SIMON SAYS

Simon Says has a third album that is soaked with inspiration from classic symphonic progressive rock bands, most notably Yes. There is one major difference- the lead vocalist Daniel Fäldt sounds nothing like the symphonic heroes of the field- no second-rate Peter Gabriel or Jon Anderson epigones here. The vocalist has a deep tone, but reaches into the higher registers with an unnatural falsetto that despite the judgment a first impression may render, really fits and is welcome in its uniqueness. On the other hand, the guitarist Jonas Hallberg could easily be Steve Howe's Benoit David, with those characteristic swells, octave leads, rapid picking, and little distortion on the guitar. This is recommended for all, but especially for fans of Yes, The Flower Kings, Wobbler, Spock's Beard, and ELP's Trilogy.

"Suddenly The Rain" Sturdy symphonic progressive rock comes blasting through the speakers from the first moment. A saturated organ forms the basis for the first vocal section. The refrain is outstanding, and serves as a sweetly memorable delight almost directly from the outset. The latter half of the lengthy instrumental section is a Bolero of sorts, with steady marching drums and sinister synthesizers. The following guitar lead is extremely tasteful, allowing the rest of the music to dictate its direction. For a variety of reasons, "Suddenly the Rain" reminds me of Yes's Going for the One. Though the band offered their best piece at the outset, the quality doesn't henceforth decline.

"Tardigrade" The title track is one of the shortest musical chimeras ever, and played at a lightning-fast speed. While initially I felt the segments themselves seemed forced together, and the vocal melody didn't go with the music much at all, the guitar and organ fuse the bits together as best as they can, and after subsequent listens, it seems more natural.

"The Chosen One" Acoustic guitar and vocals begin this gentler one, a much needed contrast after the heavier fare of before. Velvety Mellotron backs it all up, and a sugary sweet synthesizer serves as the precursor for the fullness of the rest of the band. Once again, powerful organ is the main rhythm instrument.

"Moon Mountain" This is a brief duet played on the classical guitar and electric guitar.

"As The River Runs" Minimalistic synthetic sounds make up the beginning of this one, and various instruments trickle in over time, creating a polyphonic effect. Soon, a static drum and guitar tick along while the Mellotron handles the chords and the singer moans over it all. A piano section reminiscent of the part just after the quiet vocal section on ELP's "Trilogy" serves as the transition to heavy drumming, guitar through a wah-pedal and fancy synthesizer. The soft section that follows has something of a Van der Graaf Generator feel, with somewhat dramatic vocals over piano, guitar, and bass, and then it's back to the Yes feeling, with slide guitar and a wicked synthesizer lead. The band throws in some organ soloing and completes this fascinating progressive rock journey.

"Your Future" This is an interlude with a vocal fed through a Vocoder.

"Strawberry Jam" Frantic drumming and bass work introduce a wild ride of electric guitar and synthesizer. A bulbous bass solo concludes this short instrumental.

"Circles End" A dark acoustic guitar and subdued vocal makes up the beginning here. Mellotron, whistling synthesizer, and electric piano add a fuller dimension to this downcast but eloquent piece. This is a welcome respite from the robust and busy music that dominates this album.

"Brother Where You Bound" No, this is not related to the Supertramp song by the same name (I checked). The vocals and heavy instrumentation begin immediately- one cannot accuse this band for pussyfooting around, as they often get right into the meat of their work. One of the musical themes is very similar to a motif in the Yes song "Yours is No Disgrace." Like the opener, this song has an excellent and memorable refrain. The rolling synthesizer lead, as well as more low-key, um, keys, is perhaps the highlight of this very extended piece, which focuses more on the instrumental prowess of the band. No doubt this song will take more than a few listens to digest, but the band throws the hearer several lifelines in the form of memorable hooks and captivating charm at every corner.

"Beautiful New Day" Like Jethro Tull's "Grace" from their wonderful album Minstrel in the Gallery, Simon Says tacks on postlude, as it were, made up of acoustic guitar and vocals, which clocks in at under a minute.

