IN A WORLD

In A World is the second album from this 5-piece from West Coast Florida. Their debut album - Moments Of Clarity - received great critical acclaim in prog rock circles and showcased in particular the talents of multi-instrumentalist / songwriter Rick Duncan and vocalist for hire Todd Plant, who many of you might have seen at The Gods festivals in 1995 and 1997 with Eyewitness and Millenium respectively. The band cite the likes of Yes, Kansas, Genesis and Spock's Beard as their musical heroes / influences and that will give you a great idea of what to expect from a band who have settled on a line-up and feel more like a band rather than a collection of individuals. There are still a whole host of guest musicians appearing throughout the album, including former Iced Earth guitarist Ralph Santolla and Spock's Beard's Alan Morse. And so to the music. The album opens with the 4-part, 16-minute title track, which takes as its theme the history of the universe and creation of our world. Part 1 (Overture) is a keyboard instrumental highlighting the ivory-tinkling skills of Howard Helm before giving way to Part 2 (Creation) and the first appearance of the crystal clear voice of Todd Plant. Part 3 (The Source) goes back to the keyboards for inspiration before the final part (All Is Well) rounds things off beautifully. I'm not a fan of this style of music in general and often feel that these epic length songs are self-serving ego trips and the various parts simply do not fit together coherently - they seem to have no relation and bearing to each other whatsoever, but Cryptic Vision have no such problems and the various parts of their songs seem to be a natural progression from each other and hang together as a whole perfectly. They seem to have achieved what so many others in the genre are desperately aspiring to. One other thing that it is immediately apparent is that all the musicians on display are masters of their particular crafts and Rick Duncan is a hugely positive person, whose lyrics clearly reflect that uplifting spirit. Mention and credit should also go to the outstanding production job that Rick Duncan has done (is there no end to this man's talents ??!!). Every instrument is given equal billing and that only improves the overall sound quality, whilst never overshadowing Plant's superb vocals, when in evidence. Other highlights are the faultless "All Along" which features some great harmony backing vocals and an awesome vocal performance by Plant, and "Power To Mend", a brilliant yet defiant reaction to the 9/11 atrocities. All prog fans are going to love this album and it's an essential addition not only to the collection of fans of that genre but of many more besides. In conclusion, as I said before, Prog Rock is really not by thing if I'm honest but if it was all as good and as well played and produced as this, then I could easily be converted.

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