POLAND - THE WARSAW CONCERT*

This is my twentieth TD review so far and it is quite amazing to have listened to so many good albums. Their very early days were not easily accessible but the only album I could hardly cope with was the much later "Cyclone" (two stars). Besides that one, I couldn't find any album rating with less than three stars. This is quite a remarkable achievement (their music I mean) whatever will come in the future.

What's even more attractive, is that even if there were five live albums in those twenty reviews, it all has to be considered as original work since the band always played new material during these recordings (some might say improvisations).

It is again the case with this double "Live In Warsaw". Now to honest, the first part of the opening number ("Poland") is quite hermetic to my ears: too much electro-beat-related sounds for a while but these sweetly slips towards the fine and spacey music we all know (by the way, TD music and alike were referred to space-rock in the seventies).

This is fortunately also the case for the moving "Tangent" which conveys a lot of tranquillity (which I highly need these days, for personal reasons). This is one of their most melodic songs. One doesn't know if he is being sent on the boundaries of the universe or deep down the bottoms of the sea (like during "Underwater Sunlight"). At least for the first ten minutes or so.

The music turns on to a more electro-pop mood after that even with a light reggae scent! Quite abrupt for a change, but not too bad even if it is not this TD aspect that I prefer. I wouldn't say either that "Barbacane" is their most brilliant track: it is much too repetitive therefore and sounds rather uninspired (at least during the first part). It leans more on the new age trends after that (and also becomes more pleasant).

As most of my colleagues, my fave is the closing "Horizon". A full length successful track (in comparison with some partial achievements as I have outlined). It is truly comparable to their great works from the seventies and raises the quality of the whole set quite substantially. You got it all here, really. A formidable kaleidoscope of their huge contribution to prog music.

My objective rating would be seven out of ten but since the PA rating is such as it is, I'll upgrade it to four stars thanks to "Horizon".