That's a neat trick, to start with their strongest melody piece. Action starts instantly, without spare second to prepare and lasts for more than minute. Ecstasy is multiplied by number many (it's number, believe me, MARTY SAYS) and repeats few times through the song. I'll call it bridge. Then spoken parts that connects them and to it all are thrown solos. I'm not sure which one of them is the best. And it's just first song.

There is also story (always raises morale). Unfortunately, other songs slightly, but visibly loses, but still, it forms pretty strong album. Maybe more listens will make a change, good or bad one. This way, I see it on

5(-), very important (pers...)album. Also, is it just me who mentioned this, or do their singer has quite strange voice ? Good one, I like it, but his vocals register seems to be not so wide.

Gatot says "Listen to SIMON SAYS!"

I know this Sweden band very late from their latest album Tardigrade (2008) and I regret not knowing it since their debut in 1995. It was a friend of mine who introduced me to this album only three weeks ago. Surprisingly it blew me away at first spin. It was actually quite complex in terms of composition and the melody is not as catchy you might have expected, may be. Well, at least for me when I first spun the album. So my knowledge about the band is limited only to this album and I have no comparison at all on how the band performed in their previous two releases.

Just before I go into detail, let me explain how good this album in terms of its composition, ie: melody, harmonies, complexity, change of style, and structural integrity. Even though the melody was quite hard for me to digest at first spin, but it grew on me when I spin more and more. And by this time, I have been listening to this album in its entirety for more than ten times. And ..surprisingly I don't get bored at all with the music. Come to think of it, actually, I'd rather have a music which does not have catchy melody at first listen and later on it would grow steadily. I remember vividly how hard I digested Yes' 'Gates of Delirium' at first listen. But now, that song from Yes is my best favorite track from Yes. So is the case with this album. The first time it was hard for me to accept the melody of the opening track 'Suddenly The Rain'. It applies to other tracks in the album.

The harmonies created from the talents of the musicians involved are really great. Each musical segment creates its unique beauty combining the instruments which work in a balanced way and great vocal line. The music is quite complex involving multi-layered keyboards / synthesizers, Hammond organ, mellotron intertwined with great guitar playing, dynamic drumming and solid basslines. The complex part reminds me to the music of ELP even though major influence is from early Genesis (Hackett era). The album also demonstrates frequent changes of style that happen throughout every single song it offers. The most important part is on the structural integrity. Yeah, this album has an excellent structural integrity in each individual song AND the whole album, in a cohesive way. It's quite strange, though, as this album comprises songs with varied duration from 0:30 to 26 minutes epic!

Having considered thoroughly on the composition and performance, I finally conclude that this album deserves a 4 ½ stars rating ? it's almost perfect! Do you know why I retain ½ star from being masterpiece? It's actually not a big issue at all, but I don't feel it right if I do not put a NOTE on this. It's basically on 'Circles End' track. The composition is actually great, perfect. But I have one concern: it has a pretty close style and nuance of Genesis' 'Entangled' especially on the background keyboard work. You should compare it with Genesis 'Entangled' last part. No harm, no imitation actually .. but the nuance is so close... If you do not have any issue with this ..then you should rate this album with a FULL five star rating!

Let's have a look on track by track basis ...

This was what Genesis should sound after Hackett left the band!

'Suddenly The Rain' (14:47) opens brilliantly with a relatively fast tempo symphonic prog music with multilayered keyboards / synthesizer work combined with howling guitar work. Having demonstrated great opener the music slows down and let the vocal of Daniel takes part. His voice is excellent and most importantly he does not seem to force his voice to be Gabriel-like or Collins-like. If you know Citizen Cain, try compare Daniel's voice with Cyrus. You will find the difference because Daniel's voice sounds natural while Cyrus forces himself to be Gabriel-like. Or, you might compare with Unifaun's vocalist who also forces his voice to be both Gabriel and Collins alike. The music then moves beautifully with many changes of style combining electric and acoustic guitar being used at the same time in this song. The music sounds like Genesis Gabriel / Hackett era. I am sure if you are Genesis fan, you must recognize this music even though the song is not an imitation of any Genesis song. All musicians involved in this album demonstrate their skills in a balanced way and all of them are very talented. Unlike The Watch in which the guitar player is lacking, Simon Says guitarist is really expressive in his guitar playing. The music turns different when it comes to minute 8:50 with catchy keyboard work. The music changes into marching style that reminds me to the music of ELP. Oh man.. this opening track is really GREAT! The guitar solo is really killing! If you don't like this track, I challenge you with this intriguing question: 'How prog are you man..?'

