THE TANGENT

What a great way to start an album. A formidable guitar lines, then repeated with guitar distortion and later with flute and sax subsequently. Where are They Now? of 19 minutes duration flows naturally and never feels forced continuity. The new guitar solos are complemented well with the accurate base Barret and Burgess, and nicely accompanied by keyboards Tillison. Tillison's voice is not remarkable, but from my point of view, it is appropriate for the band performs music and ideas. And Theo Travis works with his eloquent shares. Perdu Dans Paris is the other great work here. With a description that carries the listener along with excellent music. The Canterbury Sequence Volume 2. Ethanol Hat Nail does not reach the magnificence of those mentioned above but it is a good way to finish the work. The rest is just acceptable...

Third album A place in the queue from 2006 is an excellent example how must sound a symphonic prog album. The Tangent was unknown to me few years ago, manageing to listen to this album for the first time around 2008 when I've discovered them. Well, this is solid release and I think Andy Tillson the had of the band did a great job here. Top notch instrumental passages, where the keyboards and guitars has some spectacular moments for sure. Having memebers from diffrent bands , but with same or similar sound, like The Flower Kings, Kaipa or Karmakanic, The Tangent to me sounds more intresting, more captivating , more chalengeing then anything those bands released in same period. This is a very long album , clocking around 76 min, with two giant pieces in the opening In Earnest , 21 min of sheers brilancy and closing track , the title track 25 min of inventive symphonic prog, what is in between is also good with a plus on Lost in LOndon who has a Jethro Tull touch, but very good, I really like it. What I like on this band is that they had a constant quality on their music over the years, they had only good albums , but none of them can be considered masterpieces, at least from my view. So, all in all, a very talented band with talented musicians and a very solid album aswell that desearve attention from any serious prog rock listner. Easy 4 stars.

I don't write a lot of reviews, but wanted to say some things about this album. I've come later to The Tangent and have mixed feelings about them and this album in particular. I've had it now for many months and given it a bunch of listens and still come to the same conclusion. Musically, I think this is an excellent album, well crafted songs with very interesting arrangements, themes, and structure, The concept of the album is also very interesting. The musicianship is excellent and the production spot on. The big problem I have with this album is the vocals. I find them a big put-off. Andy Tillison is not a good singer in my opinion and his weakness brings the whole album down a notch. There are clear points throughout the disk where he is simply off-key. Even when he is on key the quality of his voice just doesn't do it for me. It's unfortunate because aside from this it is a terrific recording. Musically this is a four star effort, but because of the vocals I can only give it a 3.

Retro Prog? or I can t believe is another symphonic and 70s tingled prog record!

One of my main problems with Retro or Neo prog is the lack of originality. The bands seem to have all the same pattern: Keyboard and Guitar Solos , Long structure of songs , Lack of melody and most of them play it safe. The Tangent, while very talented, is one of those bands in my opinion.

Now , don't get me wrong. These guys have the chops and some songs in this particular album are good but there are some aspects that cannot be overlooked: In the first place I found the vocals to be really generic and unmemorable sometimes plain annoying. Secondly, the record is overproduced and sounds really loud. Generally this is not my cup of tea since I like a more "organic" sound in my albums.

Musically speaking The Tangent is a blend of symphonic prog and modern rock music, add also a bit of jazz and you have the recipe of the band s sound. While I like all of the individual ingredients, something may have gone wrong in the kitchen? Some tracks like the opener, Lost in London and Celebrity Puree are enjoyable tunes. Also both epics of the album are ok? I mean, the entire album is OK and that's exactly my problem with it! There are no ups or downs on it! The album goes and goes and I am totally indifferent to it!

