GALLEON

I am not sure what happened with this album. Galleon pushed out "Engines Of Creation" 3 years earlier and it was a smash! In many ways it is generally their best work in my opinion. It was very well done and had some great surprises in it and the guitar work was stellar. I had expected something similar but not only did the guitar work become more laid back but the album overall for me is very unmemorable.

Maybe this is why they chose not to put another one out. They were working on one in 2014 but a few years later came their announcement that they were done. They were a unique band. I struggle with this album to find much on it that impresses me.

"Wallflower" is the best track on the album and has some good transitions. "Child's Play has some good stuff in it as well. "Over The Hills?" prods its way along not really going anywhere. Overall it is as if they were struggling to find anything fresh. The last track "Rain" left me saying "WHAT? Is that it?"

This is one of those albums that you have to really search hard to find anything on it that lives up to the greatness of the band. RIP Galleon.

Galleon is a band that this old proghead had never even heard of until 2014. Having been stuck in the rut of old prog feeling like there was nothing out there fresh, it wasn't until about 2009 that I climbed out from under my rock and started doing research and found out that prog had been progressing all along! I have since discovered so many bands that came into play after 1985 and some of them have been incredible to hear.

When I ran into this band I was stunned! Each album has something great to offer. After getting their entire library and hearing them over and over again I can conclude that this album for me is the last good album. "In The Wake Of The Moon" was my least favorite. I was so looking forward to another album but sadly they disbanded. Their Facebook page had them recording and laying down tracks and stating in 2015 that a new one was coming and after silence they came back and stated that they would no longer go on. A very sad day indeed.

In many ways "Engines" is my favorite album. Their previous albums were heavier on keyboards than guitars. This album has the best work by Sven Larsson! I thought at first they must have gotten a new guitarist. His solos are better than ever. So much of this album is very strong and is probably the closest thing to metal this band has done.

"A.I." comes out of the shoots as an intro with guitar at the forefront. "The Assemblers" is a well crafted track. The guitar solo is amazing and probably his best. "Signals" is a good track once again heavy on guitar. The title track is a great one with a great deal of layers transitioning from one style into another. Once again another great solo by Larsson and that collides into a great slower piece that grinds through the song's name. Cranking this one up is essential. "State Insane", "Cinnamon Highway" and "Fog City" do nothing much for me. "Men & Monsters" is a great explosive track reminiscent of a few tracks on previous albums. "Machine Mother" also rocks in the guitar arena. The last track "Lightworks" is another winner. I really appreciated the sudden drop into the hypnotic middle piece that is sandwiched between radical pieces of bread.

I have to rate this one a high 4 but a high 5 to these guys! If you want a more edgy guitar driven album this would be it.

Listening diary 11th October, 2021: Galleon - From Land to Ocean (neo-prog, 2003)

Disc 2: The Ocean

If the idea of a 52-minute neo-prog track doesn't immediately put you off, there's definitely something to enjoy in here. I've always had a fascination with ultra-long songs in genres other than instrumental music, because it's difficult to make it sound like it's genuinely one continuous piece of music without padding. This does a solid job, although it's not without its fair share of meaningless instrumental wandering - but the recurring themes are memorable, as they should be, and the structuring is solid to the point where I wonder why Galleon weren't a more popular band. They also don't forget the core of neo-prog - the melodic influence of new wave and pop music, and the melodic motifs here do embrace that to a decent degree. If you can mind the pomp and the fluff, it's not a bad experience.

6.8 (5th listen)

Part of my listening diary from my facebook music blog - www.facebook.com/TheExoskeletalJunction

Galleon - From Land to Ocean (2003)

Swedish neo-progressive rock band Galleon has been operating since the early nineties without ever getting to hit it big in the worldwide appreciation of the neoprog genre. This is a bit a suprising, because they surely have a very recognizable Marillion/Genesis/Pink Floyd derived sound & style and guys are real pro's when it comes to musicianship and performance in the recording studio. I've been busy finding some new neoprog I like (I really love Arena) for listening with my mp3-player while traveling and so far I had trouble finding other acts that really connected with me, however the first song 'Three Colours' of this album got me right away.

Listening to the album I have two main impressions. On the one side I find a very well composed and played neoprogressive album with many really catchy moments, intelligent composition and some nice surprises when it comes to broadening the neoprog horizons. Moreover, this begin a double album, there's quite a lot of good material here. Guitarist Sven Larsson's playing is very enjoyable for me, him being a good stratocaster connoisseur who sometimes doesn't hide his love for jazzier guitar parts. Bass-player and vocalist Göran Fors often has a heavier and natural bass-guitar sound I learned to like his competent vocals as well - a bit typical for the neoprog genre. Ulf Pettersson on keyboard has professional sounding sounds/samples (something that goes wrong to often) and a very well balanced input.

