HINTERLAND

One of the collaborators top albums of 2005, so I thought I'd try it...and despite being put off a little by the fact Wobbler are clearly a "retro" prog band, it's actually quite an enjoyable romp. Very well produced, Wobbler (gah - that name!) do have clear references back to some of the 70's giants, including ELP (there's a few Tarkus moments here), Gentle Giant, King Crimson (a recurring theme in Rubato Industry is reminiscent of "Fracture"), and some Hackett driven Genesis moments, as well as some Wakeman like touches. I've read mention about a similarity to Yes, but other than the bassist sounding quite a lot like Squire, I don't share that view.

The best track for me is the aforementioned "Rubato Industry" though its the shortest of the three meisterworks on the album, although the vocals (in English mind) are weak. It has real pace and real structure to it, and for me, this is the way they should go. Great stuff - a 5 star track.

The title track "Hinterland" is good but a little too long - no that's wrong - a little too disorganised. The final track, Clair Obscura, doesn't really work for this listener. Too many pointless chord changes, too much noodling - if I didn't know better, I could believe Wobbler were doing fro prog music what Spinal tap did for Heavy Metal. No guys, you need to keep a structure to the music - more of what you do on "Rubato", that for em is the way ahead.

The musicianship here is all of a high standard, though they avoid - deliberately I assume - too much showing off. This for me is a clear 3.5 star album but given its got to be either a 3 or a 4 star - I've got to go for a 3 star, because however enjoyable it may be, in C21 this is not really "progressive" music - it's retor. Enjoyable, but not forward looking.