'Tardigrade' (3:43) is short track with energetic beats, running in relatively fast tempo, combining the style of Gabriel era Genesis with ELP. Through this fast tempo track I can see how each musician contributes brilliantly to the music. The drums run dynamically throughout the song, making a fast beat for inventive keyboard work, guitar, bass as well as vocal. You may compare how the vocalist sings with Gabriel. The guitar solo is stunning and it sounds very 70s! It's not played like Hackett but it's really great!

'The Chosen One' (5:44) is another excellent track with great acoustic guitar, keyboard and vocal work at the opening part. I did influence my friends on facebook by posting a link of youtube of this track. Some of them comment that the music is quite Genesis - like Cinema Show. But I think the opening part of this track is similar (in nuance) with Steve Hackett solo album, not with Genesis. But when the music performs its full instruments with bass guitar and drums, I can see the sound of Genesis combined with Patrick Moraz solo in Yes.

'Moon Mountain' (2:33) is a great instrumental with classical nuance using acoustic guitar combined with electric guitar. It's excellent how the solo moves from acoustic to electric guitar. Brilliant!

'As The River Runs' (10:40) starts with an ambient nuance followed with catchy keyboard solo combined with organ and guitar fills. It's a very nice solo and it reminds me to the music of The Flower Kings, especially when the drums enter in marching style combined with mellotron sound at background. I am sure you like this opening part and this song as a whole. When the music breaks with repeated guitar fills, it reminds me to early King Crimson - something like 'Starless'. It's very nice! Especially when the vocal enters in register notes. Oh my God .. I love this track. Especially on the inventive piano solo that starts at 4:12. it's truly GREAT!!! When this part is playing, I kind like sing 'My mind is clear now ..' from Jesus Christ Superstar. After the great piano solo it continues with great keyboard work accompanied with complex arrangement combining bass guitar and drums. I think Genesis members must listen to this song...and I think this was what Genesis ought to do after Hackett left the band! The later part of this song contains great multi-layered keyboard / synthesizer work combined with guitar solo. It reminds me to ELP even though mostly dominated by early Genesis style.

'Your Future' (0:29) is just a computerized acapela followed beautifully with an excellent instrumental 'Strawberry Jam' (2:32). The opening bass guitar work is really solid and dynamic, combined with dazzling drumwork. The instrumental goes in fast tempo with guitar solo and inventive bass guitar and drum as the main attraction point.

'Circles End' (6:19) starts beautifully with guitar fills and vocal in low register notes followed with acoustic guitar work backed with nice keyboard with flute sound. When the mellotron enters, it creates a great musical nuances. Even though the melody is different, this song reminds me to Genesis' 'Entangled' from 'A Trick of The Tail' album while the vocal sounds like Gabriel. You might imagine Gabriel sings 'Entangled'. The part that sounds similar like Entangled starts at minutes 3:20 especially on the acoustic guitar work as well as the keyboard.

'Brother Where You Bound' (26:33) reminds me to Genesis' Supper's Ready even though this one by Simon Says starts with the full blast of music, not with acoustic one like in Supper's Ready. This epic runs nicely from opening until end with many changes of style throughout the song. The song is special to me because I do not feel of getting bored from start to end because everything moves nicely and smoothly. The keyboard work reminds me to Tony Banks but sometimes to Keith Emerson. Surprisingly, in this epic there is a shot of Hammond organ that reminds me to the music of Procol Harum at minutes 5:50. If you have prog head and prog heart, I believe that you would love this epic!