My other impression is that the artistic approach of Galleon on this album is not without controversy. The very intimate & theatrical vocals have been a key-element of neoprog genre from the very beginning. Often the subjects of personal hardship or mysterious happenings have made a perfect fit with the music. Marillions singer Fish also found a way to handle political issues by relating to them in very personal way. Galleons 'From Land to the Ocean' is an almost purely politically themed album, yet the link with the personal or the mysterious aspects of the music is almost completely lacking. Themes like the problems with our economical infrastructure, the lack of political cooperation or goodwill and most of all environmental issues form the basis for the lyrics - yet they are kept abstract like a political pamphlet, which doesn't necessarily form a good basis for emotional musical experience on the part of the listener. This often leads to a lack of connection between the excellent moody neoprog played by the band and the lyrics sung by Göran Fors. Moreover, the fatalistic views on environment and politics are a bit tedious at times. Normally I can remove myself from lyrics that don't strike me as fantastic, but because of the harsh politically charged statements I can't escape them.

When reading other reviews here on the archives it is becomes apparent this album has been the subject of a lot of harsh criticism because of the lyrical content, perhaps a bit too much for my tastes. I just can't help loving the composition of the longer tracks and the album surely has the epic neoprog feel of a real classic of the genre. Therefore I think it would be quite nice if the neoprog listeners who do like the political lyrics or don't bother at all about them would give this album a spin, because I just know this could very well be a rewarding experience.

Conclusion. A very well composed and played neoprog genre-album with political lyrics that can be a bit of a hindrance, perhaps this album would have been a classic of the genre with different lyrics. I'm going to reward it with the big three-and-a-halve rating. Give the opening track 'Three Colours' a spin!

After some gigs in Spain and their homecountry Galleon focused on working on a double album, an idea Göran Fors was thinking of for a number of years.The band entered the Fenix Studios and worked there for three consecutive years, only interrupted for some rare lives.The album was titled ''From land to ocean'' and was released in 2003 on the Progress label.

First CD (''The land'') is structurally typical of a Galleon release, a mix of 10+ min. mini-epics with a few shorter tracks thrown in, built around balanced guitars and a combination of heavy synths and vintage organ.I get a feeling that the band comes a bit closer to contemporary Prog bands like SPOCK'S BEARD, adding a few jazzy and poppy tunes into the mix, revisiting more often the GENESIS fundamentals, but they have not lost their identity by any means.Lots of acoustic interludes and electric fests with powerful keyboards around, delivered via some spacey moods and overpowered by symphonic colors and neurotic flashes.Again the melodies are very good and the solos are sensational, Galleon were a mature enough band to compose another solid album.But the mellow parts and the overall arrangements sound now just an inch closer to the 70's, PINK FLOYD, GENESIS and MARILLION being the basic influences.

The whole centerpoint of this double album though is the second CD ''The ocean'', consisting of one single piece, clocking at 52 minutes.Was the band inspired by a similar attempt by THE FLOWER KINGS a few years back noone actually knows.I say this because ''The ocean'' contains lots of elements from the style of their compatriots, retaining a personal identity all the way.This is not all about classic Neo/Symphonic Prog here, the long duration allows Galleon to move comfortably between unrelated segments and the whole discussion falls into the track's cohesion.Several spins later I can say that this is an excellent piece of music with a great proportion between heavy rhythms, epic tunes, atmospheric soundscapes and symphonic textures, passing through ambiental moods, grandiose orchestrations and complex twists with the influences expanding to RUSH and KING CRIMSON and a few more doses of jazzy lines thrown in.Solid piece of art, always relying on the MARILLION school of Prog but with a more flexible and nostalgic style, similar to acts such as THE D PROJECT or DAGMAHR.

One of the top Galleon albums and a good candidate for the year's best Prog album.Mature Progressive Rock with strong inspirations from the classic era, mainly PINK FLOYD and GENESIS.Great music, highly recommended.

The first three songs of this album are really good but the three of them keep on the same style that make it sound a bit monotonous. The real adventure starts in the track number 4 with the title track 'In the Wake of the Moon', a song full of keyboard background and which has a dreamy feeling. The next song is as well as excellent 'War at Home', which I consider the best song of the album. Then, it follows 'Over the hills and 3 feet under', an instrumental but good track. The weakest song, to me, is Mr. Murphy, with a repetitive sound and lack of creativity, which is spilled all over the rest of the album. The final track retakes the good level of the album and closes it in good terms. Galleon managed to create an album with the basic elements of neo progressive music and trying to improve their previous albums. Recommended!

