great deal of talent on Passport To Magonia and that saves this album from a rather modest harvest of stars.

3 stars (barely)