THE HAZARDS OF LOVE

I´m glad I´ve been following the ever wise advice to all who listen to prog music: never let the first impression fool you. Prog music is deep, with several layers of music that you should take your time to listen to. I was quite curious about this american band for a long time. The high ratings and the constant praising spurred my curiosity even more. But when I did finally listen to this CD I was not amused. It sounded quite bad and I´d probably have written a bad review. But fortunatly I decided to postpone it until I had listened to it several times to confirm my opinion. But, to my surprise, every time I heard The Hazzards of Love I liked it more. So in the end I had to accept that most reviewers here were right.

I had never heard of such thing as country-prog, but that´s pretty much what you get here. Ok, the alternative elements are also very evident, but country music is the base of it all. The song structures and the narratives are deeply rooted into that tradition, even if the modern sounds and influences are all over place. Not since Poco´s A Good Feeling To Know I´ve had listen to something so country-ish also being so daring. This concept album has a very interesting story and the music follows the feelings and moods of every part. So if you really want to appreciate this CD in full, you´ve got to read the lyrics or at least pay close atention to the words. If you don´t you´ll probably miss the point.

Others reviewers have written about the story plot and I thank them. It´s very interesting and I guess it was quite hard to fit the music into the concept, but they did it. So it´s really hard to point a highlight. There are several quite different moments and it depends on the listener´s taste. Mine points to the beautiful closing track Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned). This is the record´s peak and has a stunning beauty that is hard to match. I just wish this song could be a little longer, though. Production is perfect, while the band really shines through it all.

Conclusion: an exceptional record that some prog listeners will take some time to really digest and win over their prejudices of country and alternative (like I had to). However, it is also a labor of love and truly a magnifcent piece of prog music. It´s full of power and conviction. This is definitly a grower. Final rating: 4.5 stars.