EVOLUTION

Of course the music here sounds nothing like the music the band produced over 30 years prior with "Journey To The Center Of The Eye" and "A Tab In The Ocean", but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this. A lot of these songs would have really fit well on seventies FM radio. They're accessible and somewhat commercial. Too much so for my tastes as the two albums I mentioned earlier are my favourites from them, and they're quite experimental and adventerous.

"Camouflage To White" opens with some atmosphere before it kicks in pretty hard before a minute. A change before 3 minutes as we get a catchy melody with vocals. Some backing vocals 5 1/2 minutes in which I don't like. "Old Mother Earth" opens with piano and reserved vocals. Yikes I don't like this. It kicks in fortunately around a minute with vocals. It settles back before kicking in again at 5 1/2 minutes. It's an ok tune. "Child Of Mine" is led by synths, piano and acoustic guitar early. Vocals 2 minutes in in this laid back song. It's rather pretty. "Phazed By A Storm" is led by guitar and drums as vocals arrive a minute in. A calm after 2 1/2 minutes followed by a catchy beat with vocals. Contrasts continue.

"Always" opens with vocal melodies before it kicks in quickly. It settles with vocals 2 minutes in then kicks back in after 4 minutes. "Dancin' Into The Void" is uptempo to open before settling with vocals. Contrasts continue. Spoken words and a spacey sound 3 minutes in. "The Debate" is bombastic to open as the tempo picks up. Nice bass here. Vocals follow.A good powerful sound 7 minutes in. "After The Fall" opens with acoustic guitar as fragile vocals join in. Piano and synths too. The sound gets fuller then settles again. It's spacey late.

So a good album to be sure. I guess you could say the band has matured. I'll stick with their early stuff.