SILENT SENTINEL

3.5 stars, really. I heard about this american band only recently. I can´t really recall where I did get the info about them before getting their CD Silent Sentinel. I also did not know it was their third release, so I can´t compare to their earlier efforts. What I got here was a very fine record, well produced and recorded that shows a kind of retro prog band. Although from USA their musical roots are firmly planted on the english prog scene of the early 70´s. So be prepared for some nice vintage keyboards and strong tunes.

Musically speaking they area roughly a mix of Gentle Giant, their biggest and most obvious influence (specially the vocal parts, including some very fine multi layered ones) and Gabriel era Genesis (great guitar parts!) plus some jazz and Canterbury sound thrown in for good measure. The songs themselves are, mostly, not as complicated as GG used to be at its prime, but to me this is something good, because they are not trying to do things they are not capable of. The CD flows evenly, with the majority of the tracks keeping up the quality most of the way through more than 75 minutes of music. However, this is not easy listening music, and it is best appreciated if you listen carefully each track separately. To get it all in one sit might be too much.

Although I liked the Silent Sentinel very much, the reason I don´t give it a four star rating is because, to my ears, they haven´t really reached their full potential as songwriters yet. They have yet to come up with stronger and more original stuff to show to the world what they came for. With this CD they came very close, but it is obvious that they can do better with some more experience and playing together. The performances are impeccable and the overall sound is very pleasant. A little more passion and personality, however, would do wonders to their sound.

I´m really looking forward to listen to their next work. Very promising. Gentle Giant and Genesis fans should not miss this one. It´s very worth checking it out!