WELCOME HUMANS

This is a USA band on a French label, reviewed on a Canadian site by a Dutchman, progrock has no borders! The music reminds me of Rush and Kansas (concerning the ideas, not the sound) because of the dynamic and alternating climates and the good skills of the musicians. The instrumentation is varied: piano, organ, synthesizers, acoustic - and electric guitars, bass, Chapman stick, bass pedals and drums and percussion. The seven compositions deliver lots of progrock pleasure: beautiful electric guitar with volume pedal use and fiery runs, bombastic organ and boogie woogie piano or flashy synthesizer flights, powerful vocals and dynamic interplay and many shifting moods. The 'magnum opus' is the long track "Late for dinner" (almost 27 minutes): although sometimes my attention slips away, most of this composition strong because of the good soli on keyboards and guitar, the great build ups and the moving grand finale. On this CD Thirteen Of Everything evokes Pink Floyd (guitar and organ) and Genesis (twanging guitars and Banks-organ) but in general this bands tries to sound original. A PROMISING DEBUT-CD!

Texas is not quite the Mecca of progressive rock, but it is home to some damn fine musicians. Thirteen of Everything (T.o.E.) have actually been around for a while under various names and line-ups, but finally released this, their first album this year (2005). Heavily influenced by Genesis, Yes and Gentle Giant, T.o.E. put together a fine debut that showcases the individual talents of the members and gets their name on the prog map. They boast three vocalists, guitar, drums, keyboards and a Chapman Stick/bass/acoustic player. All the tools needed to create interesting and challenging music.

Welcome, Humans features six medium to longish pieces and one twenty-six minute epic that is broken into seven subtitles. The dynamics are played well, as themes change and build, break into soft acoustic piano or guitar with subtle vocal sections, then swiftly turn into full group flurries of electric bliss. The music doesn't drag, it consistently moves steadily forward and maintains strong melodies and attention grabbing meter shifts.

The only "problem" I have is the less then stellar recording mix. The drums sound boxy and dull. Ted Thomas is a talented drummer, the mix lacks snap. The vocals are good, not great. Mick Peters has a Peter Gabriel styled delivery, but lacks range and emotive colourings to his voice and often sounds strained. Guitarist Joe Funk has a voice best used to enhance a lyric, not really harmony, just as an effect. Ted Thomas, drums and percs, has the best voice in the band, however seems to have a jazzer delivery. Hopefully the band will either get a "true" lead singer or invest in making better use of the the talents of Mr. Thomas. The lyrics don't really carry the songs,they seem more of an afterthought, as T.o.E.'s strength is in their hands. The epic "Late for Dinner" is a bit too "war of the Worlds" in it's alien take over scheme.

It's hard to point out the highlights, because the music is consistently well played and melodic. Semprini is a beautiful respite in the center of the album, subtlely played guitar with a synth undercurrent. None of the tracks get too heavy, the balance between vocals and instrumental sections is nicely achieved.

This disc should appeal to classic-prog fans and musicians.

Really talented little Texas band doing intelligent and melodic prog rock that, although shows influence from all over the prog spectrum, doesn't imitate. Quite symphonic at times with excellent rhythms, great keyboard parts, tasteful angularity and touches of avant humor found in bands such as Genesis or Cartoon (American band). The singing is a little scattered and the production muddy at times, but I could say that about a lot of good first albums. If you miss your classic prog and crave a new voice in it, Thirteen of Everything's 'Welcome Humans' might be a nice surprise.

This Texas quintet's debut cd is one of the better releases in the symphonic prog genre that's come out over the past few years. With a musical style that's rooted firmly in the Genesis model, they still manage to update their sound with IZZ-like harmonies and a relaxed, Glass Hammer-like recording style. You really get your money's worth with 73 minutes of melodious music, including the 26-minute album-closing suite "Late for Dinner" ("Supper's Ready"?...). Even some Canterbury-ish humor sprinkled in here and there! I do like the production of most of this cd, but I feel like the drums were sometimes mixed rather flatly or subdued - could have used a bit more high-end and "punch" for my tastes. Aside from the music, you get some decent album art, and an extensive cd booklet reminiscent of some of the earlier Flower Kings cd booklets. Overall, a pretty enjoyable and worthy album!

I'll go 3-1/2 stars

Thirteen of Everything (intristing name) is a relativly young progressive rock band from USA formed in late 1998 with only one album in their pockets so far, released at Musea records in 2005 named Welcome humans. I was very pleased what I heared here on this first offer of this texan band. Taken the influences from Genesis (Trick of the tail and Wind and wuthering era), Thirteen of everything manage to create a very solid and pleasent symphonic prog album, filled with excellent keyboards arrangements and some great guitar lines. The music is complex, beautifull arranged with some very memorable parts. The album is up tempo with little moments of respiro like Semprino, an acustic piece with nice keyboards in background . The voice is very good for this kind of music, he did a great job, nice passages from light voclas to more in vein just to come with the atmosphere of the piece, good voice. The main man of the band , is to me, Thad Miller - the keyboard player, who did a very strong and solid job here, the most intristing parts on this album come from this guy, who I must congratulated him because he done such a beautiful work with his instrument, from more balance moemnts with the guitar duo to amore solo effect, the keyboards always shine here, really some fantastic parts on Flying est, the dark Sleepdance and on The bird in hand. Well done guys overall, nice album, I like it a lot, with an excellent cover art a painting made by James Janknegt and inside booklet, with no more then 12 pages. So, I will give 4 stars easy, one of the most pleasent albums from progressive rock I've listen latley, with memorable and intricate arrangements and very good musicianship. Even in places the album has a touch of Genesis '76-77 era, Thirteen of Everything needs a better view, because they worth it evry push from us. Album available at Musea records.

US foursome THIRTEEN OF EVERYTHING sets the year 2000 as their official year of foundation, and following a demo in 2002 they were signed to French label Musea Records for their debut album "Welcome, Humans", which was released in 2005. The band have released one more album since then, "Our Own Sad Fate", which was self-released earlier this year.

Thirteen of Everything strikes me as a talented bunch of men, and while they probably use a bit too much time to produce their material to become a staple in the progressive rock circle there's no denying the talents of the band. The ones that primarily should take note of this album will in my view be those who have a just about equal passion for late 70's Genesis and early 80's Marillion. Many of those who love and treasure those eras of those bands should find this album to be a real treat.