This now ten years old record "From Land to Ocean" by Galleon which is their seventh record of nine feautures Göran Fors (lead vocals, bass, taurus, guitars & keyboards), Ulf Pettersson(keyboards), Sven Larsson(guitars) and Dan Fors(drums & percussion). The covers shows two mystical ships flying over the sea and some mountains. This is a hugo album in term of long play time and it contains a monster of 52 minutes.

The first tune: "Three Colours" has a perky melody that is nice and the sound is heavy and the music is very symphonic. I like this song. Next song is also meritorious: "Fall of fame" with different passages and a jazzy feeling at three minutes. "The Porch" is quite boringand "Liopleurodon" is sweat but not som much more. "Land"is the best song. The band here gets helt from Kristina Olsson with beautiful flute. This song is symphonic has a rich lyrical theme with deep. The two last songs on the first disc "Solitide" and "The Price" also shows great musicality. Finaly we have "The Ocean", a very long song indeed. I have just listend once and perhaps this craves many listenings. No, not perhaps, i understand it does. It contains here and there strong progressive rock with lyrics and instrumentation on a high level. Though my overall opinion about this music is good and talanted symphonic rock which I can enjoy listen to, but it's not very interesting. They managed to do what a band should do to make long lasting progressive rock, but I can't really find their own soul in all this. I can't really hear what's Galleon's music in it. Perhaps I'll change my opinion, then I'll be glad of course but this doesn't feel progressive and thinking new.

As a Swedish band they should have sung in Swedish, perhaps this could have been funnier then but now it's just good. Well I am allways impressed on long pieces, but this time perhaps I wasn't the right listener. Three stars!

In April 99' comes the first strike in Galleon's history, when guitarist Micke Vaern decided to leave the band.His replacement was Sven Larsson, a friend of Ulf Petersson, who spent his time with the band Xinema.The dawn of the millenium marks also the beginning of a long collaboration between Galleon and the Prog label Progress Records.In early 2000 the first product of Galleon for the new label and their sixth full-length release overall sees the light under the title ''Beyond Dreams''.

With the new album the Swedish band returns to the form of their very early works, no epic tracks or suites, just seven mid-length compositions with symphonic and Neo Prog flavors, yet characterized by the great quality of Galleon's latest releases.Again the group offers intelligent, emotional and captivating compositions, where melody meets grandieur, based on excellent piano parts, MARILLION-esque synth lines and expressive vocals.The symphonic tendencies remain in the menu of the group, the great, elaborate guitar solos are still present and the more bombastic, atmospheric passages with the full-synth sound become a trademark of the group.The new album contains plenty of memorable themes, some tremendous keyboard solos and a crystal-clear production to make things even better.A long and epic composition would have made the whole work sound even more attractive, but still all of the new tracks are high in terms of quality with also a good dose of vintage 70's Prog influence, especially in some KING CRIMSON-inspired guitar moves or the GENESIS-flavored keyboard soundscapes.

Dissapointment and Galleon have nothing in common.Another great album by the band, not in the same level as the masterful ''Mind Over Matter'', but very rewarding to say the least.Fine music all the way, strongly recommended, especially to all Neo/Symphonic Prog buffs...3.5 stars.

Neo-prog at its best.

No more and no less original than the last work of Steven Wilson or Riverside. More elaborate or progressive than latest from Rush, to whom they have been compared previously.

Maybe not the quality of those in virtuosity, but in relation to composition and exposure adjusted itself. Disc two consists of a single song of 52 minutes, divided into 19 sections. Traces the history of planet earth and humanity along with their frustrations and hopelessness. An extremely captivating musical journey with energetic passages, and others more reflective and calm. The disc 1 is composed of individual songs. The song Land with a celtic touch through flute and bozouki. The softness and melancholy of Solitude. The changing passages of Three Colours and The Price. And the power of Fall of Fame.

It is a very compact and consolidated work. Mind Over Matter also recommend this band. Rating 4.5

Galleon's lates album to date from 2010 named In the wake of the moon is another worthy album from their catalogue. To me Galleon is one of the most consistent bands I've ever hered, they don't have weak albums, each release got something to offer to the listner. This 2010 album is somehow to my ears little diffrent , the neo prog atmosphere is only here and there they optaining for old school progressive rock. Anyway some great passages here, the guitars and keyboards has an important role, with long instrumental passages. Lenghty pieces again like on every Galleon album, with elaborated parts and quite complicated aswell. The best moments are to me, the opening track and the excellent instrumental Childs Play. So, all in all a pleasent one for sure but I don't think it reaches the beauty of the '90's albums, their best period to me. 3 stars, good but nothing is really impressive, only good.