PSYCHEDELIC SLEEP

In 2003 Crystal Palace released what was supposed to be their third full-length album, titled ''Psychedelic sleep'', needless to say the band had yet to sign with a major label and this was another self-produced work.The drummer issue remains at the forefront for the band, previous member Sven Brehm had left the band and the new face behind the drum kit was Mathias Wallasch.

I do not know if all these member changes had sucked much of the band's lust for writing material, but this supposed third effort by Crystal Palace was less than 33 minutes long.The title of the album is also a bit misleading, because this one has nothing to with Psychedelic Music neither comes up as a sleepy effort.To the contrary, ''Psychedelic sleep'' moves along the lines of the previous efforts, being a highly energetic, mostly Neo Prog album with some heavier leanings and some strong resemblances to the music of JADIS.The songwriting is pretty cool and, even if all tracks are rather short and lack the true spirit of Prog Rock, the material is well-played with some monster melodies and very good vocals.As with JADIS, the music is basically guitar-driven with the main contribution by the keyboardist coming in atmospheric, semi-symphonic backgrounds, I would love to see the band becoming a bit more complex in certain moments, but the songs are quite nice, the structures are pretty typical of the genre with atmospheric changes and some bombastic parts mixed with chill-out moments.The guitar duo of Hegner and Jaschob deliver some exciting moves here, either being some lovely atmospheric solos or some heavy riffing.''100 miles from Eden'' is old Crystal Palace at their best, nice synth- and guitar-based rhythmic Neo Prog, a bit reminiscent to TRISTAN PARK and ENCHANT.

Solid album to say the least and definitely a goodie for Neo Prog buffs.Its length is pretty reduced compared to the past works, but I guess you can't have it all in the game of life.Recommended.

For those of you familiar with Crystal Palace's epic neo-prog of their later albums, this one is of a different flavor. 80s style synth-rock, 7 five-minute songs in total, kind of like the approach Rush took in the 80s and other purely synth rock band. I wouldn't say that either guitars or keys dominate, they both sound equally. Some songs, like Welcome to our lives and 1000 miles from Eden, have a pleasant lead melody, overall the album is nothing remarkable. The vocalist, Jens Uwe Strutz, who would develop into a good singer, here tries to sing in over-mannered style of 80s synth pop bands, but I think tries jut a little too hard so it comes across as strained. Between 2 and 3 stars.