A GIANT'S LULLABY

What do you think it is on the cover of this Norwegian album? Solaris (everybody remembers his Stanislaw Lem?)! Very probable, isn't it? Especially given the band's name and the cosmic themes inside the booklet (stars, nebulae, galaxies). I got this album solely on the basis of the reviews here and I am not disappointed. Lush keyboards, complex, very tasty instrumental parts: just what I expected from a modern Scandinavian band which tries to sound "retro" (the Scandinavians know how to do it, don't they?) The first instrumental track, "Flight of Shamash" immediately sets the mood, being an ambitious great opener. "Choir of life" which follows features an unusual rhythm, female vocals, mandolin and flute further confirms that KVAZAR is not a light "recreational" band. These guys are pretty serious and certainly aiming high. The rest of the tracks are very exciting too. For example, I'd easily point out "Desert blues" as a fine specimen of modern jazz (you can feel an ingenious mix of symphonic and jazz prog throughout the album). The music on this album deserves solid four stars, but for some annoying details (which I will discuss below) I wanted to give this album three. Then perceiving that non-musical factors, albeit vexing, hardly make an album descend from the "excellent addition ..." to the "non-essential".

Bands whose mother tongue is not English, don't try to sing in English! Are you concerned about sales, thinking of the popularity of English? The history has witnessed what happens to music when the musicians start thinking about reaching wider audiences at an expense of their music. "A Giant's Lullaby" is a good example when the band should have stuck to its native Norwegian. The singing in English is not only unimpressive (although there's nothing wrong with the vocals themselves) but also embarrassing at times. How do you like the ending of a song whose final words are the distinct "But it gonna [sic] die"? The verb "is" is also absent from the lyrics in the booklet. And what about such slips as "gitar [sic]", "Soon I gonna [sic] leave this world" (another song-ending phrase), "Sometimes you won't understand what happends [sic]", and "Sometimes you really tries [sic]" (one more last phrase in a song)? All these linguistic errors make the album look slightly unprofessional. But this hardly damages the music which remains an excellent addition to any prog collection.

Share this KVAZAR review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to warwick
• Report this review (#132844)
• Buy KVAZAR music online with PA partners
• Show all KVAZAR MP3/Stream
• Go to KVAZAR page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to A Giant's Lullaby page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for KVAZAR related discussions