AD INFINITUM

I have this album for almost ten years now but in all those years I never could get a real grip on it. Ad infinitum is a band with potential to me but somehow it's not coming out, really. Since this is their only release it could be a matter of inspiration because I believe Ad Infinitum are better musicians than songwriters. When I listen to the album I keep wondering when the great tracks are coming up. With a great track I mean for instance Immortality, to me by far the best track of the album. A song too where they prove they really could be a class act. But I think it's not coming out in the rest of the songs. A real pity because as a great neo-prog fan I always hope to discover new great neo-prog bands but however much I would want this to be another one I have to conclude it isn't.

It's not that the rest of the songs are extremely poor, they are just less interesting compositionwise. It's the title track and Neither here nor there that stand the test of quality for me but the rest is somewhat disappointing. Because the execution is really ok and we are not talking about a bad album I still give it 3 stars.

A lot of people have panned this album, but is it really that bad? The answer is no. This band has done a fine job of getting that retro '70s sound, blended with '80s style Neo, and a few modern touches. It's not original, but it's far better than some of the flatter releases by the artists they emulate. There is some nice song structure, well-executed guitar work, and lush keyboards. It's not going to make you stand up and cheer, but it is enjoyable. My only problem is that there is nothing here that really sticks with me. It is all very pleasant, but there is nothing to grab the listener. I would say that it is definitely worth listening to. I just wouldn't spend much time or money trying to obtain it.

H.T. Riekels

This is a very decent album with numerous obvious classic seventies influences that the band readily admits to, but no blatant rip-offs that I can detect. The keyboard arrangements show definite Wakeman leanings, and other reviewers have cited Genesis as well, although I don’t hear that much myself. Maybe a little on “A Winter’s Tale”, but this is more with the vocals than the keyboards or guitars. A bit of a ‘Wind & Wuthering’ kind of thing going with that one.

A little Kansas and Starcastle too, particularly with “Neither Here nor There”, but these guys are nowhere in the same league as Kansas in their prime. I’ve also read some reviews that cite an Ambrosia influence, but again – I don’t hear this.

In all this is a very pleasant album to listen to on a quiet afternoon, but not anything that will really captivate you. The band members apparently intentionally crafted this to be a sort of tribute to their seventies progressive and symphonic rock heroes, and to be honest if I had the musical ability I wouldn’t mind doing something like this myself, so who am I to fault them?

It is interesting that I have at least four albums in my collection by musicians who released them with the expressed intent of ‘recreating’ that seventies music in a more modern setting: ‘A Place in the Queue’ from the Tangent; Steve Morse Band’s ‘Major Impact’; Flower Kings ‘Retropolis’; and this one. All of them show obvious and strong influences of bands like Yes, Genesis, and – well, those two mostly. Add Kansas and Deep Purple in the case of Steve Morse I suppose, but those are givens. All of these albums have been alternately praised and panned for their efforts, with critic’s comments ranging from “respectfully faithful” to “blatant clone”. But all of these albums are also distinctly different in their approach, which tells me that the principles of progressive music theory and emotion have very broad and deep bounds indeed.

Key tracks here include the opening title song, primarily for the excellent keyboards and ranging vocals; the ten-minute “A Winter's Tale” which like I said is the one track that does actually sound a bit like late-seventies Genesis; the guitars (including quite a bit of acoustic) on “All Hallow's Eve”; and the lengthy “Neither Here nor There” with its pleasant tempo shifts and vocals that actually do sound like they were recorded in 1973 or so.

Weak tracks? Mostly “Overland”, which has some lively keyboard work but doesn’t manage to rise to much more than an overly-inflected AOR rock tune.

The Roger Dean cover is an obvious plus here as well, and like I said – I personally don’t see any reason to knock a few guys who decided to include a tribute to their musical influences in their discography. There’s nothing overly original here, but it is a well- crafted body of music that has no major flaws either. And as near as I can tell none of these guys has done anything as good since, so kudos to them for getting this one right at least. Three stars seems appropriate – nothing particularly special, but worth having in your collection if you come across it. Recommended to neo-prog fans and to other progressive music fans who appreciate the classics, but who also aren’t too purist or overly-pretentious in their expectations. If your name is Pompious Blowhardius, you probably should skip this one.

peace

American band who's only album shares it's sound with fellow American prog band CRUCIBLE with Mike 'Goose' Seguso singing very much like Bill Esposito from CRUCIBLE. They have the vintage 70's sound down pat for the most part, most notably the keys but it's being done a whole lot better by bands like GLASS HAMMER and many, many others. The Neo tag is a bit off tho. They lean more towards symphonic with some nice changes of meter here and there. Seguso's vocals grate on me most of the time but I must admit the music is catchy with some nice runs. Can't give it 4, but it does get a solid 3.

