TOO MANY GOODBYES

Very interesting one man band from the UK. It is one fo those outfits that is not very well known despite the fact it has no les than 19 CDs recorded since its start in 1992. I was quite surprised by their music: It´s highly melodic, well done and tastefu, with some bits of jazz here and therel. Not very original, but very good anyway. If you like thesofter, laid back side of prog chances are you´ll enjoy this album very much (even if it starts iwth the rather frantic instrumental Mood #10). