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Wobbler - Rites at Dawn CD (album) cover

RITES AT DAWN

Wobbler

 

Symphonic Prog

4.00 | 628 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

BrufordFreak
4 stars Why must one band have a monopoly on a 'sound' and 'style.' Are MAGENTA, YEZDA URFA, STARCASTLE, MOTH VELLUM and GLASS HAMMER any less enjoyable, accomplished, or worthy of making good records because of their obvious similarities to YES? If YES had made more records in the early seventies, wouldn't we be happy?

This album is, in my humble opinion, as fresh and masterful as the YES masterpieces--with better production and more melody. I find myself remembering, humming many melodies form these excellent compositions. I find myself liking many structural, instrumental, and vocal choices even more than YES. Then there are so many other familiar sounds from so many other bands.

The two "Lucid"-"Lucid Dreams" end pieces (album intro [1:40], album outro [2:19], respectively) are beautiful, brilliant, and perfect--kind of like the "Firebird Suite" used to open and close YES concerts. (10/10)

2. "La Bealtaine" (7:51) feels/sounds more RUSH-like at the start--until the vocals (and lyrics! How YES!) kick in. Still, this song has so much freshness, unpredictability, and CSN&Y-like feel--even OUTLAWS (guitars picking like "Green Grass and High Tides")--to stand out far from the YES catalogue. The slow vocal harmony part at 5 minute mark shows a style all their own. Great song. (20/20)

3. "In Orbit" (12:30) begins like an AMERICA song before the YES-like electronics take over. At 1:51 there is a brief switch to GENTLE GIANT-like vocals before ripping back into the YES-sounds and speeds. If Close to the Edge had been a double album, this might have been on it. 5:35 sees my favorite part--fresh vocal melody and almost Burt Bacharach-like support. The soli section from the 6 minute mark to 8:45 is great, too. (I like the sax/horns in the background.) The delicate/building section beginning at 9:30 and playing to song's end is awesome--maybe more GENESIS-like than YES--or STARCASTLE. (24/25)

4. The vocals on "This Past Presence" (6:13) are at times so beautiful it's like MOON SAFARI or CROSBY, STILL, and NASH merged with the original KING CRIMSON lineup. (10/10)

5. The organ and drums on "A Faerie's Play" (5:20) sound as if they are from SUGARLOAF's "Green-Eyed Lady" while CSN&Y, Pete Giles, Martin Barre, and Robert Fripp (and of course, YES) can also be heard. (8.5/10)

6. "The River" (10:04) starts off far too familiar ("Close to the Edge" in replication) before turning to a JESSIE COLIN YOUNG/RADIOHEAD song. Arrive the mellotron and Pete Giles-like drums with Fripp-like guitar sounds and picking and we get distracted a bit until at the 4:10 minute we find ourselves completely re-immersed in CttE. Easily my least favorite song of the album because it is too derivative, lacking of any of the freshness of the other songs. (15/20)

Five stars; a minor masterpiece of progressive rock music. People, it's the CSN(&Y) influence that makes this album stand on its own. Awesome addition to any prog lover's music collection. Most highly recommended! And, yes, IMO, a new masterpiece of prog rock.

BrufordFreak | 4/5 |

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