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FIELD OF NAMES

Alias Eye

Crossover Prog


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Alias Eye Field Of Names album cover
3.76 | 71 ratings | 7 reviews | 17% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Studio Album, released in 2001

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Field Of Names (4:52)
2. Premortal Dance (5:13)
3. Wasteland (5:26)
4. Just Another Tragic Song (6:17)
5. Driven (7:49)
6. River Running (6:21)
7. Hybrid (4:04)
8. Mystery (3:32)
9. The Readiness Is All (5:19)
10. An End In Itself (5:11)

Total Time: 50:10


Line-up / Musicians

- Philip Griffiths / vocals
- Vytas Lemke / keyboards
- Matthias Richter / electric & acoustic guitars
- Frank Fischer / bass
- Ludwig Benedek / drums

Guest Musicians:
- Martin Griffiths (of BEGGAR's OPERA fame)/ vocals on 9
- Timo Wagner / saxophone on 9
- Christian Schimanski / additional acoustic guitars & main backing vocals
- Werner Stephan / additional backing vocals

Releases information

CD QuiXote Music QXT CD 21 (2001) Germany
CD DVS Records DVS003 (2001) The Netherlands

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to NotAProghead for the last updates
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ALIAS EYE Field Of Names ratings distribution


3.76
(71 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(17%)
17%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(44%)
44%
Good, but non-essential (24%)
24%
Collectors/fans only (13%)
13%
Poor. Only for completionists (1%)
1%

ALIAS EYE Field Of Names reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Greger
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars I had the pleasure to discover a German band at the end of last year. It was their 3 songs debut CD EP "Beyond The Mirror" that really impressed me with its professionalism. This independent release gave them a contract with DVS Records where they have released their first full-length album.

Their new album impresses me right from the first song and the first listening of the opening title track "Field Of Names". They even got some accordion on it, which sounds really good and original. Originality is something you can hear a lot of on this album, and it has an amazingly clear and dynamic production. The musicians are tight and technically brilliant without letting the complexity take to much space. Even though the tracks contain many long instrumental passages, variation and mood changes it's always the catchy melodies that is most important. Philip Griffiths has a strong voice and he's definitely one the best vocalists in this genre. In the song "The Readiness Is All" Philip is singing together with his father Martin Griffiths who once was a singer in Beggar's Opera.

Their influences are Beatles, Dream Theater, Pink Floyd and Spock's Beard, but there are also reminiscences to IQ, Pallas, Rush and Saga. Actually it's very 70's influenced at times but with a modern sound, close to prog metal at times and sometimes they're wandering into jazz areas with a very great result. As you can see there are a lot of diversity on this album.

The magnificent artwork is made by Mattias Norén (www.progart.com) who I consider being one of the best artwork artists ever. "Field Of Names" is without doubt one of the best releases this year and DVS Records strongest release so far. I would be really disappointed if Alias Eye won't be one of the leading bands in progressive rock within a few years. Highly recommended!

Review by Gatot
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars A peaceful prog music .

Pity me! I only know the band, even the name of the band, just recently or quite honest with you .. during year end of 2007 when I met my prog colleague Hardiansyah Rizal during his visit to Indonesia. "Is this metal ?" that was my first question to him and he said it's progressive. I was then listening to the "Field of Names" album. My first reaction was that the music is so tidy and tight, with great harmony and nice melody. In a way, I remember the music of Little Atlas when I first heard this album for the first time. Of course, it's not exactly the same. For sure, the music of Alias Eye is to me more catchy than Little Atlas.

The band was founded in 1998 and released a demo recording called "Beyond the Mirror". "Field of Names" was their full fledge debut album Field of Names, released by DVS records, featured re-recordings of the three songs on the demo, plus seven new tracks. I have no idea on the demo at all but for sure this debut album is totally captivating in composition as well as listening pleasure. I am not quite sure on how the band's music has been influenced especially in this album. However, on their homepage the band mentions a lot of influences, most importantly Spock's Beard, Dream Theater and The Beatles. Well . for The Beatles, it's probably yes, but Dream Theater and Spock's Beard? I doubt so musically, as far as I have been listening to this album for more than 5 spins. There is a little bit of Kansas especially if you jump listening to track 2 "Premortal Dance" (5:13). Whatever influences the band has adopted, I really enjoy this album. It's so peaceful enjoying the music from start to end .

