CYAN

For those who have never seen or heard the original, which is most of you to be fair, the cover of the new version is what the original would have looked like if a professional artist with high digital skills had been employed the first time around, and in many ways we can say the same about the music as back then it was one man at home whereas now we have a full band and loads of experience. Rob may have sung on the original, but here he allows himself background vocals only, (as well as keyboards and guitar) and is joined by Peter Jones (lead vocals, sax, whistles), Luke Machin (guitar) and Dan Nelson (bass) along with guests Tim Robinson (drums), Angharad Brinn (backing vocals) and Tesni Jones (backing vocals).

This is not a faithful reproduction of the original album, but rather is a re-imagining as the songs have been re- written, extended and changed, and then the band have put their own stamp on proceedings. Many will recognise at least one of these, "Call Me", as it is one which has been performed by Magenta for years and can be found on their 2010 live album 'The Gathering', but here it sounds quite different with male vocals, but it is opening track "The Sorcerer" which will probably be gaining most attention as it is simply epic, both in style and length. Classic prog with neo leanings. Remember, this was originally recorded back in 93 when that style of music was at its height, yet here it has been taken into new progressive areas while never losing that naivety and joy. One does not need to have heard the original to enjoy this for what it is, a wonderful progressive album with Peter relishing the opportunity to put his stamp on these songs while Robert takes all his years of working with Magenta to transform the originals into something special while the rest of the guys push all the time.

This is a wonderful album which prog fans need to get hold of and take it from me it will be much easier than trying to track down the original. My review of that album back in 1993 (which can be read in TPU Vol 1) said the weakest part was the vocals, yet even then the album was well worth discovering. Nearly 30 years now, I can address that by saying this version is essential.

'The Sorceror' tumbles with an updated neo-prog sound à la LIFESIGNS, putting Robert's keyboards forward, punchy. 'Call Me' reboosted, interesting to compare with the original version. 'I Defy the Sun' for the Anglican ditty with a bit of a guitar solo and this Genesis sound with delicate arpeggios. 'Don't Turn Away' for the album's symphonic bombshell; when rock merges with classical through orchestration; the neo-jazzy central part with the contribution of the female voice boosting that of Peter; grandiloquent. 'Snowbound' instrumental giving pride of place to keyboards; it's fresh, the charismatic flute sends on GENESIS, on ASIA; the sound is much heavier, structured and gripping than on the original. The energetic guitar solos raise the sound even more. 'Man Amongst Men' wants to be more fun, enlightened, airy and dated according to me even revisited; a good 90 or even 80 sound here; a superb solo by Luke then the convoluted jazzy part reminding me of the COLLINS GENESIS period where he worked solo elsewhere. 'Nightflight' always reminds me of a title by PATTI SMITH from the time when we weren't looking for musical drawers but for beautiful music; an instrument full of synths of course. We also think we have a toccata for a moment then a dance passage Andalusian bossa nova or other. The synth refers to ARAGON for a time too and GENESIS of course. The finale in vintage sound on an Oldfieldian flute. 'For King and Country' at the end with the sound stamped neo rock of the 80s: voice, soli all embellished with Robert's symphonic touch; the playful title.

Good review with a boosted sound, musicians aware of their notes, a fresh neo-prog album which shows that this era was very fruity and much more symphonic than now, when we had more time.

I heard THE SORCERER on Prog magazine's last free CD, and it's 15 minutes of pure Prog pleasure. The subject matter seemed a bit pretentious, and even the music to begin with... but once you're into it... oh my word. It's so upbeat, Full of Prog instrumentation, and then there's PETER JONES' voice, which is SO good.

This latest album is a re-working of an album that originated in 1993, with all instruments having been played by one ROBERT REED. This time, Reed has a full band behind him and there are really no weaknesses.

As the album progresses one can only be impressed by Jones' voice, it's astonishing really. But that also does the band a disservice. The instrumental song SNOWBOUND features some excellent band interplay, which is rare to hear these days.

In fact, you also get a DVD when you buy the CD and the tightness of the bass when heard on that (in stereo, as I haven't got 5.1 surround sound) is wonderful. Soundwise, they're probably more like Transatlantic than any thing, only much better, and with that voice of Peter Jones, well...

And then we reach the final and title track, FOR KING AND COUNTRY. Although modern military voices are heard in the background one can't help but think of WW1 tommies and the trenches. Anyway, after a subdued start we will head off to a rousing finale as the band go through the gears searching for a climatic ending. Do they get there? The feet tapping suggests that they do, and what's more, once FOR KING AND COUNTRY recedes into the past you'll be putting on THE SORCERER again to start the whole show again.

To be honest, if it hadn't had been on that demo CD I'd probably have missed the boat here. Instead, I DID find it and I'm very glad that I did. And Peter Jones' voice is a revelation, it really is.

If you want a comparison, For King And Country harks back to Pendragon´s The Jewel and Kowtow period (yes, lots of mid-70´s Genesis-like synth sounds). Even his vocals here are reminiscent of Nick Barrett. Better still, the synth sounds are as majestic and creative as Clive Nolan´s. And we should never forget to mention his excellent songwriting: the guy was already doing a fine job at this department. Although not a masterpiece and with not real highlights, the CD flows evenly with good tunes all the way, some instrumentals, some with vocals, but all good ones. Sometimes, like in Nightflight, the music gives hints of what he would be doing in his future band Magenta.

All in all a very consistent album that will please anyone who enjoys 80´s neo prog. It was a nice surprise, I still think that Cyan reached its peak with the excellent The Creeping Vine, but this debut was a worthy and promising start that, fortunately, was fulfilled on Reed´s future works.

