TALES FROM MOONLIT BAY

With "Tales From Moonlit Bay" we are treated to an epic, almost 21-minute track right from the start. "The Falcon Suite" (as the track is called) is a mighty undertaking where one musical theme is more or less treated in various ways (different arrangements, voluntary stops and starts, time changes, etc.). This is a good track although I do feel it needn't have been so lengthy (don't get me wrong: I don't shun long pieces; but I also don't automatically equate length with genius). "The Price for Trust" is an average piece with rather rough edges. The 8-minute "A King's Epitath", however, is symphonic prog at its best: grandiose, pompous and regal, as befits the title; its second half features some throbbing passages and chord changes that will simply melt your insides (how DO you do it, Mr. HEINEN?!?). "Paradise" is a rather forgettable, dark drum-based piece whereas "Ivory Tower" is almost entirely acoustic, although it does end with a fuller sound.

If ever you were about to fall asleep, the instrumental "Live at Armageddon" surely will wake you up. What a blast this one is! The mauve-coloured, mellow overtones go out the door and in comes the heavy machinery: weird sound effects, throbbing beats, electricity, mounting tension, a mind-blower of a piece and the tighest number I've heard from the band yet. The album ends on a mellow note with the 12-minute "Wreck of the Dancer", a slow builder that tackles the whole gamut of human emotions (much better than "The Falcon Suite" IMO) and bursts in an apotheosis of sounds, floating guitars and soaring keyboards. It slowly dies out on some melancholy notes, making you want to hear the album all over again. A gem of an album which any fan of melodious prog is guaranteed to fall in love with.

4.5 stars. LIKE WENDY's third studio release is such an enjoyable listen, I can't say enough about this recording. This two man band from the Netherlands play a melodic brand of prog with Hackett-like guitars.

The 20 minute opener "Falcon Suite" has a lot of shifts in tempo and mood. The vocalist also changes the tone of his voice to a higher pitch after 8 minutes.There are shades of MARILLION 13 minutes in, and we are treated to uplifting guitar melodies a couple of times in this song. "The Price For Trust" features a catchy guitar melody that stops as the vocals come in, which at times are theatrical in the FISH style.

"A Kings Epitath" opens with a keyboard melody and features some good guitar hooks. At 4 1/2 minutes the song becomes pastoral with acoustic guitar. The song ends with a beautiful extended guitar solo. "Paradise" features heavy drums with vocals and synths that come and go. "Ivory Tower" is mostly vocals with acoustic guitar until the sound increases at four minutes. "Live At Armageddon" is my favourite song here, especially the first two minutes of amazing guitar. "Wreck Of The Dancer" is a great atmospheric tune that builds, and yes another terrific guitar solo.

This is one of the best Neo Prog records i've heard in a while. Many emotional and uplifting moments. Highly recommended.

Third offering from Bert (leader and multi-instrumentalist) and Marien (on the drums). This duo plays some beautiful and melodic music which at times is closer to the symphonic genre IMO.

When you listen to the superb epic and opening track "The Falcon Suite", this feeling can only be reinforced. Passionate and delicate intro (piano and guitar), gentle vocals and some very varied and soft musical/vocals interplays. Here and there some heavier riffs will bring some neo-prog feeling but the global mood is really excessively emotional.

Vocals are "BJH" oriented (but this is no new feature). At mid-time, this song turns into the best of the "BJH" repertoire. From their great and splendid era : the mid-seventies of course. If you like this "BJH" period you will be found of this jewel of an epic. On par with the greatest ones IMHHO.

Bombastic and lush keys, crying guitars (as Nick Barrett could have played) are just a pure delight throughout these twenty-one minutes.

Another highlight is the beautiful "A King's Epitaph". This song is again extremely melodic thanks to some fantastic keyboards sounds. Truly symphonic by all means. It is hard to decide which of these two songs is the best one. Only one advice : just listen to them in an endless loop. So vibrant guitar as well.Another jewel I guess.

Not all the numbers are as good. Take "Paradise" for instance. It is closer to prog metal. Repetitive, noisy and uniform, even if the final instrumental break gets back to some finer territories. I am not impressed with the acoustic and sleepy "Ivory Tower". A nice and symphonic closing section comes at the rescue, fortunately.

There is a live song featured on this studio album. Rather strange if you know that the band is only a duo.I guess that they must have another line-up for live performances. Anyway, "Live at Armageddon" is another amazing instrumental song. Huge keys and some Rothery guitar effects (you know the ones he used a lot as a transition between two songs). Another highlight with an exceptional finale. Simply wonderful.

