POWER AND THE PASSION

I guess you could call this a transitional album as they start to get away from the harder edge that was on "Inside" and "Floating" to a more spacey soundscape that would define them, beginning with the next album "Dawn". This would be their first concept album as well, a story about a guy named Jamie who time travells back in time (fortunately he brought his bag of weed) and meets a girl (gets her high), gets thrown in jail, meets a wizard, then comes back home (for more weed). Each song is about a different adventure he experiences.

"Introduction" opens with what sounds like church organ and heavy drums as vocal melodies come in. "Journey Into 1358" opens with reserved vocals and floating organ. Guitar and piano come in gently. It picks up a minute in as lots of organ and drums are featured in this uptempo section. "Love Over Six Centuries" is lyrically where Jamie meets Jeanne and gets her stoned. The music features male and female vocals going back and forth as they converse. This is laid back although it kicks in before 3 minutes with some great organ. Love the guitar after 8 minutes too.

"Mutiny" features fragile vocals, piano and background synths early. It's building though after a minute. Organ and drums come in.The guitar 2 1/2 minutes only adds to the fantastic sound here. Nice synth work 4 minutes in.The organ, vocals and guitar are all outstanding 5 minutes in to the end. "Imprisonment" opens with the samples of a prison door opening and closing. Spoken words follow. Synths before 1 1/2 minutes then acoustic guitar. "Daylight" is a catchy tune. I like the guitar. Nice organ before 2 minutes. "Thoughts Of Home" is a short one minute track with reserved vocals. It's like an intro to "The Zany Magician" which kicks into gear right away with riffs as vocals yell and laugh in the background. "Back Into The Present" has a spacey intro before drums come pounding in. This is uptempo with vocals and some good guitar. "The Bells Of Notre Dame" features floating organ sounds early. Vocals before 2 minutes. Guitar after 4 minutes plays lazily but then starts to soar beautifully.

Still worth 4 stars in my opinion, but not as good as the two before it and the ones to follow.