FEEDING THE CROCODILE

US or HIM.

I ve got a promo copy i ve heard three times.

I try to be conspicuous ...i listen and listen...I analyse...¿What can we rescue?

Wernars and his same formula ...very prog...never returns to a basis some acoustic,some electronic,some harder guitars ,.... all instruments flying in an adventure ..but there is a risk there...¿is this improvisation or a virtuous composition ?

Every year a new album so I feel this is more improvisation than virtuosity...not a virtuosity improvisation nevertheless.

In a 45 minutes songs is difficult to give a standard to a song.

I miss more decisions here ,more power...and please better sound.

The sound mastering here is awful...it seems he recorded the album in a room of its home with precarious equipment.

Wernars must find good musicians and composers to join him...if he stays in this adventure I think the Crocodile will take him as food.

2 stars

A great deception !!!. After having given note maxim to two of their previous disks "The Young and the Restless" & Sorrow in our Hearts") to hear "Feeding The Crocodille." In this work the band US doesn't contemplate the same shine and creativity that it presented in the disks previously mentioned. The disk begins with the title track "Feeding the Crocodille" with endless42 min 53 sec., that more seems a heap of themes which don't introduce a lot of relationship some with the other ones (what could justify his inclusion in a single track ), the result is a that there was a larger concern in showing instrumental talent of what to do a beautiful music to hear. I will stop for here in my critics, however I leave to the that read a warning... Don't hope to find in this disk the good same taste and the beauty of the disks mentioned above. My rate is 2 stars.

Damn! I have to write one more time a much critical review! Maybe I'm not lucky those days, maybe it's just a coincidence ... but when a band decides to tackle a new album and start it with an extremely ambitious 42 minutes long track, they'd better be armed with good weapons! Cheesy synth sounds, uninspiring badly timed doodlin', dull bass playing, no sense of cohesion between parts and a few more desasters are NOT belonging to that kind! For as much I was positively surprised by their previous album "Climbing Mount Improbable" - and despites the fact that neo prog very seldom impresses me - I must say this one leaves the impression of a work maybe made under the pressure of haste or a wrong deadline or any other factor pushing towards a quick completion. Or maybe is it due to the fact that Jos Wernars is playing all instruments! No one else to spark him or push him in another direction, no interaction between different minded people! Playing several instruments oneself is bound to raise some weaknesses as one can't be a genius on all of them! But we're far from anything good here, this is bad and boring and should have been kept in the shelves or released in close private circles only! I'm starting to ask myself why Holland seems to be specialised in pulling out one baad neo prog band after another .... there are so many compared to the good ones! It's a real pity and a bad reputation.

The so far final album from this pretty odd Dutch neo-prog band.

I have got all their albums and I have reviewed them all. It is fair to say that Us is one of a kind band. A duo, no less. Some of their albums is great. Other albums are merely decent. Listening to them all is like a visit to the local tivoli.

This time, Us has also got a new vocalist. A female vocalist with the name Marijke. She is related to the main vocalist, btw. She and Jos is the only musicians listed here. See my interview for more details. Her vocals gives the band something extra, but her vocals is not very impressive. She is not Kate Bush, to put it in nice words.

Feeding The Crocodile is their most ambitious album so far with the forty-three minutes long title track and a couple of minor tracks to back up the title track. I get the feeling that the band has put everything they got onto this album. This is their 2112.

You really have to have something special if you makes a forty minutes plus track. Us has some good ideas and they almost pulls it off. But not quite. I am not sure if they are fools or brave to even attempt a forty minutes long neo-prog track with one man playing all the instruments. It is like going to the moon, naked. The instrumentation leaves a lot to be desired. But there are still some good ideas here so I am not going to cold shoulder this track.

The other two tracks has some good ideas too and is pretty good. There is no denying that their sound is an aquired taste and my final verdict probably reflects that I have gotten used to it and that I find some pleasures in their music. So too in this album. Their lyrics is pretty cringe worthy at times and the vocals is their achilles heel. But this is a good album and that is all I can say. I hope this band will return again for their 9th album. Preferable with a full band.

3 stars

actually 2.5

US is a dutch prog rock band with quite a prolific career in terms of releasing albums, since 2002 when first album appear they release each year an album. In 2010 comes feeding the crocodile. Well, I had hard times listning to this album, not because is overall really bad, but lacks big time in captivating moments and inventive passagaes. If Eamon's day or Young and restless was very fine albums who I've rated 4 stars, this one is a let down in any aspect. Only 3 pieces, the title track had nearly 45 min in lengh and is almost a total waste. Only two musicians here remains from the previous albums, Jos Wernars responsable for all instrumetal arrangements here and Marijke on voice. Some good moments can be found aswell on title track, specialy on instrumental parts, some symphonic prog with neo touches but quite far from the great albums bands release prior to this one. This type of prog can be listned in the back ground, few minor highlights as I said in instrumental passages but overall is terrible to digest and even boring and chaotic, The Greatest Show On Earth is boring like hell. 2-2.5 stars. I like this band, so if you want tot discove their highlights try Eamon's day or Young and restless, to me their best albums for sure.