TEA FOR TWO

Tea for Two started as the duo of German musicians Oliver Soerup (guitars, bass pedals) and Michael Schumpelt (keyboards, flutes) around 1984 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein.They derived their name from the two cups of tea always served by Mrs. Schumpelt at Michael's home, when the two of them were meeting for practice.Initially a project of melodic Pop, Rock and Folk ballads, the duo was joined soon by Stephan Weber on vocals and later drummer Reiner Kraemer and bassist Uwe Haass to form a stable core that would play numerous lives in a certainly proggier style.In 1993 Tea for Two debuted with the self-released album ''Dream Or Reality''.

From the opening 12-min. epic ''Way of Life'' the band's influences become more than evident, sounding extremely close to MARILLION or DEYSS, performing a melodic and lyrical Progressive Rock with an attempt towards symphonic-inclined compositions, featuring smooth guitars and lots of piano/keyboard textures.Musically the album stands at a decent level, but there are two problems that really hurt its true potential.Firstly it is the voice of singer Stephan Weber, who tries hard to be expressive and sensitive, but the result is like a man singing, while someone has grabed him from the nose.Secondly the production's quality is not really on par with the decent music.The mix is hardly acceptable and the instruments sound like if being recorded ''live in studio'', not to mention some plastic-sounding keyboard themes.Still the album has some cool music to offer.This is a Neo Prog album with bits of folky tunes here and there through the presence of lighter, acoustic passages and medieval flutes.The style is both based on melancholic yet theatrical atmospheres and mellow instrumental washes with dreamy synths, mellow pianos and melodic guitars, far from extraordinary but within the acceptable values of the genre.A pair of more bombastic passages with sharper keyboard interludes prooves that the band was actually talented and could have easily thrown a more fair dose of energy into this release.

Many people will reasonably turn their backs to this album and the below average vocal and recording qualities are the main reasons for it.However Neo Prog fanatics will find some interesting moments in this otherwise rather pre-mature Tea for Two release...2.5 stars.

Some time back I created a two-part poll called Food Related Prog Bands, which included most of the bands listed within ProgArchives that had a food related name. One of the bands that I included in this poll was Tea For Two, a band from Germany, whom I had never previously heard. Anyhow, I found their album Twisted on-line on eMusic so I downloaded it, sound unheard, in hopes of finding some good progressive rock. It was a good download, because I quite enjoyed what I heard. Four of the ten songs were instrumentals, and they made good use of the flute, and acoustic guitars, which I have a soft spot for.

The first track, Spanish Night, makes great use of Spanish guitar and Spanish rhythms. The second track, Soundscapes, is an excellent instrumental. The third track, Out in the Sun makes wonderful use of the flute-very Ian Anderson-ish. The 4th track, Last Drink, is a piano-oriented instrumental which channels a little of Piano Man era Billy Joel. The 5th track, Autumn, is all about the acoustic guitar strummed and picked throughout; the vocalist reminds me of someone here, but I can't quite place who. The 6th track, Hold On, is a decent melodic song with focus on the guitar. The 7th track, My Own Way, brings back the piano and guitar and is also a good melodic song. The 8th track, Scar Folk, is an excellent instrumental that brings back the flute and then rocks on. I think this is a song that might fit nicely on a Focus album. On the 9th track, Why?, they pull out the acoustic guitar again and pick and strum their way through a beautiful, but short, instrumental. The last track, Come What May, is the longest song on the album at just over 7 minutes, and it is also one of the best on this album. Again, with the wonderful use of the acoustic guitar, but in addition there is prominent use of the violin (or is it cello?) throughout the song, as well as some female backup vocals. At the very least, creating this poll made me check out this band that I probably would not have otherwise known, and I was quite pleased with this album. They are listed in crossover prog, which means that they would most likely appeal to those like me with an ear for progressive pop. This album would be an excellent addition to any prog music collection.

When I bought this record more than a decade ago it was a complete venture because I never heard of this band before. I was just "into prog" and hoped for the best. I wasn't rewarded for my optimism because it was all disappointing. The production is poor, the vocals the same and also the instrumental part didn't come out at all. It all sounds quite amateurishly, as a sort of cheap imitation of Marillion. The only positiv I can say is that the compositions are not too bad, although it's all a bit too mellow for me.

I haven't heard any more recent stuff of this band so maybe they have improved. I hope for them.

Twisted indeed.

The album is aptly named, 10 tracks and almost as many different styles, and some twisted combinations along the way.

Starting out with a latin tinged folk track, followed by fusiony theme exploration, then comes a kinda folkier version of Jethro Tull, a piano only theme exploration next, 70's aor with country flavoring follows, then a piano ballad/neo prog mix comes along, next up is a heavily folk inspired tune that suddenly veers of into a musical landscape explored by Kansas and others in the first half of the seventies, a guitar only theme exploration follows before the album ends with a folky tune that takes on prog rock elements along the way - even some prog metal inspired riffings - combining with acoustic guitars and cello.

The whole album is a weird combo and mix of lots of different musical styles.

Well performed though, with good and at times quite catchy melodies. Melodies and songs in themselves aren't very original, but the mix in many songs and the mix of the album as a whole is. Good one in my opinion.

Recommended for the eclecticly inclined.