WHEN EARTH LETS GO

Progressive rock? Well, OK, sure, though Gazpacho's release from 2004 sounds suspiciously like a pop record... a good and inventive one, but a pop record just the same. The material is well-produced and filled with delightful background imagery, texture and depth. But frankly this collection of ten songs is almost indistinguishable from any number of other talented but slick bands gearing for a spot in the indie top 40. Drawing on a chic modern swank, Gazpacho will surely thrill aging MTVers by presenting something a bit more. As if R.E.M., the Mermen and Chris Isaak got together for a one-off concept album.

I have to admit that I have some MAJOR difficulties with this album. The most evident one is to find ONE song of interest.

It is a long and dull journey into some boring electronic music: synthetic music all the way through. I could endorse their music during Bravo but this follow-up has really nothing to do with it.

This album is just a long and pitiful piece of music: a boring complaint all the way through. To imagine that this band is considered in the cross-over prog genre is just a mystery for me. Maybe one song could fall into the description: Beach House and that's it.

Is this because there are some fine keys featured? Or some Marillion Mark II uninspired vocals? I don't know. What's for sure is that this album is just a painful moment. You could except Dinglers Horses which holds a fine melody line and finally some good musical substance.

This album almost holds forty minutes of torture which aren't worth more than one star. This Gazpacho soup has no flavour. It is all tasteless and useless.

"When Earth Lets Go" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Norwegian rock act Gazpacho. The album is a self-released affair. The debut album "Bravo (2003)" attracted the attention of Marillion, who offered Gazpacho the support slot on their 31-date European "Marbles (2004)" tour which ran through 11 countries. Before going on tour with Marillion, Gazpacho opted to record and release "When Earth Lets Go", to have more material to chose from for their setlist.

The music on "When Earth Lets Go" more or less continue the semi-progressive rock style of it´s predecessor and as such it feels like a very natural successor to "Bravo (2003)". The warm, emotional and melancholic vocals by lead vocalist Jan H. Ohme are still the center of attention but the rest of the band also deliver a pleasant and warm backing. The music is predominantly mainstream vers/chorus structured and using the word "progressive" about the music might be stretching the definition of progressive rock a slight bit but tracks like "Snowman", "Put It On The Air" and "Substitute for Murder" do all possess innovative and slightly progressive elements. But it´s with emotional impact that "When Earth Lets Go" will hit the listener and not by adventurous ideas, and Gazpacho succeed well in laying the foundation for that impact. "When Earth Lets Go" is generally a very warm album featuring a melancholic atmosphere.

The musicianship are on a good level all around. The addition of a drummer since the debut (which featured programmed drums) provides the music with more punch even though this is rather mellow music for the most part. "When Earth Lets Go" features a warm and pleasant sound production to go along with the mellow atmosphere, so all elements suit each other.

Upon conclusion "When Earth Lets Go" isn´t much of a surprise if you are already familiar with the music on "Bravo (2003)" but it´s another decent effort by the band and there is enough development of the band´s sound to call it a step up from the debut. "When Earth Lets Go" is recommendable if you enjoy warm, melancholic and emotional rock with some (few) references to progressive rock. A 3 star (60%) rating is deserved.