PICTURE

I'm really surprised at the lack of excitement over Kino. I think "Picture" was a nice surprise for 2005's crop of new bands. While being labled another "supergroup" I wish I could remove that word from our language and just judge what a bunch of musicians do for the fun of it. And in this case, John Mitchell (guitars & vocals), Chris Maitland (drums), Pete Trawavas (bass) and John Beck (keyboards) came about and put out an interesting, low-keyed album which immediately brought about gigantic expectations because members of Arena, It Bites, ex-Porcupine Tree and Marillion must put together a phenomenal album to end all albums. And they didn't. Instead, they wrote a bunch of catchy songs that were expertly played and didn't meet with most people's expectations, that is, it wasn't a progressive masterwork - it was only...good, interesting music of the melodic type.

That seems to be a bad thing, which is a shame as this is an enjoyable album if you take it for what it was meant to be - a bunch of songs played well and in a more rock than uber-prog based style.

I find it to be highly enjoyable, reminding me to a degree of Arena with some Marbles-era Marillion tossed in. As an album it is enjoyable but as a prog-masterpiece it's a 3. But is that the band's fault or our pre-release hope? I don't remember the hype being terribly overstated from what we have on Kino's initial release, "Picture."

Here's what I think of it. The song "Loser's Day Parade" is on Prog Archives. Have a listen and decide if this is your cup of tea. I liked "Picture" well enough on the strenght of that song to purchase it and have been really pleased with the album. One of my nephews wasn't thrilled by "Loser's Day Parade" but still liked the album I sent him. He isn't a prog-nut like I am but his tastes are respectable. What did he like aboiut "Picture"?

He felt it was mostly consistent and was a good listen. It made it to his iPod so he must have liked it enough to use up space.

In an odd way this album reminded me of bands like UK. The song writing was right on the cusp of hard rock and progressive with the hard rock conveying the spirit. Track by track I found myself forgetting I was listening to some heavy duty artists and began listening to the music that was before me, and the more I listen, I really enjoy the songs for what they are.

Will you like it? It's hard to say. The quality of the artists are not in question. It's a matter of what you normally enjoy and how much you can stretch your tastes. I really enjoy Kino but accept others might not, thoiugh I feel they are short-changing the band from the lack of the first missing orchestral arrangement. I honestly believe this album could open a lot of minds if given a chance and hope folks will give it a chance.