Thoughtful appealing melodies and gentle sound. This is the sophomore album from a band coming out of the US/Minneapolis region. Their debut back in 2019 still was recorded by a four-piece line up. But on this occasion the term band must be relativated, as the core is reduced to multi-instrumentalists Jared Emery and Jacob Ewert. Nearly everthing is written, performed, and recorded by them both. By the way, before discovering THE LIGHT IN THE OCEAN they already have recorded music together under the moniker TOM'S HANK. With more focus on the instrumental execution on this occasion the sound is already offered with a distinctive design, it's definitely worth a try too. Now returning back to 2020, what I'm really fond of the provided variety in style and mood. A step forward, quite a sensation.

Where you certainly can recognize that they are from the States, occasionally I also hear some similarities to Umphrey's McGee. Exemplarily to notice during the extended closing track Hamilton Big Boys which also showcases some violin support by Stephen Decker. The album title, okay, some humour or pun intended? I suspect yet they are bashing a somewhat pseudo-intellectual pretension, elevatedness, we actually are faced with here and there. Concerning the production everything is balanced. Singing voices and technical skills are top notch. The charming relaxed Beat Thief is starting with a looping behaviour, plus external narrative voice support contributed by Michelle Zeto and Rusty Detty.

And then I'm especially stoked about the short super hit Coffee Stains, catchy melody, melancholic guitars, punching bass, simply perfect! Increasing enthusiasm with every new listening session. You can count on me as a new fan. Very inspired compositions, nifty regarding mood and execution, close to a masterpiece. Concerning both masterminds a lot of talent is available here. THE LIGHT IN THE OCEAN have released one new single track in 2021 so far. Hopefully there is coming more soon, and they will be able to keep the level high in that way.

This is a collection of two concert recordings from Fish recorded by the BBC, both hailing from early in his solo career: a November 1989 engagement at the London Town and Country Club, and a November 1991 gig in Nottingham.

The first show represented here covers the first disc and the first three tracks of the second - that's why Heart of Lothian pops up twice, and why in the first version you can hear him saying farewell to the London Town and Country Club. At this point in time Fish's first solo album, Vigil In a Wilderness of Mirrors, had been in the can for a bit, having been recorded around the same time as Marillion recorded Seasons End. EMI, not wanting to put the two acts up against each other, had decided to delay the album until the new year, so this would be the first opportunity for fans to hear a good chunk of the new material, as well as one of Fish's earliest solo backing groups tacking Marillion material.

In fact, there's more than that besides: the set starts off with a thunderous cover of Faith Healer by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band; it wouldn't be until Raingods With Zippos that Fish would put out a studio rendition of the track, but the take on it here is pretty damn solid and finds both Fish and band on fine form.

Setting this exception aside, the remaining 13 songs consist of 5 songs from Vigil, 8 from the Marillion back catalogue. A good dose of Marillion was probably inevitable - Fish's solo career had barely begun, and it was his Marillion work which brought most of his fans to the gig.

Still, with over half the tracks on Vigil represented, fans were getting a good sampler of what solo Fish sounded like - and the dual lead guitar lineup allows for a good injection of energy into material old and new. This makes Punch and Judy - one of the more energetic, rock-oriented numbers from Fish's Marillion years - a good pick for the first of the older songs to be included here, forming the end of a thunderous opening salvo of Faith Healer/The Voyeur/Punch and Judy.

There's also an outright funky little breakdown partway through the song, a clever move which allows the band to put their own fun little twist on the song - one which simultaneously doesn't feel very Marillion-ish, but nonetheless feels appropriate to the song. Thus, even when he's dipping into his past here, Fish is not content to just go through the motions but is happy to keep developing his material, something which has remained true over his solo career.

The rest of the set is delivered with similar skill, and setting these Marillion classics in with songs from Vigil really gets across the idea that Fish's first solo album was as natural a development of the sound of Clutching At Straws in its own was as Marillion's Seasons End was - both factions taking things in a somewhat different direction, and as fans we are lucky to live in a timeline where both directions ended up coming about. As of late 1989, there must have been every reason to expect that Fish's solo career would be a storming success.

The second show - consisting of the remainder of the second disc - was widely bootlegged as "There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Fish", but it's nice to get an official release for it that actually supports the artist. This comes from nearly two years later, and captures Fish on the Internal Exile tour. Here, the proportion of solo to material to Marillion songs has flipped - there's 3 Marillion songs and 6 Fish solo pieces, Fish being able to draw from the cream of Vigil In a Wilderness of Mirrors and Internal Exile in order to put together a setlist which covers the full span of his career.

The musicianship is more focused here, and the sound feels a bit more cohesive than on Internal Exile itself - an album which, though I have warmed to it over time, was a bit disjointed. Here, Fish seems to be settling into a prog- pop trajectory not too far away from the one which Genesis themselves were exploring at the time, and his band prove adept at setting a diverse range of songs into this mode.

