RAPID EYE MOVEMENT

Of course, being a big fan of Riverside and Porcupine Tree, I was very exited about Riverside's latest album, Rapid Eye Movement. Did Riverside meet my high expectations? Not exactly. Is "Rapid Eye Movement" a very good and solid album? It surely is!

Then why won't I rate this album quite as high as its two predecessors? I rated "Out Of Myself" 5 stars, mainly because of the surprise factor. All out of nothing we saw this Polish Progressive Rock band emerging the Prog Rock scene. I also rated "Second Life Syndrome" 5 stars, because I simply found it a better album than Riverside's debut. It was more heavy-edged and therefore also a very welcome surprise. And what about "Rapid Eye Movement"? I think it has many wonderful tracks on it, but the surprise-factor is gone and it's also more polished than 'Second Life Syndrome". Therefore I will rate it 4 solid stars.

Now a bit more about the album itself. "Rapid Eye Movement" is the closing chapter of the "Reality Dream Trilogy" and I find it a worthy one. All tracks are "medium to good" and once again there's not a single bad track on this album. If you buy this album make sure you buy the 2 CD version. It comes in a digipak with once again the wonderful cover art by Travis Smith (seempieces).

The album disc once again consists out of 9 tracks. Those 9 tracks are subdivided in two parts, PART ONE: Fearless (the first 5 tracks) and PART TWO Fearland (the last 4 tracks).

DISC ONE - PART ONE: Fearless. The first two tracks, "Beyond Eyelids" and "Rainbow Box" are OK, but surely no highlights of the album. Track 3 it the very powerful track "02 Panic Room", which was already available earlier this year in the form of an EP. This track is very very good things even get better by the following track "Schizophrenic Prayer". WOW, I truly LOVE this song! Mariusz Duda's vocals are so powerful; especially the sighing part in this track is simply amazing! Track 5 "Parasomnia" is also a very good track, but can't quite meet up with the standards set by the two preceding tracks. Wonderful mid section by the subtle keys of Michal Lapaj.

DISC ONE - PART TWO: Fearland. Track 6, "Trough the Other Side" is a very subtle short track followed by "Embryonic". "Embryonic" is also quite short, but it has a very strong melody and wonderful guitar play by Piotr Grudzinski. It is another small highlight of this album. Track 8 "Cybernetic Pillow" is quite OK, but we find the true masterpiece of this album in track # 9 "Ultimate Trip". This track is exactly that!

DISC TWO: This bonus disc is almost an exact copy of the "02 Panic Room EP". Almost, because the EP did not have Track one "Behind the Eyelids" on it. First I though it was an exact copy of the 1st track of the 1st disc, but you have to read carefully! It says Behind NOT beyond. I actually prefer this track! Track 2, 3 and 4 also can be found on the "02 Panic Room EP". Once more I'd like to mention that track 4 "Back to the River" is a very fine track with the small Pink Floyd tribute (Shine On You Crazy Diamond) in it. Track 5 "Rapid Eye Movement" is a new track and I find it somewhat strange that the title track of the album is placed on the bonus disc. "Rapid Eye Movement" is a 12+ minute instrumental track in the vein of the late Pink Floyd and of Porcupine Tree's - The Sky Moves Sideways album. Great!

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