'Beautiful New Day' (0:43) concludes the album with acoustic guitar and vocal.

So, what do you think? Do you think I am exaggerating the review? Do you think I am overrating it? It's up to you to decide whether or not to have this album. The only thing I can guarantee you is that this album is definitely not a less than four stars! For me, it's more than four stars because the composition is truly brilliant!

Tardigrade is much better than any Three-Piece Genesis albums (you name it!). In fact, it's at par excellent as A Trick of The Tail or even Foxtrot. Try it out!

Keep on proggin'.....!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Simon Says are a new band to me even though they released their first album in 1995. They're not the most prolific of bands seeming to only release an album every six or seven years. Tardigrade is their third and I'm very pleased to have discovered them with this release. They come from Sweden, a country with so many excellent prog bands already and we can add Simon Says to that list.

The band are excellent players and produce well written and played symphonic prog with many influences. Not least I'm often reminded of their fellow countrymen The Flower Kings as well as glimpses of Yes and Genesis, particularly mid seventies era. Listen to Circles End to hear an instrumental section that could have come straight off A Trick Of The Tail.

Vocalist Daniel Fäldt has a distinctive voice and comes over as one quarter Chris Martin (Coldplay), one quarter Francis Dunnery (ex It Bites), the other fifty percent his own quirky style. Magnus Paulsson's keyboards alternate between vintage and more contemporary sounds making a pleasing combination and a fine player he is too. Jonas Hallberg is an excellent and fluent guitarist showing both Hackett and Howe influences and the rhythm section of Matti Jarlhed (drums) and Stefan Renström (bass) hold things together with ease as well as displaying intricacies in their playing.

Like all great symphonic prog we get the longer pieces which are broken up between a number of shorter ones like instrumental (Strawberry Jam) and sometimes acoustic based too (Beautiful New Day and Moon Mountain). As good as they are it's the longer ones that work best, the highlight being the epic Brother Where You Bound. Twenty Six minutes of symphonic heaven to please even the most demanding lover of the genre. Strong melodies alongside well structured and numerous instrumental sections keep it interesting throughout. A modern day classic for sure!

This really is an excellent album and highly recommended to symphonic fans. So much so that I wouldn't hesitate to buy the previous two albums, if I can ever find them that is.

****1/2 I guess. Why to complicate to go nowhere? Let SIMON SAYS be 'comfortable' with tested and approved prog archetypes. Remind that to goal a pretty convincing and tasteful musical level by their 70's matrix YES, GENESIS (also STEVE HACKETT solo albuns ala "Everyday" and "Camino Royale" dynamic borrowed ideas) & etc., is far from being an easy task!

Don't get me wrong, Simon Says is absolutely not mere copycat. "Tardigrad" got successful to bring to today dynamic sonority to their 70's idols plus Flower Kings ideas. Ok, while listening it the sensation of "I have already heard this before" appears, but it's not so persistent . It'sbroken by CREATIVITY. It means, clever, tasteful, awesome ideas, so the music don't get so much looping to a sameness. My only complain is that the CD could be shorter (60 minutes is enough), learn with Gentle Giant how to say much in few words. With some cuts in excess, it would deserve 5 stars.

"Tardigrad" got some gifted magic. It's what 2000's Flower Kings or Spocks Beard have been trying, anyway many times they fail, concluding badly the compositions by taking pointless directions in a salad overdose. This is not "Tardigrad" case, as the technical skill is working to a - begin, meddle-middle and end - understandable point. Interesting fast playing, resources as vocoder, breaks, 'ghost' or 'alien' synth sound comes very well balanced. I also like Simon Says uplifting massive energy close to YES "Relayer" in the bigest track.

Since Anglagard "Hybris" though all the 90's till nowadays, we are frequently amazed by Swedish precious record productions, highly skilled performances and large cultural and background influences in compositionsI. It must exist some kind of Sorbone or Harvard prog school there ;-).

I confess I stopped to research prog since year 2002. My collection was already too big and most of what I listened after 2000 didn't impress me anymore (sameness and pointless efforts).