The long closing number is also a wonderful song. Vocals remind me "Machiavel" at times while keys are very much in the Banks style. The whole piece consisting of such delicate keys and of short but so profound guitar instants. Another highlight of this album which is a highlight in "Like Wendy" 's career.

It is truly remarkable to produce such an album when you bear in mind that Bert Heinen is almost alone to produce all this. Really impressive.

I feel so ashamed that only TWO reviews with comments were posted before mine for this album.This is unbearable. Such a beautiful true prog offering and so little reactions. Too bad for the ones who are missing this work which features thirty magical minutes.

Four stars.

Chapter Three in the Like Wendy saga, a thrilling realization that all his previous and subsequent albums are different in structure becomes immediately apparent. The debut "The Storm Inside" received my loftiest praise, as well as the more gut wrenchingly private "Rainchild", multi- instrumentalist and vocalist Bert Heinen starts this one off with a 20 minute whopper that firmly catapults his craft into the deepest realms of progdom. There is very minute doubt who the influence is here, as it bathes in utter Genesisian luxuriance, heavy symphony keyboard backings buoying a classic slippery guitar, with storytelling vocals that recall Gabe's finest moments. The gentler moments are breathtaking with fragile beauty pleading with the subtle choir mellotron, twinkling guitar arpeggios serenading the melancholia, clashing with abruptly blitzing synthesizer tracers, overt organ reminders and some judicially positioned power surges, with Heinen's gripping plea towering over the storm. You want an epic? You want adventure? This is a trip, my friends! The massive coda fret solo is one of sheer splendor, expelled from the inner gut, the one that hides your truest emotions. The crystalline finale of this "Falcon Suite" should leave you emotionally satisfied, unless of course you prefer those 2 minute 32 second musical gas expulsions that pass as rock today. Sweeping, majestic, serene and densely gorgeous is what we are talking about here. Dig? "The Price for Trust" is a perennial fave, I just rollick in the rolling melancholia that morphs into a vocoder-fueled rage ("What about MY feelings?"), Bert's voice spewing the deepest spleen within the cottony 6 string ornaments. A truly fascinating "and the clock tic-toc" piece. "A King's Epitath" resolutely maintains the cadence, a lilting lament, drenched in intense symphonics only to present a glistening lead guitar solo. "Paradise" is where the beat gets stiffer and the relentlessness becomes more oppressive, the drum track sounding like the cousin of Genesis' "Mama", pounding with furious abandon. Thick and bleak, this has an IQ feel to it that is not unpleasant. "Ivory Tower" is an acoustic glade in the landscape bristling with shivering frailty, showcasing a more brooding and mournful critique ("What kind of Fool?") that replies with a sweet melodic crescendo. The allegedly (because unaccredited) live instrumental "Live at the Armageddon" is a guitar festival, a delightful Hackett-like piece with various alterations of speed and tone, a few good slaps of Tangerine Dream like sequencing , manic drums-a-bongo and that volume pedal caressed lead guitar solo just ripping from that amazing place we all wished we were there. Like a good "prog-deli" sandwich, Bert ends the album on an another extended piece, the delightful 12 minute "Wreck of the Dancer", containing all of the by now familiar ingredients: lush melodies, dreamy vocals dripping with pain, smooth acoustic and electric craftsmanship, sensational ivory work and that undeniable personal stamp that makes this music certainly not perfect but highly original and true to the composer's philosophy. Ultimately, this is the unique charm that transfixed me from day one. Melodic guitar fans will have plenty to admire here as well. 5 effervescent beacons .

What do you expect from neo progressive music? A good- melody? Dynamic? Smooth transition? Well, you may find some of them here from the third album by Like Wendy Tales From Moonlit Baby. For sure, you won't find dynamic music right here as the band has confirmed their music direction into a mellow melodic music as it was the case with their two previous albums "The Storm Inside" (1998) and "Rainchild" (1999). What I mean dynamic here is something that changes suddenly in the passages of musical arrangements. It's because basically all songs composed here have smooth transition pieces from one segment to another. If smooth transition is something that you love, I can assure you love this album. But if you expect something dynamic and energetic, this album would not meet your expectations. This is to say that it requires patience in getting the subtleties of this album. If you get used to progressive metal or power metal, it's possible that you dislike this album. But if you can enjoy Pallas, Pendragon, IQ, and other neo prog bands, you might enjoy this album.