That being said, I recommend (while not strongly!) this album to all newcomers to progressive rock music , this album is totally standard and harmless prog rock. However It's a much better idea to go for the real deal: Yes , King Crimson , Genesis and the like.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3

I suddenly became a big fan of The Tangent when I got their first album "The Music That Died Alone" in 2003. Originally conceived as the first solo album by Andy Tillison, the album became a more collaborative venture as time went on. The enthusiasm of the musicians turned this combination of three generations of progressive virtuosity into a cohesive whole .. and the Tangent was born. The second album "The World That We Drive Through" had nuances and textures that were similar to the first album. I really like the artwork by Ed Unitsky. The second album was dominated by green while the first was more on blue but with similar design. Great design and it's really a collector's item; it's very nice to be put in prog collection. Unlike the first, the second album did not include David Jackson (of Van der Graaf Generator) in the band. Theo Travis (Gong.. Porcupine Tree etc) replaced David Jackson seat on Flute and Saxophones. The third album "A Place In The Queue" (2006) was another great offering from the Tangent. Roine Stolt, was out from The Tangent in this record. But, the music of The Tangent was still great- even it's much better than their second album. Like its previous predecessors, the album offered great prog music combining musical styles of Canterbury music like National Health, Hatfield and The North, Egg with Return To Forever music and also some flavors of rock music. The fourth album "Not As Good As The Book" (2008) was another fabulous album with double CD format.

The fifth album "Down And Out In Paris And London" (2009) demonstrated the band's consistent music direction, putting the Canterbury scene as their backbone. In a recent interview Andy Tillison said that in this album he had to also play guitar especially on the opening track. But again, as musicians have changed since its debut album but the Tangent still able to maintain its music quality. Overall, this album is an excellent one.

The opening track "Where Are They Now?" (19:10) is basically an epic with a musical unique style of the Tangent - starting with an ambient opening featuring simple guitar fills, and it then moves in crescendo to the faster and more complex segments. The opening instrumental part consumes more than 3 minutes of great prog music arrangements. In fact when the vocal enters the music it still offers great musical experience; something that I can hardly find performed by other band, really. The vocal style is also very relax. I really enjoy the flow of the music. There are interesting changes of style as well as tempo throughout this track, eg. musical break at minute 10:22.

"Paroxetine - 20mg" (07:47) is a keyboard driven track - at least during the opening part, followed nicely with a musical groove accompanying vocal. It's really a nice music with excellent rhythm section filled with saxophone works. "Perdu Dans Paris" (11:47) starts slow with an ambient bass guitar and keyboard that is followed with slow vocal line. The music moves in crescendo into louder and faster music. The roots of The Tangent music are very apparent here. "The Company Car" (06:23) is rather mellow in style but as its predecessors it flows into louder and faster music with inventive keyboard work. The "Everyman's Forgotten Monday (Bonus Track)" (06:22) and "Ethanol Hat Nail (Canterbury Sequence Vol. 2)" (12:55) are also excellent composition.

It's a 4+ stars overall rating as the music has successfully combined nice melody, excellent harmony, frequent style and tempo changes as well as having cohesive structure. It's highly recommended. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

My only previous experience with The Tangent is 2009's Down and Out in Paris and London. While I found that album to be pretty enjoyable, it was not my favorite and it had a lot of flaws that held it back from being really great. 2011's COMM winds up being very similar to its predecessor, both in sound and structure, but simply does a lot of the same things better, which overall makes it a better package.

Just a passing glance at the track list and lineup can give you an idea of how similar The Tangent's latest two albums are. Both start off with an epic, play around with a few shorter songs, then close with a final long song. The musicians, while not strictly the same, remain mostly unchanged: the vocalist, keyboardist, saxophonist/flautist, and bassist all return, with a new guitarist and drummer. The sound of the music is pretty similar if you've ever heard it, but if not, it leans on the more symphonic side with some eclectic flourishes: lots of keyboards (new and old sounding) and guitars, with occasional sax and flute. The music is very lively, upbeat, and is generally really fun to listen to.

The concept of the album should be pretty evident from the name, cover, and times we live in. Themes covered by COMM delve into modern communication technology, social networking, and their results on society and how we act as humans. There's not a story at play here, but every song deals with these themes, and the commitment to the concept is great. Some of the first sounds you hear are dial-up tones (though the amount of people who know what that is grow fewer by the day), and they lyrics very explicitly mention Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, and even PowerPoint. While the lyrics themselves are sometimes too literal for me to enjoy in a musical sense, I do appreciate the thought that went into them and the theme in general.

Just like Down and Out, the opening epic is the best track on COMM. It has the strongest melodies of the 5 songs, and the way The Tangent play around with them is truly a joy to hear. Within the 20 minutes of music, there's nearly always something familiar playing somewhere, whether it be a restatement of the main melody at the forefront, or using it in the harmony while a new theme is developed on top. None of the melodies are played out, and you rarely hear something played exactly the same way twice.