Another very solid release of British Neo Prog, recalling the works of PENDRAGON, LANDMARQ and SHADOWLAND, is the result of Reed's efforts.The new singer has a very good, clear and theatrical voice, definitely an improvement over Reed's questionable ability to sing, while Booth's angelic voice is somewhat hidden by her limited role on background voices.Musically the album consists of eight, mostly long compositions (two of them exceed the 12-min. mark), filled with lyrical pomposity, melodic textures and symphonic leanings, although some slight poppy flavors are also present in the shorter tracks.Heavy use of synthesizers with both dreamy and more upfront deliveries along with some lovely guitar lines characterize the song structures, moving from melancholic, laid-back soundscapes to cheerful choruses and from dramatic vocal moments to bombastic, orchestral moves.There is plenty of room for extended instrumental themes, usually in a typical 80's symphonic mode, and the balance between accesible and more demanding parts is well kept throughout the release.A few stand-out tracks are present as well, like the pompous and melodramatic ''Solitary angel'', the impressive ''All around the world'', featuring Ann Morgan's operatic vocals and standing somewhere between CAMEL and PINK FLOYD, and the pretty great 14-min. opus ''Nosferatu'' with its grandiose atmosphere, reminiscent of ARENA.

I can tell you one thing: It is very sad to see Reed, one of most prolific composers of modern British Prog, remaining so under-the-radar during the 90's.His works with Cyan are pretty great, as this album is.An emblimatic sound of Neo/Symphonic Prog awaits all listeners eager to purchase this release.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

Reed isn't quite equally capable on all instruments - his drumming is acceptable but not special, whilst his vocals really aren't great and probably constitute the greatest weakness in this release, with the vocal passages inevitably letting the album down. That said, he's an adept enough guitarist to slip in some nice solos here and there and his keyboard playing on the album is excellent; usually, it is the keyboards that save the instrumental passages. It took a few listens for this one to win me over but on the whole I think it's a decent debut, though ultimately not a top tier release even in the context of Reed's own discography, let alone the wider prog scene. Recommended for hardcore fans of both the early 80s neo-prog scene and of Magenta, who of course are in many respects the successor band to Cyan.

After the release of three studio albums, Cyan gave us this compilation album consisting of remastered tracks from the first two albums plus three previously unreleased tracks. In fact, the present album was the second Cyan compilation album, the first one - simply called Remastered - being released in 1997 and consisted solely of remastered tracks from the two first albums. Echoes brings together the remaining tracks from those two albums that didn't make it onto Remastered. For anyone who already owns the original studio albums, Echoes thus offers very little new.

Released straight after The Creeping Vine, Echoes features a cover art based on the one for that album with the green "bubbles" here being filled with images of earlier cover art. The three previously unreleased songs are the opener named after the band as well as the two last tracks, Charm The Snake and Jimmy The Tank. The first of these three has something of a Camel-vibe and is wholly pleasant even if hardly very impressive. The last two are from the The Creeping Vine sessions and sticks out from the rest. They are worth a listen, but not up to par with the material that made it onto that very good album. Charm The Snake is a good song that reminds of Gabriel-era Genesis with some very appealing touches of flute. Jimmy The Tank is a jazzier affair with a rather predictable chorus.

By its very nature, Echoes is a release for fans only as it offers very little new to those who already knows the band's output. For those who don't, it is strongly recommended to begin with the band's regular studio albums, preferably in backward chronological order. If you would still want more after that, then you should go for the present release.

After the release of this compilation album, Reed would go on to form Magenta (also named after a colour) and following the widespread popularity of that project, Cyan faded away making Echoes their final release to date. Might Cyan perhaps be resurrected one day? One can only speculate.

The Creeping Vine is, in my opinion, the album that stands out among the three Cyan studio albums as the best one by far. While he had already proven that he is a competent songwriter, keyboard player, guitarist and vocalist, this third album was where Rob Reed finally found his own musical expression. This album is a much more personal and unique statement than the previous two Cyan albums that were both good but also a bit anonymous. These songs are memorable and charming and lead vocalist Nigel Voyle sounds a lot more assertive here than he did on 1994's Pictures From The Other Side. On that earlier album he often sounded as if his heart was not fully in it, but here he is very different. Another distinguishing feature of The Creeping Vine is that Reed is no longer playing all of the instruments himself. There is for the first time a fulltime drummer as well as a bass player. This brings with it a band feeling that was missing on earlier releases. In addition, Reed also brings in some guests including Nick Barrett of Pendragon on guitar.

Reed is exploring various different moods and styles on this album. The framework is Symphonic Prog, but there are elements of Folk and Jazz and more inside. Also the topics vary widely; the confessions of a naughty priest in The Original Sin, Nordic mythology in Valhalla and good old-fashioned romance in the out-and-out Prog Folk of Gwenan just to give three examples. The incredible thing is that he manages - despite the many styles involved - to tie it all together into an organic unit that is strongly appealing to this reviewer. Mike Oldfield is a standing influence on Reed and during the folky/Celtic moments, the sound here reminds me of that of the very good Prog Folk band The Morrigan whose leader and guitarist Colin Masson is also strongly influenced by Oldfield's work.

The three first tracks are among the better ones for sure, but the rest of the album does not disappoint. I Will Show You Life is probably the least good song on The Creeping Vine. The "Rap"-section in this song might perhaps put some Prog fans off, but it is actually not that bad. The nearly ten minute track Goodbye World shows a strong influence of classic Genesis with lots of very good Tony Banks-like keyboard work. The closing title track is another long one. This one is more rhythmic and displays some almost New-Age/World- Music vibes and an anthemic chorus that forms a great culmination of the album before fading out to some "nature sounds".

Overall I would say that The Creeping Vine is an original and generally superb disc. This is definitely the place to begin with Cyan. Reed would go on to form Magenta and the present album remains the last Cyan album to date (and probably ever?)

Highly recommended!