ADVENTURE

This album is actually rather funny. It's as if a group of relatively talented musicians got together and said, "Hey, let's record an epic prog album." So, they went through every classic group in the collection, and threw this together. It's not exactly bad, but it's not all that good either. This is as derivative as it gets. There are times when something fresh begins to emerge, but it is soon washed away by a tremendous amount of cheese. The lyrics are especially trite, and sung in a very heavy accent.

The moments that show promise are when they get into a more folky style. If the whole album had been built around that, something very good may have happened. Unfortunately, we are left with what almost seems like a prog parody. If you find it for a buck or two, it might be worth it for a laugh. Otherwise, don't waste your time.

H.T. Riekels

With a history dating back in 1990, Adventure from Trondheim, Norway, are led by guitarist Terje Flessen and keyboardist Odd-Roar Bakken.The early years find the band recording several demos but always having problems at the vocalist's position.A bried split up took place in 1995, but in 1996 the Adventure duo returns with new singer Verbjorn Moen.New material along with older reworkings resulted to the first self-produced self-titled CD by the band in 2000.

The album is characterized by its two long tracks (''Motherland'' and ''Seasons''), each divided in 8 and 11 shorter parts respectively, resulting to some captivating, often old-school but always highly energetic musicianship.The final offering is close to the likes of MAGIC PIE or CRYPTIC VISION, diverse modern Progressive Rock with big time retro influences and powerful compositions.The listener can enjoy arrangements with strong KANSAS, YES, GENESIS, CAMEL, URIAH HEEP and RUSH inspiration, most of them have a certain symphonic structure with occasional flute deliveries, Soft acoustic textures, interesting guitar solos and bursting Hard Rock references.Excellent work by Bakken on keyboards, who offers plenty of magnificent synth leads and organ waves.The new singer has a dynamic, passionate and clean voice, surrounding nicely the bombastic musicianship.Do not expect of course Adventure to break any new grounds, but everything is well-crafted and arranged on this album.

Great modern Symphonic Progressive Rock with Hard Rock and Folk references, which is sure to satisfy any fan of both modern and vintage Progressive Rock, as played by the legends of the 70's.The CD has been reissued by MALS and it is quite easy to find.Warmly recommended.