OLD LOVES DIE HARD

Fifth album I believe from the German answer to ELP, and one I can't figure out whether it was a spoof or they actually meant it. Nevermind for a second that this band did hazve the good moment of success (especially in the States), I can't think of a band that so clumsily collections all of the pompous prog clichés better (not even remaining a threesome) than they did. The catastrophic addition of vocalist Barry Palmer (I did NOT invent this, THEY did! ;o)p))) make them sound like some kind of Steve Perry- era Journey, although we'd probably have loved the latter to play this kind of stuff during their heydays. This one came with a different Mouse artwork in the States than this Gothic

Past the ultra laughable and overlong I Believe, where the lyrics are bad enough, but the interpretation is just so overdone that it gets surreal, the mini-suite A Day In The Life (I think they tried to pull a diversion here ;o)) is commanding a minimum of respect as keyboardist Jurgen Fritz is quite capable of flawless execution, despite lack if taste. One of the reason why I'm having trouble taking this very seriously is the two-part History Of Mystery (spread on both sides of the vinyl at that) with all the clichés and some either obtuse or intentionally confused lyrics (was there a need to mention the furher?), some tacky and cheesy synths sounds, furthermore dragging out almost 12 minutes, making the second part totalled unwelcome. Minus a full start for this blunder.

Another laughing point is the Palmer written Cold Old Worried Lady, where you'd have expected Palmer to write better English lyrics than his German colleagues, but the old lady probably died laughing than frozen. The 10-mins+Panic On 5th Avenue is actually a credible piece of instrumental bravado that would stand on its own if it wasn't soooooo Emerson-sounding... (I'm NOT doing this!!! THEY are!! :-(. Anyway nice piece of bravado outside its derivative nature. I'll skip over the title track, as I don't think I can remain polite about this kind of track, even if I managed to in my Journey reviews - well they seemed to have passed over my buddy Bob's approval.

The Cd reissue comes with a non-album single of the times, Take A Break Today, which was backed a another non-album track The Control Of Power, not included here (no idea why). Well the bonus track not only sticks out sonically like a sore thumb, but it's bound to give you another good frozen laugh, wondering inside it they did this for real or not, you'd wished they stopped, now!! Maybe that's why the other track is not included. Best avoided past two good but derivative instrumental tracks.

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