ALAN CASE

I admit that the first listening led to the false results of a mediocre album, because after several spin ''The dark matter'' prooves to be a really superb album with excellent songwriting and series of impressive, beautiful melodies.Basically the style is a mix of AOR and Neo Prog with a few ballads thrown in for good measure, but the most surprising fact is that I can find a striking weak moment in this album, despite the obvious commercial vibes.Several tracks could easily end up in a BOSTON or TOTO album, being delicate, melodic and pompous AOR compositions, but even these have something to offer: a Classical-inspired interlude, a great acoustic crescendo or simply an outstanding chorus full of emotion.Other tracks are closer to the sound of PALLAS, TRISTAN PARK or even GENESIS, led by full-blown synthesizers, melodic guitar lines, a few symphonic vibrations and tremendous vocal parts, placed mainly in the second half of the CD, like the great ''Nighteye'' or the long and melodic ''Fast asleep'' with the PENDRAGON-influenced bombastic keyboards.The few ballads appearing here and there are absolutely great, far from the cheesy songs offered by other bands, featuring sensitive vocals, multi-vocal lines and dreamy arrangements.

Since the release of this album, the traces of this man have been unfortunately lost and it seems this album will be his sole document that has been left behind.But do yourself a favor and track this down, because it is one of the greatest examples of well-crafted, accesible but also highly artistic Progressive/Symphonic/Pop Rock.Highly recommended.

In Alan's music you can hear influences from seventies prog bands and pop. He grew up listening to The BEATLES, QUEEN, LED ZEPPELIN, and DEEP PURPLE. Later he began listening to GENESIS, GENTLE GIANT, KANSAS, RUSH, YES and classical music like Bach and Mozart. The album contains commercial progressive pop/rock. Sometimes the music is a little more progressive with tempo changes and complex passages. The music could be compared to many various artists. Besides the aforementioned bands there's also traces of CAMEL, Jeff CANNATA, GENESIS, JETHRO TULL, MARILLION, MEAT LOAF, MOODY BLUES, Alan PARSONS PROJECT, SUPERTRAMP and YES.

Alan is playing keyboards, acoustic guitars, bass, drums, and vocals. To his help he's got some fine musicians to accompany him. He's keyboard-playing sounds influenced by Keith EMERSON and Rick WAKEMAN. But then again, which progressive keyboard player doesn't those two influences?

The best songs are "Fast Asleep" (the albums most progressive tune and a tribute to KANSAS) and "Wide Awake" (an instrumental track). This is a really good album even though you could criticise that it's to pop oriented. Looking back at 1997 this CD is one of the highlights that year. So I suggest you to go get a copy right now.