ALIGHT

A Fabio Zuffanti find, this young Italian band is making very nice neo-GENESIS prog. Poor sound production (a consistent Zuffanti trait, in my opinion), the band members have a great sense of melody and drama and are truly on their way to mastering the challenging shifts and turns of symphonic prog. The music reminds me of BABYLON's eponymous 1980 album with less noticeable drums. Nice incorporation of classical instrumentation into their mixes. They will certainly be a band to watch in the future.

1. "Dive with me" (9:32) modernized "Watcher of the Skies" opening. Too derivative. Piano and acoustic guitar duet section that follows is awesome--soon joined, slowly, by the rest of the band. A little too bombastic and simple-- though nice keyboard/synth work. Again, too much like a study in mid-70s GENESIS music. (8/10)

2. "Underground Ride" (8:03) opening section of acoustic guitar and voice, later joined by Mellotron, is nice. Electric guitar solo is sufficient. Vocal suffers in next verse. Melodic sophistication and harmonic support are rather simple, one-dimensional. Charlie Chaplin-like spoken section in fifth minute is nice. Following Genesis build and Tony Banksian solo are good. Best guitar solo on album screams right after. Poor ending. A top three song for me. (8.5/10)

3. "Embankment" (6:29) nice slow, soft opening section. It's the bigger, fuller, electronic sections that gets oversimplified. Too much senseless meandering. (7.5/10)

4. "Temple" (8:24) inviting acoustic guitar opening followed by slow-build of heavy organ. Song then resets into slow, calm storytelling mode. A little RUSH-like but the instrumental bridges and codas are quite simple--like Prog 101. Acoustic guitar return is quite welcomed. Nice singing here and succeeding use of oboe. (8/10)

5. "Blackfriars" (3:27) kind of "Get 'em out by Friday" opening with theatric vocal. Competent instrumental performances and better than average composition. (8/10)

6. "Move the Stone" (5:45) nice piano and voice NeoProg opening with awesome use of bassoon (too low for oboe, nicht wahr?) Another vocal over piano section with oboe solo following. Enter soloing electric guitar just after the three minute mark. Nice key change at 3:40. Sensitive and engaging. Best song on the album. (9/10)

7. "Monument" (8:52) has a true GENESIS sound and feel to it--kind of like Nursery Cryme's "Fountain of Salamacis." The piano and voice section is nice--vocal reminding me of Doroccas from 1970s Ft. Lauderdale band BABYLON. Followng section is nice GENESIS/GLASS HAMMER section using formula from Prog 102 class. (8/10)

High three stars album; nice addition to prog world. A band who is working hard to emulate the basic sounds and structures of 1970s GENESIS but whose gifts really lie in their most simple, acoustic supported vocal arrangements. A band to watch!