This isn't the only source for live shows from the Vigil and Internal Exile tours, mind - when Fish was striking out in the independent sphere he put out a slew of "official bootleg" albums from these two tours for the sake of getting some cheap product. The first show here is different enough from the one captured on the "Pigpens Birthday" gig - which came from substantially later in the Vigil tour - that it doesn't feel redundant next to it. The second show is more evidently a truncated version of the sort of setlist captured on official bootlegs such as "Uncle Fish and the Crypt Keepers", "Derek Dick and His Amazing Electric Bear", and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" - but it's a nice bonus here. And if you just a one-and-done overview of Fish's live act in his early solo career, this is a pretty good summation of his first two years or so.

3/5*, great debut.

Surprisingly not to Gong-like. I mean yeah it sounds a bit like Gong but not as much as I expected for a band that has named their album/band/songs after Gongs work. The female vocals are nice, echoey and lovely. The male vocals I find rather meh, with their west coast psych vibe not going well with the more European sound of Magick Brother & Mystic Sister. The songs are all a bit spacey due to the synths coating the tunes in atmosphere. Drums are sparse but this gives more rhythmic attention to the bass which really feels important throughout the album. Guitar strums lackadaisically, at times providing a little lick when required and Flute supplies gentle lead. I like that every song sounds sufficiently alike to make a cohesive album without sounding monotonous and how the songs are rhythmically driven with leads feeling like the basses support.

Overall this is a good album that manages to succeed in not sounding like a clone of any classic band, instead they've achieved an authentic blend that allows to genuinely pass as a forgotten artifact. I would definitely like to see a follow up with expanded songs and no more of the dude singing.

Canterbury Sound Score 3/5 cuz itz too psych n not jazzy riff salad enuf' but sum t stuff on-point so ye 3/5

"Taufrisch" has nothing to do with the early works of Stern Combo Meißen, no symphonic prog anywhere. Instead, bad zeitgeist pop-junk of the forgettable kind. One of the best examples why so many music listeners hate the 80s. Lousy songwriting that desperately wants to attach itself to the Neue Deutsche Welle, a sound like from a padded cell, pappy drums, flat guitars, that howl out terrible stereotypes. Sometimes creepy vocals to lyrics that a sixth-grader would have been better off hiding in the drawer. Even a children's choir can't save the "Harlekin". Pure Horror - or almost the worst music in the world.

— First review of this album —

"Nomen est Omen" is a Latin sentence that means "Your destiny is in your name". This nth Senmuth's album is made of 6 tracks with some circularity made evident also by the titles of the opener and the closer. Let's start: imagine the opening of Pink Floyd's "Obscured by Clouds" made darker and darker, more electronic and with Gilmour's guitar repaced by the low-tone 7-strings guitar. The mood is almost the same for the first half. It's not repetitivity, I'd call it "continuity", like they were parts of a single suite.

In the second half the ethnic element reappears mainly in the percussion. The hypnotic rhythm which closes the album leaves the listener (myself currrently) almost satisfied. In brief, it's a dark ambient suite in Senmuth's usual style but it seems that he was actually giving up to his unusual sudden changes of tonality and ethnic breaks which sometimes jeopardize his work. Not a masterpiece, but surely a good and enjoyable album if you are in the right (dark) mood.

"Love Beach"

Wow, wow, my strong disagreement for the rating this album achieved here! Let´s talk about its reasons

1 ? On the bad side.

Ok, there are songs here that, if sprawled throghout the album would justify a one star rating (would be my first one star review). On the first side of the LP, the first five songs (maybe with "For You" being a little bit better and listeaneble), matches this assessment. Today, I normally skip them.

2 ? On the good side.

Well, it is undeniable that the band performed an excellent version of Joaquim Rodrigo´s "Canario". This was recognized in many reviews here, including low rate ones, and as a consequence we see the first song that elevates album´s quality.

But "Canario" is just a four minutes song, there is a lot more in need to improve "Love Beach". It can be perfectly found in epic "Memoirs Of An Officer And A Gentleman", which occupies the whole side 2 of the LP, but only good reviews recognize this as a good song, and I do include myself in this group. Nice melodies, instrumental interludes; all those good things that makes us appreciate progressive rock are relatively easy to be found there. It is not a "Supper´s Ready" or "Tarkus", but there is absolutely no reason to spoil it.

These two songs gives me a reason to visit frequently "Love Beach", even not being a fan of the band. Then, as a conclusion, 3 stars with no hesitation.

"Works Vol II"

"Outtakes, oatcakes and fruitcakes". What a nice and appropriate way of describing this album Mr. ExithelLeming chose !

This is an easy album to assess, no difficulty for me in scoring it at two stars, for fans only. As I am not exactly a Emerson,Lake&Palmer fan; listening to it won´t be a very common practice here at home. On the other side of this position, I do perform A LOT of visits for the Rick Wakeman´s 2 stars album, because in this case I am a big fan of his work.

