THE YOUNG AND RESTLESS

Forth album of US named The young and the restleass from 2006 is another gem from neo prog scene. Is a concept album about the controversial legend of moth man. The album divided in 14 pieces, each one with own identity. Again very strong album , at least for me, a little experimental in places, they change a little bit the direction maybe because they have now a new voice voice, aswell on previous album. Now, their ideas are very well meted with some Genesis elements in places, some Pink Floyg, some Steve Hackett - solo and even some Camel, all the ingredients are taken from those bands and incorporated some very good and fresh ideas made in US - the result is this album. More keyboard dominated then Eamon's day, more elastic in arrangements, not totaly under nep prog flag, some spacey moments some symphonic, but also their roots are not forgotten combined with neo prog elements the atmosphere is superb. They've done it again, this very underrated band who has some of the greatest arrangemets from this scene I've heared in years. Very tal;ented musicians who realy knew how to make a pleasent and enjoyble album all the way. Each musicians shines at his instruments, even in some parts the voice isa bit cold, but ok in the end. All tracks are great, and each pieces flow to each other very smooth and elegant. The best parts are opewning track - Mind Over Matter, 5 star piece, excellent, The Bridge, also are a lot of instrumental passages, just to show us they mean bussines in this filed. Again a top album who desearve a better view, not really better then Eamon's day but almost near, still they a very good band who needs attention. 4 stars , great this dutch band named US. recommended again. Great cover art made by a dutch painter in 1970.

It was a great pleasure to hear this fourth albun of the Dutch band US "Young and Restlles", because I like bands that mix several tendencies, .and in this specific case the band presents influences of the progressive giants' with sonority as different as, for instance, PINK FLOYD (especially in disks as "Animals"), GENESIS, MOODY BLUES, and mixed to that everything is still possible to identify some "touchs" (in smaller scale) of other bands such as RUSH & PALLAS, what increases a certain weight that make the musical "atmospheres" vary from symphonic, bucolic and even meditative passages , to heavier where a stands out a bass full of effects (Chris Squire) with the guitar attendance in Steve Hackett's vein.and keyboards that are mixed the guitar. . Still detach about positive points the variety of guitar timbres (nylon, eletric, 12 strings guitars) the ones which in the "quietest" moments they reminded me more Anthony Phillips sound. The best moments are the tracks 1 "Mind Over Matter", 5 "In The Eye of Beholder", 8 "The Bridge", 10 Bat in the Night" and 14 "Young and Restless" that closes with perfection the disk. due to these considerations my rate is 5 stars!!!

Another Us album that requires a lot of patience and time.

Us came back with a new, more space rock sound on this album. The Al Stewart influences is still there and same is the naive, open songs. This album is also a concept album about the moth man.

The opener Mind Over Matter is a great song and the best song on this album. From there, the album takes a slight nosedive. The songs on this album is not as great as the songs on the previous two albums. Their slight space rock take on neo-prog does not win me over either. Besides of that, this album still has the long clean guitar runs which has become Us trademark. The keyboards is also great throughout. But in my view, this album is a slight dip in form compared to the previous album. It is still a very good album though.

3.5 stars

In 2005 Us had to face some major problems.Singer Stephan Cristiaans and guitarist Peter de Frankrijker decided to leave the band, while drummer Paul van Velzen started to lose interest in the project during the recording process of the upcoming fourth album.However Jos and Ernest Wernars decided to finish the album on their own forces (with the help of Marijke Wernars in some vocal parts).They even evented fantasy drummer Joris ten Eussens, so Us would seem as a normal band to the public, but actually the duo recorded the drum parts all by themselves.The fourth title of their catalogue was the 2006 self-produced CD ''The Young And Restless''.

And the truth is the Wernars duo did it pretty well.''The Young And Restless'' is definitely their darkest-sounding effort so far, a 56-min. tight long suite divided in 14 short parts with only a few interruptions between the tracks.Additionally it is also their most retro- and symphonic-inclined release with the Neo Prog influence a bit limited compared to the previous albums.To the music, ''The young and the restless'' holds a perfect balance between instrumental passages and vocal parts.It is a very well-structured and executed composition with epic keyboard deliveries and strong HACKETT-like guitar chops along with the always deep bass sound of Jos Wernars.Synthesizers, organ and mellotron parts dominate the album in series of atmospheric and powerful arrangements with a fair dose of changing climates and Jos' guitar lines range from the smooth GENESIS' performance to some huge electric explosions in the vein of IQ or COLLAGE.Especially the later guitar parts supported by the massive keyboard attacks are what make the album really dark regarding its atmosphere.On the other hand the male vocals are mediocre, sometimes sounding out of tune and without some needed color delivered by an experienced singer, while the drums sound a bit mechanical at moments, though the Wernars' did a pretty good work on this section.The soft acoustic textures remain a strong element of Us music and add the appropriate breath among the symphonic arrangements.

All in all this is another very good Us production.If these majestic instrumental passages were next to a better voice we would talk about a trully excellent work.But even this way the album deserves a relatively high rating and a strong recommendation...3.5 stars.