Luckily, the opener is not the only good song to be found here. The three songs in between the two epics don't reach the same heights, but are certainly fine pieces of music. The closer runs the most eclectic ground, and also contains the most interesting theme. If you don't know what the "Carpathia" is, I suggest you look it up, because it will give great meaning to that song. Overall, each song is well composed, and the lengths of each song and the entire album are right where they should be.

Unfortunately, the vocals, which were not my favorite part of the last album, are not much improved here. If, like me, you've never been a fan of Andy Tillison's voice, COMM won't change your mind about it, but at least the band read my review of their last album and has kept the music interesting during vocal sections. The vocal sections are far from my favorite on the album, but because the music doesn't drop out almost entirely like last time, I can find a lot of enjoyment in them.

COMM may be similar to Down and Out in Paris and London but it's simply better, and really enjoyable in its own right. A lot of the things I disliked about the last album are not present here, and there is a lot of great music to be found on top of that. The Tangent's latest might not be without flaw or at the top of the 2011 charts, but it is certainly worth a look.

I am not sure if Andy Tillison is a football fan, although he lives in England. But those of us under the spell of football often talks about "a game of two halves". That is exactly what I feel about this album.

The Tangent goes on the offensive from the first tone with the great twenty minutes long Where Are They Now epic. The best from the previous album Not As Good As The Book, which I gave five stars, is carried over to this song. Great epic symphonic prog heavily influenced by eclectic prog too. Unfortunate, the next song Paroxetine is a downer. Maybe a downer is what that drug is. I don't know it. Perdu Dans Paris is another great The Tangent epic. The next song The Company Car is another The Tangent light hearted working men hall inspired song. It is good in the working men clubs, but not in my estimation.

The two final songs......... Well, let's say The Tangent plays with ten men just inside and in the front of their own box, desperate defending their own goal against the marauding team called Mediocre. I am not sure what the name Everyman's Forgotten Monday and Ethanol Hat Nail. Canterbury prog ? Well, the fine folk in Canterbury may take issue with that. Although both songs are growers and not as bad as first thought, they are not up to the normal The Tangent standards. Mediocre stuff at best.

I note a substantial drop in standard from their excellent Not As Good As The Book and COMM. This album is not, well, upcoming pun, not as good as their usual standards. Hence my verdict.

3 stars

An impressive album that represents many prog elements of the past ...

I have been amazed by the band since its debut album 'The Music That Died Alone' which blew me away at first spin - musically and impressed me with its CD artistic work by Ad Unitsky who in fact like the Roger Dean of today's progressive music. At first, I thought the band would just focus on its Canterbury development as its roots but as time went by I have observed that the band has successfully capitalized all great elements of past progressive music. Well yeah, you can find the elements of Van der Graaf (a lot), Yes (a lot), Genesis, ELP, King Crimson, Gentle Giant (even though a bit only) and many more. I do not say that they do not have their own roots because their music is basically a unique one that you may not be able to compare with any other progressive bands. Two thumbs up for The Tangent! Even though there are many elements of past prog music, nuance-wise, but the band has successfully pushed the envelop by presenting and packaging the music in a modern way with great sonic quality of production.

Andy Tillison as central act

As the band is truly multinational with its members coming from different nationalities, it's quite difficult to maintain its lineup - that's why the band has undergone many changes in its lineup with Andy Tillison as the only member who has been consistently with the band. In fact, right after the album was released the bass player Jonathan was leaving the band for his solo music career and personal reason (the loss of his father). I'm so happy having listened to the album when the young left-handed guitarist Luke contributes in this album. He is just an extraordinary guitarist and am so amazed with his skills. If he just play straight rock music, I may not so impressed with him but in this album where the music is totally prog to the bone he can provide great guitar work combining stunning guitar solo as well as rhythm or riffs styles. He's really great!

The album sounds like a concept album if you look at the titles of the track like 'The Wiki Man', 'Tech Support Guy', 'Titanic Calls Carpathia' even though in an interview with DPRP Andy admitted there was no such concept album in any release of The Tangent so far and they did not plan one in the future. But yes, he admitted that the central issue was about COMMunication as the thing that concerned Andy in most of the tracks in COMM album.

