OLD LOVES DIE HARD

What a memorable album. Well, I may write a novel about this excellent album. Musically, this album is not as excellent as ELP or KC or Genesis around the time of this release. However, the musical nuances created by this album remind me clearly on my teenage times when I kept on waiting everyday about "what's next" rock album available in local record store. Hey, at that time we did not know what is prog or not prog; we just loved rock music but were not aware about the prog categorization. Secondly, there was no internet and I had a (very) limited access to international music magazine like Muzik Express. So, no news about upcoming rock albums. No "pre-order: kind of thing like we have nowadays under digital era. I just wait at the record shop. Everyday! Yeah, music was my passion since childhood - no music, no life!

When this album came out, it blew me with the "The History of Mystery". I like the catchy introduction part with nice piano melody and great voice of Barry Palmer. "Give me a chance to see through my reason. Wasting my time because I was so young ." uuughh . man . this melody has been killing me everytime I play the CD. Overall track (part 1 and 2) is heavily influenced by ELP. If you like ELP, there might be two outcomes I guess would happen after first listen: you like it because it's similar in composition (even though much simpler, I would say), or you completely hate it and say "ELP ripp-offs!". Whatever your comment, my appreciation about this album stays intact. It's still an excellent album for me.

"A Cold Old Worried Lady" is not a prog (at all!) song but . it's really a great tune! Again, the harmony of Barry's vocal and Jurgen's piano touch is really top notch! It's accessible to many people.

"I Believe" is a track that my colleagues and I - who at that time claimed our-self die hard fans of rock music - use to voice outloud our passion on rock: "I sold my soul to rock'n'roll and never got it back ..". It's the opening lyric of this track. The track combines the pop, classical, jazz and sort of "prog" (that I knew later) elements. It's a simpler form of ELP music, I would say. It's an enjoyable track.

"A day in a life" is a simple instrumental piece using keyboard and piano as lead melody. Classical music influence appears strongly. "Panic on 5th Avenue" is an excellent track exploring Jurgen Fritz' similarities with Keith Emerson. It's definitely very close to ELP music. I love the solo keyboard / synthesizer during the interlude part. "Old loves die hard" concludes the album with a slow style and classical influence. Great composition, excellent melody. I think this final track is also accessible to most music buffs.

I think this album is an excellent addition to any prog collection. Highly recommended. Keep on progging! Progressively yours, GW - Indonesia.