PRIMITIVE INSTINCT

Primitive Instinct hail from Maidstone, Kent, led by the main figure of Nick Sheridan on guitars/vocals, who gathered the team of Andy Quinnel on keyboards, Richard Culham on, Billy Geddes on bass and Nick Brown on guitars in 1987.They had a cult following at the South-East British coast, producing four demo tapes, in order of release ''A primitive instinct'', ''Once round your ear'', ''On a rainy night'' and ''Into the ocean''.In 1990 Geedes and Brown leave the band and new bassist Pic Hayes enters the scene.1994 sees the band securing a deal with Cyclops (third ever release by the label), the track ''Slaves'' made it to the ''Cyclops sampler'' and Primitive Instinct release their debut ''Floating tangibility'', recorded at the Red Studios in Wouldham, Kent.

Primitive Instinct is a classic act within the borders of British-styled Neo Prog, but their sparse releases made them an under-the-radar Prog band.In ''Floating tangibility'' they had chosen to play a melodic Progressive Rock akin to early PENDRAGON, ABEL GANZ and THIRD QUADRANT, focusing on distorted guitars, incredible vocals, instant melodies and less bombastic tunes, even if some amounts of pure energy are also present.With a very solid songwriting, some dramatic lyricism and a very balanced sound they manage to catch the listener's attention through pompous textures, accesible passages, memorable choruses and great guitar work with CAMEL and PINK FLOYD touches.Do not expect any impressive acrobatics or furious interplays.Good thing is Sheridan and his teammates play along their strengths, which are the very compact instrumental work, the creation of atmospheric soundscapes and the advantage of having a gifted singer like Nick Sheridan.Tracks swirl around typical 80's moods with smooth guitar moves and happy melodies to more grandiose pieces with a pronounced keyboard work and a richer style in general.Each of the tracks though is pretty great with tight executions and striking melodies.

Standard but very well-played Neo Prog.Produced for all fans of the style and music lovers taking their early steps into the Prog Rock world.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

This is my first foray into Primitive Instinct, as I kept skirting the previous releases and keeping them at arm's length until the moment would arise for me to take a closer look. Progstreaming did just that by showcasing this new release and I got hooked! The beauty of a progressive mind is that one can enjoy the dense, complicated stuff with the same fortitude as the more accessible material. Primitive Instinct lies firmly in the second category, a poppier universe of clever songwriting, memorable melodies, passionate vocals and clever though not necessarily intricate musicianship. Leader Nick Sheridan is the owner of a lovely voice, typically 80's croon, closer to John Lees (BJH), Geoff Barradale (Vitamin Z), Andy McCluskey (OMD) or Howard Jones. Modern comparisons suggest a Colin Mold or even Coldplay. The material is stretched a bit further than the usual poppy fare, giving the musicians some leeway in building momentous passages, albeit firmly in the lighter areas of musical expression. Hey, a little pop can go easily with the snap and the crackle! The classic "Alter Ego", the forthright "Falling Down", the pastoral "End of the Day" and the rumbling "No Way" all fit perfectly into that category but subtle tracks like the sublime "Breathing", the gasping "Solitary Man" with its glorious vocal full of forlorn melancholia, the tremendous title track has a clear Peter Gabriel hint ("In Your Eyes") that only adds to the enjoyment, armed with redolent e-piano and a shining vocal performance, very smooth and chill. There are also some original takes like the rollicking "Cuban Lullaby" with a very 80s feel, raspy guitar leading the way and a huge vocal once again. With "Still Finding My Way", the ballad fans are sumptuously catered to a huge love song that has hints of 'déjà entendu' somewhere before, so universal is its simple pleading charm. The chorus is utterly familiar and sexy, hum along and exalt in the glory.The album ends with the longest tune, the 8 minute+ "Regrets", where the tone gets somewhat darker, bass rolling nicely, tick-tack drums and a solid groove to boot, Sheridan expressing himself regally on the mike, a stunning finale that deserves rapt applause.

While vocals are not exactly prog's forte, it's nevertheless nice to have an accessible album, full of superb voice renditions of quirky songs that would undoubtedly please the females in our life. One cannot feed on Anekdoten, Anglagard, Magma and OSI without an occasional release! This will do it fine. A fun little disc.

4 Hidden Lairs Thanks Kev!

My 'coup de coeur' of 2012 !

I won't sell it to you as the best prog album of the year. In fact, I won't even sell it to you as a prog album. And I doubt that it will appear in any prog poll of 2012. So if you are searching for something complex and demanding, you won't find much to like here. And still, it is well worth the listen.

kev rowland's review tells the story pretty well about the numerous influences that don't prevent the album for showing the band's own personality.

That results in 10 beautifully crafted songs. No show-off, no pyrotechnics, no weird changes of rhythm, not even the so trendy heavy riffing but lots of melodies and emotion instead. Most of the songs have a slow or mid-tempo but each has its own dynamic, tells a real story and we are far from ambient nor boring material. The music is mostly guitar driven with some subtle keyboards parts. Nick's voice is quite captivating to my ears. It really fits the music, adding a palpable depth to the songs. Lyrics are rather simple but touching enough.

My favorite tracks so far would be 'Falling Down' and 'Solitary Man' but none of the others has been a letdown.

Thanks to progstreaming.com for letting me discover this wonderful album.