This album has long as well as short tracks. On the long ones, i got the impression that the song moves too slow to another segment so that i tend to get bored with the passage. For example the opening epic Falcon Suite (20:57), amidst beautiful keyboard and guitar works, I find it too long to get to catchy segments. The music is dragging too long in certain passage that makes me bored with it. If the ban could have ever made it such dynamic as Genesis Supper's Ready or Yes Gates of Delirium, it would be okay for my taste. I know that legendary track like Pink Floyd Shine on You Crazy Diamond also moves slowly but it guarantees a change to catchy segments that makes the listeners' waiting is worthwhile. This is, unfortunately, not the case with "Falcon Suite" which drags too long. The song can actually be simplified and shortened.

Not truly satisfied with opening track (overall), even though I do enjoy some catchy segments with guitar and keyboard, some tracks I consider worth-enjoying like "A King's Epitaph" which has catchy opening part, in symphonic fashion, followed with great vocal entrance while organ plays beautifully at background. I can say that this song satisfies me because it flows nicely, combined with nice melody. "Paradise" also demonstrates good harmony in upbeat mood that reminds me to Pallas, musically as well as singing style. While "Wreck of The Dancer" also showcases a very good composition combining beautiful melody through vocal and Hackettian guitar fills. The song moves nicely with symphonic prog style, brings in itself catchy segments through guitar and keyboard.

Overall, this is a good album even though I have some problems with long tracks which move too slow and too long for me. It's no regret having this album in your prog collection. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Like Wendy's third album is a sometimes frustrating mixture of the masterful neo-prog sound which won them the attention of the prog community and the less successful mainstream- leaning material which caused their later albums to be less well received. Now, I've nothing against mixing mainstream alt-rock influenced stuff on a neo-prog album - I gave five stars to Marillion's Brave, after all - but Like Wendy's material in this vein like The Price for Trust simply leaves me cold.

As for their proggier moments, they suffer somewhat from middling production values, but when they're really on fire they're... well, a quite good Genesis-inspired neo-prog group, but there's plenty of those. On the whole, it'd be a much better album if it had received more polish and were it not for the regular flirtations with a musical style the group simply aren't as good at compared with their neo-prog skills.

Third album from their catalogue Tales from the moonlit bay issued at same label LaBraD'or records in 2000 is maybe their best record from all albums they offered across the years, but with all that they didn't change much in manner of compposing keeping the same attitude on almost every piece. This album is in same direction as previous works melodic neo prog with nice yet totaly un inventive guitar and keybords parts. The album is saved overall by the mosnster opening track - the epic Falcon Suite, clocking around 21 is by far the best piecs of the album and why not one of the best pieces they ever done. Lots of changes in mood and tempo, with melodic guitar lines, nice keybords interluded and a warm pleasent voice coming from the master of the band Bert Heinen. The king epitaph is another worthy piece from here. The album is ok , good no doubt , it suffers in dynamic passages, at least is how I see it, is to much time mid tempo to slow moments and no really much vein in instruments. 3 stars again, ok, enjoyble but nothing more, I guess these two LIke Wendy albums will stay another 5 or so years on the shelf untill I rememeber that I have it.

Bert Heinen seemed unstoppable regarding his rhythm on writing music during the first steps of Like Wendy and in 2000 he returned with the third and most ambitious effort so far, the album ''Tales From Moonlit Bay'', released again on Marc Brasse's LaBraD'or Records.This time his partner Marien contributed also some vocal parts apart for his drumming and keyboard performances.

Heinen decided to give it a shot on arranging a very long 21-min. epic, the ''Falcon Suite'', and the result was way beyong sufficient.This is an absolute Space Rock/Neo Prog masterpiece, with the first part captured by spacey piano interludes, intense lyrical moments, sensitive guitar work and a very deep atmosphere, while the second part is even better, featuring bombastic organ breaks, distorted guitar solos and strong groovy parts, like a cross between MARILLION, CLEPSYDRA and PINK FLOYD.The rest of the album follows more or less the same vein, divided into short, semi-long and long compositions, without though reaching the inspiration of the opening epic.Still this is very solid Neo/Symphonic/Art Prog in the style of FLAMBOROUGH HEAD, GALAHAD and CLEPSYDRA with beautiful vocal parts, long and sensational solos, acoustic hints, heavier moments with spacey synths and even symphonic instrumental textures, full of grandieur.The production remains strong, the mix is clear and satisfying and the moods Heinen can create is definitely a trademark of his music.

If this album had a couple of tracks close to its epic's unique inspiration, we would be talking about a classic of the genre.Still ''Tales From Moonlit Bay'' belongs among the nicest releases of Neo/Symphonic/Art Rock and deserves a great fame.Highly recommended.