THE WORLD THAT WE DRIVE THROUGH

Originally intended to be a one-shot superproject, The Tangent surprisingly moved on to live performances since 2003 as well as the recordings of a second album.Line-up changes characterized the band's career from this point on, starting from the departure of David Jackson and the arrival of legendary sax/flute player Theo Travis, who had been a member of Gong besides his long solo albums' catalogue.The new album, released again on Inside Out, carried the name ''The world that we drive through'' and saw the light in October 2004.

In this effort The Tangent will challenge themselves to creating long, progressive tracks with huge 70's influences.The original edition features five of them, spanning from 8 to 18 minutes, ready to saitfy the needs of a Progressive Rock fan.The strong character of Roine Stolt next to part of THE FLOWER KINGS line-up and the British roots of Andy Tillison combine in yet another weird amalgam of Symphonic Rock and old-styled Prog/Fusion, where the Canterbury flavors are now reduced and there appears to be a slight turn towards more abstract and loose textures during the more jazzy moments.Tillison and Baine offer some very good keyboard parts, including nostalgic organs, dreamy electric piano and angular synth flights, and you should place them next to Stolt's distinctive guitar plays, which contain both some incredible melodies and light, jazzy overtoones.Travis appears to be a great addition, his slightly psychedelic style on sax and flute adds a pretty beautiful vibe to The Tangent's sound.As a result the tracks contain bombastic parts and refined themes akin to 70's Classic Prog with strong symphonic colors, which often break into jazzy interludes and tricky plays with piano, guitar and sax in evidence.Plenty of interplays, nice vocals and odd time signatures are also in the menu.At this point The Tangent sound as if YES, E.L.P. and CLEARLIGHT were sharing the same members with a few hints from the old Canterbury school of Jazz/Prog.

Not all tracks are equally consistent and solid, but their length allows the listener to absorb some of the coolest ideas found in modern Prog.Progressive Rock at its most classic form, filled with symphonic, jazzy and Canterbury colors.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.