DECAMERON - TEN DAYS IN 100 NOVELLAS (PART III)

There is a lot of positives I can say about this collection. First of all, you get 4 1/2 hours of prog, for the price of maybe 2 discs. Second, you get tracks by artists that are unavailable elsewhere, or, in some cases, different versions. Third, there are artists from all over the world, five continents, contibuting to this project. Granted, not all of the tracks are great. I admit to skipping a few tracks, particularly on the 4th disc. But at the same time, there is some truly excellent music as well. I will point out that the lengthy instrumentals by Cirrus Bay and Ageness are outstanding, with some jaw-dropping moments throughout each of their pieces, and the track by Spanish artist "s.a.l.u.e.n.a", whom I had not heard of, is just fantastic. Notable here is the vocal section, with some beautiful vocals by Steve Unruh, who also provides a killer violin solo, and who is featured in several tracks in this collection. These three tracks alone are worth the price of the disc in my opinion. Other favorites include those by Latte e Miele, from Italy, Ars Ephemera, from Canada, and Stella Lee Jones, from Japan. The intro, by Robert Webb, is a fun slice of proggy heaven to start things off with as well. One curious track is that from Japanese artist "Interpose". This one started off a bit bland to me, like weak Renaissance, and I was nearly ready to hit the skip button, when suddenly it became rather glorious. The middle section was quite poignant, before getting into soloing and, after a nice Floydian section, back to the intro section to conclude the song. So this one song (nearly 12 minutes) would be curious to rate. Sometimes the vocals sound too thin, to high, or a little shrill. Other times they sound great. Some of the music is so-so, some of it, great. But that's the fun thing about prog, and this collection, and there are several tracks like this, where certain parts stand out over others. But all of this music for the price I paid, is the best purchase value I've paid all year.