CIRCA: 2007

When Circa released there first album in the spring of 2007, I was among the first to order - and so far without regret. With Circa:2007, the band provides a very listenable set of progressive rock tracks, that clearly shows influences from all eras of prog since the late 1960s. To me, that means the music brings memories of Yes, but also Pallas, Styx and maybe even a hint of Genesis or Marillion at times - without ever copying the sound of those bands. Circa have their own sound, and I like it.

From the quiet intro of Cut the Ties (followed by some amazing bass work of which more can be found throughout) the album is a journey through 9 great guitar and keyboard driven prog tracks. The vocals sometimes remind me of more AOR like bands, but the music simply never let's up the prog character completely. The multi-voice vocals on Information Overload, the (slide?) guitar work on Together We Are Right and the a capella intro of Life Going By are just some of the great moments on this album. The closing track Brotherhood of Man is 'the long track', with just under 12 minutes, and very much worth checking out for yourselves.

Overall, the only set backs for me with respect to this album are the many multi-vocal choruses, which have never been my taste, and Look Inside, which I find a bit boring. Then again, if these guys have played with Yes and this album represents the music they made there, I may finally have to bite the bullet and start enduring (or ignoring) Jon Anderson's voice. Maybe this is not the most renewing album in prog at the moment, and some pieces border on AOR, but it's definitely worth checking out. The excellent musicianship of these four horseman tips the scale toward 4 stars.

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