Musically, 'The Wiki Man' (20:14) that comprises six movements is really a great composition that wonderfully open this great album. It starts with sort of beeps in the 'fax machine' line followed with great symphonic style of music relying mostly on the keyboard solo with nice musical breaks having the fax machine beeps provide the fill during breaks. Luke's guitar solo starts right after the short musical opening with his unique style. The rest of the first part demonstrates great composition that shows dynamic drumming, inventive keyboards, stunning guitar work and dynamic bass playing. The first part already impressed me and right away I shouted to myself "This is IT! The music that I really love!". Next part is basically the vocal line in unique Andy Tillison way - it has become the band's trademark in terms of vocal line. I have to admit that Andy's vocal work is not superb but it does really fit with the music wonderfully. I repeat: "wonderfully"! I am not joking, while I am enjoying this opening track my mind fly back to the days when I first listened to Yes' 'Gates of Delirium', 'Close to The Edge'. Oh my God ...these guys really terrific! They are able to stimulate the great parts of past progressive music in their own way, in a modern sound technology. I say in their own way because there are parts with piano solo that remind me to jazz music followed with long sustained keyboard solo that reminds me to Rick Wakeman's solo in Close to The Edge or Patrick Moraz solo in Gates of Delirium. This epic 'The Wiki Man' to me is at par excellence as Yes' 'Gates of Delirium' - my all time favorite of Yes composition. The music of The Wiki Man is much more dynamic than Yes' Close To The Edge - that's why I tend to compare it with Gates of Delirium which has dynamic parts. Of course The Wiki Man has musical break as well and it is filled with great combination of vocal, acoustic guitar and piano. It's really a masterpiece composition! Bravo The Tangent! Even if the rest of the tracks are not good, this opening track represents the worth of buying the album, really! One thing that I really want more from this opening track: more guitar solo by Luke - it seems this opening track has spaces that actually he can fill ini more guitar solo and shreds.

'The Mind's Eye' (8:13) starts off with a choirs followed with music that moves in crescendo until it reaches certain tempo that is quite fast augmented with nice guitar rhythm. This track is more song-rientated composition and it relies heavily on Andy's vocal line. There are parts that have breaks as well but mostly the track comprises dynamic music. It's an excellent composition. The next track 'Shoot Them Down' (6:45) is a mellow one and it's not something that I really like because the music is quite straight forward - less challenges for me to digest. But it's a good as filler having listened to two dynamic tracks previously. 'Tech Support Guy' (5:51) is another dynamic track with great flute work augmented beautifully with dynamic drumming and organ / keyboard work. The vocal line of Andy enters nicely while the music still provide the unique sound of The Tangent. The alto sax solo is also nice and it makes this track characterizes the music of The Tangent. I like the interlude part that provides great flute and keyboard / guitar works.

'Titanic Calls Carpathia' (16:31) is another epic shorter than The Wiki Man and it comprises also six movements. It starts off with an ambient style with flute providing the lead backed with silent keyboard work. The opening reminds me to the overture of orchestral music. The real music enters at approximately minute 3 with a nice drumming work. The vocal enters slowly, still in the silent mode. The overall mode of this track is basically moderate in tempo and less complex than The Wiki Man. However, this track provides great combination of skills from the musicians involved. The interlude part has musical riffs but still maintain the nature of The Tangent Music - it does not something like progressive metal. This epic concludes the album wonderfully. Titanic Calls Carpathia .....

Overall, this is an excellent addition to any prog music collection. For those who like how the traditional elements of prog music integrated into one cohesive whole with excellent audio quality plus some jazz music parts, this album is really the one you need to have. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Andy Tillison and company have really hit a home run with COMM, the fifth full-length offering from The Tangent. I've never been the biggest fan of this multi-national prog outfit from previous memory, but that must mean that I've either been extremely ignorant in the past or this album absolutely outdoes anything in their backcatalog - whatever the case, there's no question in my mind that COMM is an absolutely killer prog rock album and one of the year's best for sure. Epic compositions, complex arrangements, and memorable hooks are all found in abundance on COMM; this is the sort of album that every symphonic prog fan longs to hear. Whether or not you've been a fan of previous works from The Tangent, COMM is a near-essential purchase for all progressive rock listeners.

