THE LIGHT

For sure, the music represented in this album is truly symphonic. For sure, the musicians are skilled. For sure, production is fine. For sure, they weren't a lot of US bands playing this type of music in the mid- nineties.

BUT, like some other fellow countrymen, Spock's Beard do sound too much to "Yes". I have heard these guitar breaks or piano interlude so many times already. And vocals sound partially too much "Schizoid" oriented (The Light).

I have no major problem while listening to this debut album, but frankly I can't find a lot of novelty in here. "The Light" is probably the best song featured on this album. Some fifteen minutes of pleasant, yet predictable music.

With these few lines as an introduction, I guess that no one will be surprised that my opinion is not as laudatory as the majority of my (many) predecessors. If you are keen to listen to some sub-par ''Yes'' music, this might be a great experience. But I prefer the original model, sorry.

In the genre, TFK is more melodic (vocals) and more poignant (guitar work). A song as "Go The Way You Go" being so childish and far too much on the popish end to me. Only the instrumental intro saves it somehow (but the whole clocks at over twelve minutes). At mid-time, a great "Yes" parody can be heard again. Is this really necessary? I suppose that you know my answer.Fortunately, a fine final guitar solo comes at the rescue.

And I'm afraid that it is not the epic "The Water" which is going to propel this album into the masterpiece ones. Somewhat jazzy, far too long, not convincing (me at least): fine parts are scarce and again, only the finale is splendid. But that's rather short to fill a twenty-three minutes song.

Crafted music, long compositions, lack of personality, excellent musicianship, average song writing and déjà vu feeling are a difficult mix to handle. The music ranges from average to good (five out of ten). I will upgrade it to three stars. No sight of a masterpiece IMHHO.