DESPITE GUARDIAN ANGELS

I am not a great fan of Neo-Prog. You know, bands that tried to imitate Genesis with some success. Marillion have produced some very pleasing stuff, but then in turn, they themselves were being copied, or imitated as peers. Just how far can we stretch the same musical piece of rubber? Neo-Neo- Prog? (I guess, we've already being at it for years without making a clear distinction?)

The album title here "Despite Guardian Angels" was very close to put me off in the first place. Being a spiritual person, I felt that if one failed to honour those guardian angels, then one could not complain about them going elsewhere. Had it not been for the odd, positive review, I would have given a complete miss to this effort.

Now, onto the music - if only briefly. The album starts off very strongly. Both the instruments and the voice are pleasing and convincing at the start. Powerful playing that holds promise. Close to Genesis, even Camel at times it appears to be credible work. Till you feel that there is something missing. It's called, subtlety. You know, those fleeting seconds where you'd be tempted to add a couple of half notes - if only in your mind - that would make the piece more whole. The effort is worthy of encouragement, but far from what I would be pleased to hear too often. The second half of this piece is less impressive. Short of calling it filler material, the band has just lost me there.

Pretty good stuff, probably worth a listen, but not something I'd miss in my collection. Many missed opportunities tend to spoil my fun. Nearly a 4, but not quite.