PLAYING DEAD

When Citizen Cain "Somewhere But Yesterday" was released I was so happy that finally I could find a band in early Genesis vein. I searched the net on who actually Citizaen Cain was and I hoped that the band would continue their direction with "Somewhere" album. "Playing Dead" was taking too long to make and I almost lost my patience waiting for this album. But when it finally came out, it did not fully meet my expectation even though this album is not bad at all but it's way inferior compared to their excellent work with "Somewhere But Yesterday". I know, the band must have thought to push their envelope but it does not seem catch up into certain standards imposed by their fans base. The album starts with a kind of overture "Fallen Angels" and moves into second track "Children of Fire" with Gabrielish vocal and guitar work. The structure is a bit complex even though it's not really complex. There are piano parts that remind me to Kansas. "Shades" is a good song but the structure and flow seem like being forced to sound like this. "Falling From Sephiroth" is an epic with an intro part reminds me to "Watcher of The Skies" of Genesis. Cyrus voice which sounds like Gabriel is a thread for me especially when acoustic guitar and keyboard accompany his first lyrical part. "Rivers of Twilight" has a flavor of ELP music as the keyboard elements sound that way. "Wandering In Darkness" is also a good song with complex arrangements combining keyboard and guitar. "Sleeping In Penumbra" has a mellow beginning with piano and powerful vocal. There is guitar fills reminiscent of Hackett. The album is closed with mellow track "Eternity" using piano and vocal. It's a good track to conclude the album.

If you like early Genesis music, you may like this one. Of course "Playing Dead" has more modern sounds. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW