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DIFFERENT POINT OF YOU

Alias Eye

Crossover Prog


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Alias Eye Different Point of You album cover
3.69 | 62 ratings | 11 reviews | 21% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Studio Album, released in 2003

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. A Clown's Tale (6:50)
2. Fake The Right (5:00)
3. Your Other Way (6:46)
4. Icarus Unworded (6:34)
5. The Usual Routine (4:40)
6. Drifting (3:16)
7. On The Fringe (7:02)
8. The Great Open (7:26)
9. Too Much Toulouse (3:16)

Total Time: 50:50

Line-up / Musicians

- Frank Fischer / bass
- Ludwig Benedek / drums
- Matthias Richter / guitar
- Philip Griffiths / vocals
- Vytas Lemke / keyboards, vocals
Guests:
- Bernd Schreiber / contrabass
- Christian Schimanski / guitar, vocals
- Timo Wagner / saxophone
- Werner Stephan / vocals

Releases information

CD DVS Records DVS011 (2003) The Netherlands

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to Grendelbox for the last updates
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ALIAS EYE Different Point of You ratings distribution


3.69
(62 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(21%)
21%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(39%)
39%
Good, but non-essential (28%)
28%
Collectors/fans only (11%)
11%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

ALIAS EYE Different Point of You reviews


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

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by progaeopteryx
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars I read a lot of good reviews about Alias Eye and their 2003 release called Different Point of You. A number of reviewers referred to them an "pop-prog," and I'd have to strongly agree with them on this point. Alias Eye to me is sort of like a modern version of Supertramp, but not as skilled at songwriting. They sound very little like Supertramp. It's just the song-oriented approach is similar. So, the music is highly accessible, but it does have a wide variety of styles. Singer Philip Griffiths sounds like a mix of Michael Sadler (Saga) and Maurits Kalsbeek (Egdon Heath).

The first track, A Clown's Tale, kind of reminded me of a heavier version of Van der Graaf Generator with some Jethro Tull influences. I believe that was mostly from the sax. It's a nice song to start things off with. The second track, Fake the Right, is pretty much straight ahead rock, with some minor VDGG influences, especially at the ending. Your Other Way is kind of like a ballad in parts. After 3:00 it gets much better with some nice piano and some beautiful Spanish guitar. The fourth track, Icarus Unworded, is my second favorite song on this album, sounding part Floydian, part Ayreon, and somewhat Beatlesque in places. Great song!

With the fifth track, I start losing interest. Usual Routine is mostly rock, changes styles in the middle of the song, and has a nice piano solo. Drifting is an acoustic guitar/piano ballad. Nice, but my attention is beginning to drift away. On the Fringe is average and has a piano/orchestral feel to it. It's not particularly good and loses the energy from the previous songs. The eighth track, The Great Open, is much heavier than the previous songs, has some great guitar solos and a slight neo-prog feel to it. This song has a lot of energy and is the best on the album. The ending track, Too Much Toulouse, is kind of like lounge music with the emphasis on the piano. Not a particularly memorable track.

Overall, I thought this was a nice release. There aren't too many other words that pop into my head to describe this. It's not "proggy" enough for me and that's because it's "pop-prog." Easily fits into the "good, but not essential" category, thus three stars.

Review by Gatot
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars As I have mentioned in their debut album "Field of names" review that 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. I then had another chance to spin the second album "Different Point of You" and still I am satisfied with the music. I believe they are consistent in the music direction of their music. Not much different than the first album, this is another peaceful music. The only thing I can mention is that the band is much more sounding like Kansas in its simpler term than the debut album. The band is quite exploratory by adding some eastern nuance (listen to track 1: "A Clown's Tale" (6:50) ) as well as jazz components (track 5: "The Usual Routine" (4:40)).

I do not want to review track by track but for sure, listening to this album is very entertaining. Yes, some tracks sound very poppy and you might be questioning why this album is considered as prog music. But, if you enjoy the flow of the music you will find some breaks with different styles that make a different experience. The other experience you might find is when you play the music with loud volume using a decent sound system, you can get the subtleties of the music and great soundscapes. I have to say that the production (sonic quality) of this album is excellent. I have enjoyed this album also using a Sennheiser headset PX 100 model and I fing an ultimate joy of this album.

Overall, it's an excellent addition to any prog music collection that you should not miss. If you do not like prog music, bear with me, you would enjoy this album as well. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Review by Marty McFly
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Melodic VdGG without crazy factor ? Or at least some tracks here seems like it to me. Songs aren't all the same, they differ a lot, but with one uniting element, specific guitar solos. Nice ones, like in Neo-prog. But every one of these songs have something weird (and interesting) inside, saxophone (you'll understand if you listen it) in surprising song Fake the Right, or accordion in Your Other Way (it has to be good old acco, what else) . To put it simply, this music is breathtaking, I feel like in land where my dreams are fulfilled, because this music has everything I want. Melody, good instruments handling skill, diversity of these musical instruments, listen-able vocals, quite long songs (but not so long to make epic song) and is tasty at all.

5(-) for wonderful music that can bring very various music into your life.

Review by b_olariu
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Alias Eye is one of the pleasent surprises I've come across lately, knowing this band not for long, around last year being very impressed by their music and by the vocalist too. The vocalist Philip Griffiths is the son of the singer from Beggars Opers ( a symph prog band from early '70's ) being here very sure of his talent and has some magnific vocal arrangements. The music Alias Eye offers is something between Saga, some neo prog elements remind me of dutch Egdon Heath, and overall is pretty good record. The pieces are well constructed right from the beggining I was struck by opening track A Clown's Tale with an arabian feel embraced by heavy riffs and pleasent arrangements, here the voice of Philip Griffiths truly shines, are some traces in his voice taken from his father tone, specially when he reaches high notes, but as a whole he is a fantastic singer. Anothe rexcellent piece is The Great Open, simply brilliant track, full of super musicianship and inventiv passages. Also there are some piano interludes and even saxophone passages, that goes very well in this context, from melacholic side to a more happier moments, Alias Eye did it with this album for sure. To me this second release from 2003 - Diffrent point of you is more mature as the debute as shows strong musicianship and excellent vocal moments. This is accessible and yet pleasent progressive rock album that may not be as challenging as some other albums or bands from neo prog zone but in the end is a quite rewarding record that will please many listners. 4 stars for sure. Great cover art aswell.
Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars Like their previous album "Field Of Names" I find this to have some good songs that are fairly straightforward. Some guest Spanish guitar on one track as well as sax on two songs.

"A Clown's Tale" is my favourite, I think because i've heard it before on some compilation cd. It opens with crickets and the sound of a party in the background as sax comes in then the full band.Vocals are next and a fairly heavy rhythm. A catchy tune with some good guitar as well. "Fake The Right" opens with guitar as sax and a full sound kick in including vocals. Not a fan of this one at all. "Your Other Way" features the Spanish guitar as well as keys, a beat and vocals. A mid paced tune with harmonies. "Icarus Unworded" opens with piano as reserved vocals join in. Some lazy guitar melodies follow with light drums. Not a big fan of this one. "The Usual Routine" is catchy with a bit of spice.

"Drifting" is a short song with acoustic guitar to start as fragile vocals join in. A mellow tune. "On The Fringe" opens with pulsating experimental sounds as keys then vocals join in.The experimental sounds fade away.The tempo picks up after a minute with synths coming and going. Not a fan of the backing vocals. "The Great Open" opens with synths washing in as reserved vocals come in. It does kick in pretty good before 3 minutes and even more a minute later. "Too Much Toulouse" is not the best way to end the album,at least for my tastes.

Not as good as "Field Of Names" (3 stars) hence the rating of 2 stars.

Latest members reviews

3 stars A Different Point of You is Alias Eye's–a southern Germany band–second full-fledged studio album. Although not near excellence, A Different Point of You is definitely a very interesting recording, mainly because you don’t get to hear too many bands playing similar to what Alias ... (read more)

Report this review (#202572) | Posted by therek | Friday, February 13, 2009 | Review Permanlink

5 stars I do agree with those who think the album is absolutely GREAT, it contains the perfect mixture of prog, pop and hard rock. It doesn't get bound to any style in particular, just floats between styles, taking what it needs to make the album even better than its predecessor. The songs show a v ... (read more)

Report this review (#26411) | Posted by | Sunday, April 24, 2005 | Review Permanlink

5 stars I'm listening to "Your Other Way" right now, on my second spin directly after the first!. This is a very inspiring song. I have discovered a new band today, and their name is: Alias Eye. I can hear hints of Yes in the vocal hooks, Rothery/Gilmour guitar solos, there is saxaphone sections that sou ... (read more)

Report this review (#26410) | Posted by | Friday, March 25, 2005 | Review Permanlink

5 stars In a word, this album is "awesome". I'll admit it needs a few spins to really appreciate, but once you're hooked this album will stay in your playlist for a long time. There are very few bands that can write catchy melodies and flowing compositions but still have enough in each song to keep yo ... (read more)

Report this review (#26409) | Posted by | Thursday, February 17, 2005 | Review Permanlink

2 stars A compilation of songs that is more interesting in its performance than in its compositional skills. A fine rendering of well played art-rock, with various musical points of view (get it?). However, that's about it, since none of these songs manage to gain lasting interest. This record does no ... (read more)

Report this review (#26408) | Posted by PROGCOM | Sunday, February 13, 2005 | Review Permanlink

5 stars Alias Eye have delivered a brilliant follow-up to the excellent "Field of Names". Not much has changed here since the previous album, but as the saying goes: if it ain't broke, why fix it? The perfect marriage of pop and prog is still there, the flawless musicianship and excellent song compos ... (read more)

Report this review (#26407) | Posted by | Wednesday, January 5, 2005 | Review Permanlink

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