THE ? BOOK

For their 3rd album, eclectic Germans from Seven Steps to the Green Door did a concept album inspired by the biblical story of salvation. An admirable concept admirably realized - not in a dumb, Neal Morse-ian kind of way. However, that idea by definition precludes the playfulness displayed on their previous album. The stylistic mix has been mostly reduced to lightly metal guitars (including pretty cool solos) with some nice synths and soulful vocals. Jazz, funk, the saxes and the flutes make briefer appearances. No rapping, but there is a growling. Hey, I am never the one for repeating themselves, and this record shows how a masterful arranger the band leader Marek Arnold is. Production is VERY clean. But the problem, there is little here that would be as inherently catchy or memorable as their last album. My favorite fragment is the heavy prog-meets-disco appearing gradually at the middle of The Healing Wonder. There are other good songs too, but they mostly follow the metal-disco-soul-christian ballad formula.