HIMLABACKEN VOL. 1

2013 has been a pretty exciting prog year, one of the reasons for me being my acquaintance with this exceptionally interesting band from Sweden. Seeing them performing live was a very good experience, which introduced me to their sugary, albeit fairly unique, sound. A talented bunch of musicians who can all sing, two keyboard players and the marriage of old and new are pretty good constituents.

"Disney prog" said a fellow progger on the radio the other day and I don't blame him, and I don't think Moon Safari would outwardly reject this tag either... Queen meets Beach Boys meets Kansas meets Abba and a bit of Gentle Giant on moogy keyboards is what you get from Himlabacken vol.1, apparently a concept of personal experiences. Extremely melodic to the point of misunderstanding, Himlabacken appears as a very genuine expression of feelings and talent but somehow lacks the extra punch to make it a truly great album, although it is not short of moments of greatness.

'Too Young to Say Goodbye', 'Red White Blues' and 'Diamonds' show what this band is capable of, balancing the melody with grandiose progressive rock structures. Obvious is the great influence that Queen (on the vocal melodies) and Kansas (on the keyboard parts) have had on Moon Safari, but they filter those through their own style, producing something new. The rest of the tracks are not bad but come with their ups and downs, some fairly simple ('My Little Man') or rather long for what they offer ('Mega Moon' and 'Sugar Band') and all come with an extra dose of sweetness (or cheesiness as many would call it).

Definitely not recommended for diabetics, Himlabacken is a very good album, which could have done better with more consistency in quality - still a highlight of 2013 and a great promise for future works. 3.5 stars.

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