What we have here in "Works Vol 2" ? First of all, take a look in other reviews (Mr Lemming for example), in order to understand the origins of this album. Having done this, you will have no problem in understanding why there is not a lot to expect here (leftovers from other albuns, etc?). Now, let me point out what are my thoughts about it First of all, this album called my attention because of a song named "Tiger In a Spotlight", which is the opener. The problem is that I heard a live version on "In Concert", and I have to agree again with Mr. Lemming that version is MUCH better, it has an energy that does not appear in "Works Vol 2". Even so, for me this is the best song in the album.

What about other songs ? First of all, it is good to see the band visiting lots of different and old styles. If this is a good initiative, where does this album exactly fails ? Well, it happens because there are lots of uninspired compositions here put all together. Many songs are even appreciable, "Watching Over You", for instance. But you EXPECT the next one to be better, and it does not happen. That´s what exists in YES´s "Heaven&Earth", some very good numbers makes the reason for your returning to that album. In the end there is nothing that really hooks you here, no reason to justify a wish you turning to it.

That´s it, folks. If you like "Tiger In A Spotlight", I recommend you go to "In Concert". This one is for fans only.

"Works Vol I"

First things to say here is that I agree with overall rating, it is a three stars album. On the other hand, I mus comment that? oh, what a BEAST of album!

Best part to be heard here are Greg Lake´s songs. "Ces´t La Vie" and "Closer to The Believing" reaches conditions to be considered masterpieces; and his other ballads here are at least very appreciable. The fourth side of this double LP is excellent as well, "Fanfarre For A Common Man" and "Pirates". Probably, if you consider this a single LP, with sides 2 and 4, ratings here would be divided mainly between 4 and 5 stars.

So, what gets the album down ? Ok, sides 1 and 3. In Carl Palmer songs there is a lot of experiments, instrumental interludes, EXCCELLENT musicianship but I guess there is a lack of melodies that prevents me from really appreciating them. In side 1, the famous Keith Emerson´s Piano Concerto N 1, what happens is that I don´t understand it. What I mean is that I have a lot of difficulties related to classical music. Does this concert pairs a Mozart or Beethoven piano concert ? And does it really matters ?

Some of the times I have the desire of studying music profoundly. I guess and expect it would help me a lot to hear and appreciate classical music. Maybe in this hypothetical future Keith Emerson´s Piano Concerto would be better understood and the rating here could be elevated. I know, this is a beast of band, this is a beast of album. But until there, 3 stars

"Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso"

Mr. Ian Gillan is an excellent musician. As a singer and front man, he is one of the best; second IMHO only to Mr. Robert Plant. When you hear songs like "Fools" (Fireball), "Place In Line" (Who Do We Think Think We Are), or "Mitzi Dupree" (House Of Blue Light), you see he is able to elevate songs quality; an average one turns into excellent. Few more singers are able to do this; ones like David Coverdale, R.J. Dio and Bruce Dickinson among them.

In the realm of hard rock, a front man is essencial; this is a kind of the style demanding it. But in the progressive rock, it seems that technique rules. You can see introspective guys singing in excellent ways, no screaming, no sexual energy being set at audience disposal. So, we speak less about front man here (does not matter if Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin are in this site; they are prog related), we see less bands where the singer is crucial. Spock´s Beard, Marillion, Genesis, a lot more changed front man and in one way or another, quality was still present. Ok, Ian Anderson is a fantastic front man, but I guess his voice is not above average.

Now that we reached this point, what I woud like to say is that in progressive rock I don´t find exceptional singers as much as in hard rock. One example here is, of course, Jon Anderson, of course, but I don´t know if he is human or an Angel.

Then I found Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso. Everything I want from a front man I found in Francesco Di Giacomo; and I mean that skill of "elevating" song´s quality. He has an operatic way of singing, and although I cannot appreciate opera, the fusion he performed mixing this style with progressive rock was very well performed. The band, of course, has others qualities. The doubled keyboard players (the brothers Nocenzi); and the crucial capacity of writing excellent melodies turns them into one of the "sacred three" most known Italian progressive bands (Le Orme and Premiata Forneria Marconi being the others two).

I won´t talk about details in this album, other reviewers performed very well this task. I only would like to call attention to their singer, the fantastic Francesco di Giacomo, who unfortunately passed away few years ago in an accident, I suppose. He is one of the core reasons for this album (and the others two next), deserving a five star rating.

The Slip is, in my opinion at least, is one of the best Nine Inch Nails albums. It combines the best of the 90's era, with the more progressive and conceptual elements from the albums With Teeth and Year Zero.

Trent Reznor combined Industrial metal, Industrial rock, electronic music, and electro - industrial on this record to create a diverse sound, but at the same time, the sound is pretty constant, in a good way. The album doesn't ever get boring, mainly because it balances the softer and heavier parts almost perfectly. For instance, the song Lights in the Sky is one of the lightest and most grim Nine Inch Nails songs. Its heavier counterpart, 1,000,00, is one of the heavier songs in the bands catalogue.

Listen to this after you hear Pretty Hate Machine, The Downward Spiral, and The Fragile. Once you hear The Slip, there's a chance that it will put a smile on your face.