JOURNEY TO THE EAST

This was their debut and at 1984 one of the earlier Neo-Prog album releases. Pretty laid back for the most part, really relaxed and to be honest a fairly big improvement on the album to come called "Rude Politics" from 1988. Still there's little here that would move me to give a higher rating. The two longest tracks are worth mentioning. "The Fool" at over 8 1/2 minutes opens with the fool speaking in a strange processed manner. A beat, bass, guitar and vocals follow, keyboards too. It calms right down to piano and vocals then we get this instrumental section of synths, bass and drums as it continues to play out. The title track ends the album and it's 7 1/2 minutes long and the best one in my opinion. I like how it starts with the synths creating atmosphere as the vocals join in. It builds then kicks into a full sound. Hey I like the seagulls to start and end "Travelling Song" a common sound around here in the summer.