The album kicks nicely with title track "Field of Names" (4:52) which has an ambient guitar intro followed by soft music riffs and guitar work followed with nice singing style. The sounds of accordion make this song quite unique especially when it's blended with guitar solo. The beauty of this song is the riff-based orientation during singing style accompanied with nice vocal harmonies and chorus. The music interlude which starts with stunning guitar solo followed by accordion solo is truly unique and I can mention any influence of other bands down here. It's truly unique of Alias Eye. The guitar solo that follows makes a nice enjoyment. The end of the song is really great!

"Premortal Dance" (5:13) starts beautifully with a soft piano work followed by Steve Walsh like vocal sounds, augmented by acoustic guitar work. It's basically a piano-based song with some music riffs flowing from mellow to upbeat music in medium tempo plus some flavors of church organ which is accompanied beautifully by crispy bass lines. "Wasteland" (5:26) brings the music into upbeat and relatively faster tempo than any previous tracks and make the nuance is really energetic and captivating. I really love the flow of the music in a straight rocker style especially on vocal line as well as guitar sounds. It's so rockin' and uplifting. The music provides nice break at minute 2:21 using piano in slower tempo augmented by keyboard and vocal line that follows. This change of style is something that makes this music is categorized as progressive. Guitar solo that starts at approx min 3:56 is really stunning and rockin'! Oh man .. I love this track. It's so wonderful!

"Just Another Tragic Song" (6:17) intro with acoustic guitar reminds me to the intro of Styx's "Suite Madame Blue". "Driven" (7:49) strats nicely with soft organ work followed by tight bass lines and vocal line. Bass guitar is the main rhythm section at intro part followed by piano and acoustic guitar. "River Running" (6:21) brings the music back into uplifting mood. Again, I can see the sounds of Kansas in simpler arrangement. "Hybrid" (4:04) is an excellent track with nice keyboard work and interesting guitar work and riffs. "Mystery" (3:32) is very interesting track with great piano work and stunning guitar fills. The chorus line reminds me to the first verse of Madonna's "La Isla Bonita" (hey .. progger sometimes needs a pop song like Madonna!). But I believe this happens by accident. But for sure, I love this song very much especially with its energetic piano work and wonderful and rocking guitar work. The music break is also unique - like the music of circus. It's so captivating and inspiring the mind!

"The Readiness Is All" (5:19) has tight bass lines and stunning guitar work which moves the music in slow tempo with nice melody. The insertion of organ in the middle of the track provides some nuance of symphonic prog. The concluding track "An End In Itself" (5:11) starts beautifully with keyboard punces followed nicely by low register notes vocal. The vocal is so powerful. The guitar solo is truly a Floydian style with catchy notes.

Overall, this is a highly recommended album which might satisfy any kind of musical tastes because the music is quite digestible by most of ears, I believe. It's not that rocking in typical hard rock music and it's not as complex that you might have imagined in any prog music. Enjoy the music peacefully, and you will see the beauty of the music delivered wonderfully by Alias Eye. Have a good musical journey !

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Review by Marty McFly
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Absolutely catchy, proggy, interesting and surprising. Well, not so shocking at all, because after I've heard their "Different Point of You", I was interested in their other work, so I acquired this one. And it's one of the best bands I have witnessed. Their music is very promising (I mean that you expect something well known to be hooked on and something new to be satisfied - something that they offer in fair percentage here). And as with "Beardfish", they're using all these sound patterns, that you wouldn't normally expect in prog music (or maybe you would), which sounds little bit crazy, but you can enjoy it a lot. There are no disadvantages, my favourite here is River Running and I can recommend it to everyone.

5(-) for all these things + being either melodic, or interestingly in other means.

Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars This is another project that vocalist Philip Griffiths is involved with. He's also the singer for POOR GENETIC MATERIAL and the drummer Ludwig Benedek also plays for both German bands. It's interesting that Philip's dad Martin was the vocalist for BEGGAR'S OPERA and sings on one track here.The music here is pretty straight forward to be honest with the piano, vocals and drums usually leading the way. Some good songs here even if it isn't that proggy. By the way you'd think from the album cover that this was a Metal album.

"Field Of Names" opens with the guitar soloing then the drums kick in. Bass and vocals follow when the guitar stops. It's fuller on the chorus. Some tasteful guitar before 4 minutes. "Premortal Dance" opens with piano as reserved vocals join in. A beat after a minute then it turns fuller. Organ after 3 minutes as it settles.It builds with some good guitar coming in before 4 minutes. "Wasteland" becomes fairly uptempo with vocals and drums standing out. It settles before 2 1/2 minutes as reserved vocals join in. Aggressive guitar 4 minutes in as it picks up. "Just Another Tragic Song" features intricate guitar and fragile vocals early on. A fuller sound follows.The piano becomes prominant before 4 minutes.

"Driven" is mellow with bass, gentle guitar, piano and vocals. It does get fuller.It settles with piano 5 minutes in before picking back up. "River Running" is probably my favourite. It's uplifting and I like the piano interlude before 3 minutes. "Hybrid" is uptempo with piano,drums and vocals standing out.Great sound late. "Mystery" opens with piano but it kicks in quickly with vocals. Some nice guitar comes and goes. "The Readiness Is All" has some tasteful guitar with bass and a beat as reserved vocals (Martin) join in. It kicks in at a minute as contrasts continue. Some guest sax 4 1/2 minutes in. "An End In Itself" has these pulsating keys as soft vocals join in. Piano follows.The contrasts between the mellow and fuller sections continue.

A good album no doubt but it doesn't do a lot for me.

Review by kenethlevine
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog-Folk Team
3 stars I come to ALIAS EYE primarily via POOR GENETIC MATERIAL, with whom they share singer Phil Griffiths (and occasionally his dad Martin Griffiths) and drummer Ludwig Benedek. POOR GENETIC MATERIAL would not be who they are today if they had not, as en electronic duo, met up with ALIAS EYE around the turn of the century. From this encounter they incorporated Griffiths and melodic prog into their DNA. Worth a try right?

While similarities cannot be denied, largely in the vocal area but also in the attention to melodies, ALIAS EYE seems more concerned with connecting traditional song structures to more complex modern prog passages. They are less of a throwback if you will, and less given to true epic length pieces. They are also more hard rock oriented, an area in which PGM has barely dabbled. True, the heavier passages consist mostly of rhythm guitar riffs that lend muscularity to some decidedly tender melodies. In this respect they are more closely allied to SPOCK'S BEARD whom they cite as influences and with whom this album has been compared. For a more obscure reference, the Canadian project KAOS MOON is conjured.

None of this prepares one for the opening track, a full fledged gypsy/klezmer piece that includes an accordion lead just in case you missed the connection. The syncopated beat is established early and becomes a pattern through the album. "Premortal Dance" and "The Readiness is All" buddy up like two sides of the same coin lyrically, and are highlights musically, with powerful melodies, choruses and instrumental breaks, the first a cracking guitar lead and the second an outro on sax, neither of which could be easily predicted. Other favourites are "Hybrid", which describes the proceedings to a T, a blend of styles and references, and "Just Another Tragic Song".with its ominous build up and quasi orchestral break spearheaded by Vytas Lemke on keys.

None of the tracks are weak but the rest have too many ersatz qualities to captivate me with regularity, and their instrumental breaks quite outshine the vocal parts, notwithstanding Griffiths' imposing pipes. Still, this is a pretty likable album on its terms, and worth exploring if melodic modern prog with a twist or two falls within your depth of field.

Latest members reviews

4 stars From the opening riff, this album has more hooks than a fisherman's tacklebox... if you aren't tapping your foot by Track 2, and flailing about with every available limb by Track 7, you've got no excuse - unless you're in traction. This album has it all - intelligent lyrics, great song structur ... (read more)

Report this review (#26404) | Posted by | Sunday, March 27, 2005 | Review Permanlink

4 stars This is a great album for lovers of up-beat prog with a real groove. There's plenty of music and musicianship here, with a surprising number of instruments used and a good variety of composition styles. This band have found an excellent balance between pop and prog, expertly combining catchy ... (read more)

Report this review (#26403) | Posted by | Wednesday, January 5, 2005 | Review Permanlink

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