How to start this review, it's a good one, and yes, there is some resemblance to Genesis, Yes, maybe a little Starcastle but is that so bad? I think not. If you're looking for screaming guitars, don't buy this one. But oldschool prog oh yeah. No selfkicking musicians, there is a team at work and it may sound out of date but hey, if they all sound the same what's the purpose. I would like to hear the sucsessor, but when that is gonna happen....who knows....

The USA progrock label Kinesis has released some fine albums from bands like Rocket Scientists, Illuvatar and Fonya. Here is a pleasant CD from Ad Infinitum, a band featuring Todd Bravermann from Cathedral (neo-prog band). On this eponymous album he wanted to re-create the wonderful Seventies sound. The instrumentation is breathtaking: Gibson, Fender, Ibanez and Yamaha guitars, ARP Pro Solist -, Oberheim OBX-A and Matrix 1000 synthesizers, the famous Moog Taurus bass pedals, the even more legendary Rickenbacker bass guitar and modern sound modules like the EMU Vintage Keys (great Mellotron samples) and Roland IV 880 and the band hired a Mellotron from Illuvatar, you can't beg for more!

So the equipment was available, what about the music! Well, don't worry, Ad Infinitum has delivered a wonderful 24-carat symphonic rock album: pleasant compositions, strong guitarwork and great keyboards evoking the unsurpassed Seventies sound (Genesis in "Ad infinitum" and Yes in "Immortality). The singer is from a Genesis tribute band, he managed to come close to the typcial, a bit melancholic Peter Gabriel voice from the early Genesis. The Mellotron is very omnipresent in the tracks "Waterline" and "All hallows eve", lastmentioned song could have been from "Wind and wuthering"! This music is not very original or earthshaking but especially for the mid-Genesis - and vintage keyboard aficionados an enjoyable album.

www.progwalhalla.com

Spartan yet ultimately failed attempt at recapturing the spirit of 70's prog. Clearly a lot of work went into this, with practiced faux-Wakeman keys and jangling Hackett/Rutherford-style guitars, but it never really gels. Probably because, though there's no out-and-out thievery of any one band, the band display absolutely none of their own personality. No stolen riffs, but it's all "That's a Genesis-style bit, followed by a Yes-style bit," etc.

The vocals are decent, but they're not helped by the lyrics. The band indulge in every fantasy-loving-prog-fan stereotype in their lyrics, which reach new heights of risibility in the Viking-inspired "A Winter's Tale". One wonders if a Stonehenge-inspired epic is in the making for their next album (and yes, Todd Braverman has said there will be another Ad Infinitum album).

For all that, the album remains enjoyable and listenable, yet never much more than that. If you can get a copy cheap...

This is exactly the stereotypical kind of production that continually pushes the progressive movement deeper inside its own grave. The kind of stuff that one will make fun of, and i can't do nothing else but to agree... Once again, to achieve at finding qualities to this album sounds to me like an enormous lie, and it's even more dramatic when people who does does it with no back thought. You see, to like progressive music has become some sort of mechanical attitude to some, motivated by reviews whose only goals are to sell. And with no critical view - but did progressive music who claimed to be a revolution in itself will ever admit the need they have to do their own revolution ? - this becomes quite difficult to understand. Ad Infinitum's music is just flat and uninspired. The vintage stuff used here does not take them away from the pity they inspire, just as their so-called Roger Dean's cover (and one finds it beautiful... how ironic !). To make their case worse, "All Hollows Eve" is some sort of cut and paste from Genesis' marvellous "Entangled". But true progheads never noticed it. We know progheads buy and collect progressive music. They probably also read review. But, what the hell, do they listen ???

I don't own this album anymore, so this review will be pretty brief. But the fact that I got rid of it should tell you how i feel about it. As a band whose mission statement was to return to the classic 70s symphonic sound, and even got Roger Dean to do the cover, I was very disappointed. I recall liking the track Overland a lot, but that was it. Otherwise, the singing was weak, but even worse was the songwriting. To be good prog, you have to do more than just play the Mellotron and have long tracks - the melodies have to be solid too. And this was sorely lacking.

In my opinion the overall rating for this album may be about correct (Good, but non- essential) however I think the reviews are a bit harsh. I think I know the reason though - This is an album that is NOT neo-progressive in the STRICTEST sense yet it is also not heavy or adventurous enough for those who do NOT like neo-prog therefore it doesn't completely satisfy those who like one or the other. You almost have to enjoy the adventurous and the neo side of prog equally to really appreciate this music. Ad Infinitum are not quite as mellow as Genesis, Marillion, Pendragon or Arena BUT they not quite as adventurous or heavy as Rush, Yes, Gentle Giant or King Crimson either. Personally, I really enjoy the mix that Ad Infinitum finds on this album between the adventurous/heavy prog and neo-prog of today. I believe this to be an extremely underrated album. I urge those of you who have not given this album a chance to try again (or buy it if you don't own it). The musicians are TOP NOTCH and the songs really are put together very well. I just can't see anyone not liking this unless you are an extreme neo-progger or HAVE to have lots of heaviness or adventurousness in your prog. 4-Stars!