When I wrote a Jadis review recently, I said that I had to check the calendar to confirm that I was in 2012 and not in 1992, so when I heard that Primitive Instinct were releasing a new album as well I did a serious doubletake. PI were one of the very first bands signed to Cyclops Records when Malcolm started the label ('Floating Tangibility' being the third on the label) yet by the time that the album was released in 1994 the band had already been around for seven years. They were fairly active on the London circuit but for some reason I never actually caught one of their gigs, although I regularly bumped into guitarist/vocalist Nick Sheridan as he was often attending the same concerts as me. I had put them into the bucket of 'bands I should I have seen but are now long gone', yet here we have a new album (release date November 3rd) and a 25th anniversary gig to launch the album!

So after all this time, what would the album be like? In many ways this is mature yet also with a naïveté that makes it truly appealing. There are elements of It Bites, some of Hogarth-era Marillion, some BJH, some Howard Jones, but essentially lots of PI. The songs are built around Nick's vocals, with a very loose structure so that there is loads of space and room for the music to live and breathe. There are many more pop sensibilities than many other prog acts, and these guys could easily work with a well-known Prog band but could also cut into musical areas dominated by bands as diverse as Mumford & Sons or Coldplay.

It is an album that makes me smile while I listen to it for no particular reason (any reference to too much alcohol will obviously be ignored). The band have grown older (well we all have), yet to my abused ears we could be back in the early Nineties when British prog was truly underground and everyone in the scene felt that were involved in something special together. It's been 12 years since the last album, let's hope we don't have to wait so long for the next one. For more information on the band and to order the CD visit www.primitive-instinct.com

Highly influenced by MARILLION, in his second studio albun "Floating Tangiblilty" the neo-prog band PRIMITIVE INSTINCT, presents a work with a style of music that in any moment (after two complete auditions) they got to call my attention, nor to "wake up" the interest of hearing again t All the tracks of the disk is composed by themes where the harmonic and rhythmic sequences are very obvious what turned (at least in my opimion) in a very monotonous audition . Therefore, in spite of thinking the musicians revealed a good capacity of instrumental execution (what could have been better taken using a more little of the creativity), my quotation cannot be better than only 2 stars.

Interesting little band from England that would be better labeled here as crossover prog or prog related than neo prog. Because if you´re expecting something like Marillion or IQ you may be disappointed. Primitive Instict´s debut CD is a very good mix of pop and prog. More pop than prog, I should point it out. Still, they are aboce average thanks to their flair for the great hook, the nice arrangement and the strong songwriting skills. They never sound dull or too ordinary.

Nick Sheridan is the main character here: his guitar playing is the best thing about this band (tasteful licks and passionate solos). His vocals are emotional and convincing. Even if he is not a really a quite outstading vocalist he does his job pretty well and his voice fits perdectly to their sound. Keyboards are a bit too conventional, but fortunatly they are not the usual 80´s plastic sound that plagued so many bands at the time. Bass and drums are precise. All songs are good, but some of the longer cuts (specially the closer, the 7 and a half minute mini epic Praying For The Rain) are the most progressive and truely the album´s highlights.

If you´re looking for something simple and melodic, yet well done and made with obvious passion, Ice For Skimos is a good choice. Saga, Muse and Alan Parsons fans will be specially delighted. Nice melodic surprise. 3,5 stars.

Well, looking at the reviews or better: the lack of reviews and just 4 ratings so far this isn't a very wellknown band. I have this CD for over 10 years now but I do remember it wasn't easy to get hold of. Why I wanted to buy it ? Because of a great song called Slaves which was to be found on a Cyclops sampler back then. It was one of the best songs on the sampler so I wanted to check them out some more.

I can't say it was disappointing really, this band is a very nice one in the neo prog category. So I can also relate to the average score so far, somewhere between 3 and 4 stars seems just about ok to me. But it's time to say some more about this album. It can roughly be divided in two parts: the first 5 songs are somewhat mellow, almost sweet sounding neo prog. The second part (last 5 songs) are more energetic and also more interesting compositionwise. If Slaves (3rd track) and Circles (9th track) would trade places on the disk it would even be entirely correct where my statement is concerned.

It almost goes without saying that for my personal taste the second halve of the album is my absolute favourite part. The songs are more inventive and contain very catchy instrumental passages (especially Slaves, 11-11 and Keep on Running). Hypnotic is the instrumental of the album and is really one of the better tracks. Triludan is the epic but in that sense a little disappointing, I always expect a lot of the longer tracks but this is not too special.

All things considered it's a really tough call between 3 and 4 stars because of the mentioned 50-50 score in quality. I'm afraid I will have to round down to 3 because I agree that this is not really essential for prog history, it's more of a nice album. And then for those who like sympathetic sounding neo prog.

Six years after the release of their debut CD "Floating Tangibility" (1994) on the Cyclops label, Primitive Instinct are back with a new album named "Belief". PRIMITIVE INSTINCT's music has much in common with other bands on the Cyclops label: CROSS, MOSTLY AUTUMN, PINEAPPLE THIEF and TRANSCIENCE, but also MANIC STREET PREACHERS, MARILLION, PENDRAGON and The URBANE. They're mixing alternative straightforward rock, folk, pop and neo-progressive rock, and the melodies are often very catchy. Some tracks are really good like "Break On Through" and "All That I Need" while some is quite boring. Unfortunately the cover artwork isn't that appealing, and I don't think that I should've got interested if I had seen it in a record store. But after hearing it I know that the boring artwork hides a well-played album with lots of qualities. And although the album is self-produced it has a decent sound. Forget about a few songs and left is an album that is definitely worth checking out!