The Tangent sport a sound that is distinctly their own on COMM, while still wearing quite a few distinct influences on their sleeves. The most obvious points of reference here are probably Yes, Spock's Beard, The Flower Kings, and Beardfish, but The Tangent also have an additional jazz tendency that sets them far apart from sounding like a "clone" band of any sort. This still isn't all that unique by modern symphonic prog standards, yet that seems like a minute complaint when the music is this top-notch. It's pretty safe to say that modern prog rock does not get much better than this.

Andy Tillison's keyboard palette of Hammond organs, moogs, and the like is usually the driving force of the music, and I simply can't get enough of his keyboard playing here. What a fantastic musician! His vocals are a bit more of an acquired taste, but I happen to love his powerful and distinct singing style. Luke Machin's guitar playing is also pretty phenomenal; he delivers a few really great solos on COMM. Theo Travis adds a nice touch with his flute and saxophone playing, and even though I wish he could've been a slightly more integral part of a few songs, he does what he does spectacularly. The rhythm section of Jonathan Barrett (bass) and Nick Rickwood (drums) is also great; both of these guys lay down plenty of complex and intricate foundations for most of the tracks.

COMM consists of only five tracks that add up to nearly an hour in length. I'm a bit glad that The Tangent didn't decide to fill up the whole CD with useless filler - every second of COMM is quality material, and it never overstays its welcome. The powerful, twenty- minute "The Wiki Man" opens the album with a bang, and is probably my favorite track of the album. "Titanic Calls Carpathia" is the other epic here and it is every bit as excellent as the aforementioned track. The three other songs are all a bit shorter, but I also really like all of them. "Tech Support Guy" is my favorite of the shorter songs - I especially dig the quirky and witty lyrics about how frustrating being a technical support worker for a company can be.

Even though COMM may not be the most revolutionary prog rock album in recent memory, this is an absolutely terrific observation. A flawless execution in terms of musicianship and production, excellent songwriting, and challenging instrumental portions all make this an album that should be in every symphonic prog fan's collection. COMM was a very pleasant surprise for me, and I will be sure to revisit The Tangent's earlier albums again in the near future. As far as this one is concerned, 4.5 stars are the least I can give. One of the year's best prog albums? I sure think so!

I always look forward to a new release from THE TANGENT but the first couple of listens were different from what i've had with this band in the past. I don't know how to explain it except to say that "Comm" came off sounding like an Andy Tillison solo album for me. Those thoughts have since past after many listens.The other thing that was different for me was the first track called "The Wiki Man". It reminded me too much instrumentally of early THE FLOWER KINGS and SPOCK'S BEARD with that epic and dense sound. Now it's not that I don't like that style but I guess I like my THE TANGENT sounding like THE TANGENT which the rest of the album does by the way. Oh and the rest of the album is some of the best new music I have heard this year. Incredible stuff.

"The Wiki Man" is the over 20 minute opener that i've already touched on. The keys and sound build quickly until it's full. Vocals before 3 minutes as it settles back but the sound will continue to rise and fall. It does calm right down before 10 minutes with sparse keys. We get reserved vocals around 11 1/2 minutes then it kicks back in after 14 1/2 minutes. A good beat with vocals leads before 17 minutes. "The Mind's Eye" is such a cool tune. The drums, vocals and keyboards standout and i like the vocal style. Theo Travis adds both flute and sax on this one and we get mellotron late.

"Shoot Them Down" is a touching song lyrically. It's pastoral to start as reserved vocals join in. Guitar and drums after 2 minutes then flute. Atmosphere before 4 minutes then the chorus kicks in as the guitar solos over top. "Tech Support Guy" is classic TANGENT with Andy's story telling and humour. Some excellent instrumental work as usual. Check it out 4 minutes in especially the fuzzed out keys. Very Canterbury-like. "Titanic Calls Carpathia" opens with atmosphere and flute then it starts to build around 3 minutes. It settles as vocals arrive after 4 minutes. It turns fuller a minute later on the chorus then settles back as contrasts continue. A change before 7 1/2 minutes with sampled words, a beat and sax, then it turns heavier with vocals. Then we're back to normal again. Some nice piano 12 minutes in then guitar.

I think those last four tracks are some of THE TANGENTS best work. Easily 4 stars.