Some exceptions of course like IQ, Tempus Fugit "Chessboard" (2008). I know with the boom of nowadays prog productions it must exist many worth and creative prog acts. Thanks to PA and my "gutier" (guitar builder) friend for lending me his CD and presenting me Simon Says, PI2, Anima Mundi & etc. Anyway I'm steady with 70's golden age productions as the point was to research style, so rarely 70's bands borrow from ready models.

This is the kind of album I consider to be comfort prog or perhaps a guilty pleasure. Really, it's what a lot of people consider retro prog, though it seems more like a spin off of the Flower Kings and Spock's Beard (Morse era) than a retread of 70's prog (and an excellent stand in for The Flower Kings it certainly is, while we wait for their next album or project).

That said, I really enjoy listening to this album. The long tracks are the best, especially the first, which makes me wish the whole album was as good as that one song. But the shorter tracks are well done also, and are even quite good in some cases (The Chosen One, in particular). The basic sound is The Flower Kings on speed, with a vocalist who has more in common with Gabriel than Jon Anderson (or, for this comparison, more Stolt than Froberg). The playing is flawless, the production equally so. However, there is a sense for me of being kind of worn out by the end of the album. It is quite long, and most of the tracks have a fast and complex nature to them that can wear you down over the course of the album. Really, its biggest flaw is a sort of uniformity of sound and style. But that is also its appeal for me, as it's a sound and style I happen to love.

In the end, there really isn't anything that stands out, melody wise or hook wise, that pushes this above the good, but non-essential level (though the melodies and hooks are certainly good and enjoyable to listen to, especially the first track of the album). But for those of us that enjoy this type of thing (again, comfort prog, I call it), familiar and fun to listen to prog, it is well worth having a copy. If you want originality and innovation, this isn't for you. Though I will say, despite my comparisons, that this band does in fact have a sound all their own. It's just that it is similar enough to other bands that it will undoubtedly be of little interest to many forward listening proggers. But if you enjoy vintage keys, well played melodic guitar, Squire-like bass, and busy complex drumming, distinctive vocals, this is worth a listen.

There is apparently some sort of concept here, but I can't be bothered to find out about it, and it's not very obvious to me from the lyrics. In any case, that may turn some folks away all by itself (not another symphonic prog concept album!!!!).

So, to conclude, this is nothing particularly special in the mass of prog releases, but I enjoy it quite a bit and it's been in rotation for a couple months now. Certainly no masterpiece, and probably not essential, but definitely worth a listen or ten for the sympho fan. Good stuff.

Nowadays is so difficult to find creative prog rock. To much bands experimentating with the old inffluences and much of them their musicians are not good,or the recording is not good or the arrengements or a bad technology.

This album of Simon Says and the band too is strongly inffluenced by classical Genesis but also has a very original style and the mix produces an excellent result.

Very impactant melodies :a lot of creativity here and the musicians are all fabulous.

This is the prog. rock that invites you to believe that progressive rock is still alive. A very serious work,with excellent ,complex and original melodies ,excellent arrengements and interpretations .

¿What more you can ask for? Maybe to have a band with non inffluences of the best prog rock bands of all times(PF,Genesis,Yes,Rush,Marillion etc...) but that is impossible ...It was easy maybe for such bands to be as good and as original as they were(or are) because before them there was no prog rock.

So for an evaluation for today 5 stars

3.5 stars.It's over 74 minutes long and it's a concept album.Ok one more strike and your out.Haha. Well i know it's all about the music and this is really well done.Sort of in the style of SPOCK'S BEARD and THE FLOWER KINGS as we get some very prominant bass and bombast throughout.There is sampled mellotron here as well, and the keyboards are all over this album.Vocals are ok. "Suddenly The Rain" opens with organ,guitar and heavy drums as they seem to throw everything at us but the kitchen sink.It settles with deep bass and vocals.The bass is huge.A calm with acoustic guitar and vocals 3 1/2 minutes in.It kicks back in with some scary bass.Themes are repeated.Nice guitar 5 minutes in.Great sound 11 minutes in. "Tardigrade" is uptempo with some monster bass and keyboard work.Vocals come in and guitar.Good guitar solo before 3 minutes. "The Chosen One" features reserved vocals and acoustic guitar early.Mellotron before a minute.It changes to an uptempo melody before 2 minutes,very SPOCK'S BEARD-like.Some excellent organ follows.Vocals before 4 1/2 minutes.An explosion ends it. "Moon Mountain" features both acoustic and electric guitars. "As The River Runs" is darker with processed vocals until it changes a minute in.Drums,piano and mellotron before 2 minutes.Vocals a minute later as mellotron flows and bass throbs slowly.I like the piano after 4 minutes.The tempo continues to shift to the end.Killer sound before 9 minutes. "Your Future" is a 29 second interlude of processed vocals. "Strawberry Jam" is an uptempo instrumental led by drums and keys before the guitar takes over. "Circle's End" features acoustic guitar and reserved vocals with mellotron. "Brother Where You Bound?" is the over 26 minute epic.I do think this is the best song on here.The bass is chunky and the organ runs are powerful.Spacey synths almost sound like theremin 6 1/2 minutes in.Aggressive guitar after 9 minutes with synths and mellotron as bass shakes the foundations.A calm with acoustic guitar and reserved vocals before 12 minutes.Kicks back in a minute later.The bass and organ are outstanding.The sound before 17 minutes and before 18 1/2 minutes are my favourite parts,very Swedish sounding.Nice guitar solo after 25 minutes as we get a big finish. "Beautiful New Day" is simply strummed guitar and vocals. The bass is by far the most appealing thing about this album.Lots to like though,but at over 74 minutes there's lots to be indifferent about as well.

When I noticed some months ago the great band Simon Says had released a new album I was sure I had to get hold of it. Well, I say the great band but actually that was based on one single track and that was the brilliant performance on the Odyssey project (3 cd release, see concept albums). That was nevertheless enough to know that I had to check them out some more and when there is a release in the running year I guess it was about high time for that.

Already at first listen I knew I was not going to be disappointed by the purchase. I say going to be because an album like this needs several listens (even for an experienced progger) to give the final review. I'm quite some listens further now and fortunately I can say it's still growing on me. The album starts off with a blistering track called Suddenly the rain, a real rocking tune, well tune, it's almost a true epic. It's followed by the short title track, another cracker, short but firm one might say. Next up is the 3rd one in a row in more or less the same style and just as you think there is not much variety the 4th track is a nice acoustic instrumental called Moon Mountain also very much ok to me. As the river runs is the 3rd longest on the album and is building up from slow and quiet to more up tempo after about 4 minutes and a little while later interesting keyboards taking the turn, then another slow down with vocals before we get to the second half of the track which appears to be pretty accessible although still absolutely progressive. A very good track this, along with the other two epics the best of the album to me. No 6 is a short interlude which is forgettable, ok maybe a breathing moment before it's firing at all cylinders with the next instrumental Strawberry Jam, another very energetic tune. Circles end is a vocal/acoustic song with nice flute and guitar with in the second half of the song also added keyboards. This track reminds me of King and the castle by Pendragon. Finally it's time for the longest of the album Brother where you bound. As I say so often with other epics (tracks of this length hardly ever disappoint me, is that coincidence ?) this is what you may expect from a song of this length. Because it's an epic with lots of variation and twists and turns, instrumental passages, a great compositional effort. Another short one (like the 6th) closes the album leaving me behind with a very satisfied feeling.

It's the first album for me by Simon Says, a band that used to be in the neo progressive category, maybe that was correct at one point but the switch the site made towards symphonic is fully justified because that is where the band belongs right now (and also with their Odyssey contribution). If I leave the two short tracks out of the marking I come to a final conclusion of some 4,15 so 4 stars, well deserved.

I like this album very much. It makes me think of Magic Pie's masterpiece Circus of Life. You hear some Genesis alike sounds (Circles end), great varied guitar work, nice keys, perfect bass and a pleasant voice. It is an album thet grows every time you listen to it.