PASSENGERS

It has taken me quite a while to get into this album. I bought it at one of the bands concerts I attended where it was sold to me as a masterpiece. Well, it isn't. And therefore I was strongly disappointed and did not listen to it for some months. Yet then I decided to give it another try and it turned out that I liked it quite a lot.

Why?

I think that a lot of followers expected to hear another 'Spirits' or 'Last bright light'. The band decided however to record a totally different album where the folk influences would be at best in the background. Furhtermore most of the tracks are rather short. Both changes are a pity but turn out for the good in the end. The opener 'Somewhere in between' is a nice up-tempo song, nothing special and certainly not a strong opener. It is actually not typical MA at all but could have been recorded by many bands. Heather Findlay's vocals are good, for the rest it is mediocre. The same holds truth for 'Pure white light' where Brain Josh takes over the lead vocals. He shouldn't do that for he is not a very talented singer at all while Heather Findlay is an extremely good vocalist. It think that the song would have been far nicer when Findlay had sung it. From that point on the album really catches up not to fall back again. 'Another life' and 'Bitterness burnt' are two very beautiful slow ballads, showing Heather at her best (and that's good!) and the instrumentation no more than necessary. The melodies are great, the lyrics grasping. 'Caught in a fold' is another up-tempo song with a good melody this time that is a nice bridge towards the next slow song, 'Simple ways'. Here MA is at their best, with good guitars and very nice vocals. The title track is a melody that will not leave your head once you have heard it twice. It is catching, slow, beautiful and very, very strong, worth to bear the title of the album. The instrumental 'Distant train' is not very special but very enjoyable. The last track, the only 'epic' on the album, is not their strongest long song and it is also somewhat different in atmosphere. Here the long guitar solo is present but also a long coda with clocks and things like that. It is good but not as good as 'Heroes' for instance.

So all in all you have to be prepared to skip the first two songs or just to keep listening. Then the album will prove its real value and you can enjoy beautiful music. It is a shame though that the band diminishes their folk influences. But on this album it is not as bad as in its successor, 'Storms over still water'. So this a really a good album, at least 3.5 stars!!