STEVE TASSLER

After playing with Starcastle on first 4 albums, he left the band in 1980 and disappeared from musical scene until late'90s when decided to make a solo album. Well, his first and only one album under his name was released in 2002 named Alive beyond recognition. Steve compose and performed everything is on the album, the result being a good one from start to finish, a kind of melodic prog with hints to neo prog and nods to Starcastle aswell.

Pieces like Firebirght or Interregnum are brilliant and show Tassler in great form, his druming is more then ok most of the time and intresting aswell. The vocals and keyboards are also ok. This type of pieces can easely be compared with IQ style of neo prog.

So, all in all a fairly decent album, old style prog, I like it, even the album is widely unknown in prog circles I think desearves attention.

Solid 3 stars, in places 3.5 stars, a nice one.

Tassler does however show off some very good chops on the drums, and comes across as a decent keyboard, bass and guitar player. His voice is fairly pleasant, but he has a limited range (which in itself is ok) that he sometimes sounds like he's straining outside. A good reference point for his voice would be Martin Orford. The songs are very-well composed and Tassler shows a strong melodic sense in his songwriting. This is most apparent on the song "Firebright" which sports a very catchy chorus as well as some strong neo-sounding keyboard work. "Bring the Promise" has some chunky guitar playing and is one of the more energetic songs of the album. "...and Still She Wonders" is an accoustic, plaintive ballad filled with a sense of sadness. "Aeon's Arrival" is a strong symphonic instrumental where Tassler really shows his chops on the drums and percussion.

The centerpiece of the album is the 14 minute epic Interregnum where Tassler takes us back in time. But instead of taking us back to 1972 Yes, he takes us back instead to 1985 IQ. This has a strong IQ vibe to it (albeit on the mellower side of IQ). In fact, if you replaced Tassler's vocals with Nichols' vocals, this could fit comfortably on Tales or Wake. Of course, as stated earlier, his vocals don't take it too far away from IQ territory, as he and Orford share a similar vocal style. If you like the mellower side of classic neo, this is a song you really should hear.

The rest of the songs on the album show Tassler's melodic sense, has some strong neo sounding keyboards, very strong drum work, Starcastle like harmonies and a rather uplifting feel to the whole thing. A couple of downsides of this CD are the sometimes strained sound to the vocals, but that's really a minor detail. Another problem is that sometimes the album lacks a sense of energy and spontaneity that a real band could have provided. Still, even with those two caveats, this is a very good neo album and this rates a solid 3 stars. If you like the mellower side of neo, this is an album you should enjoy.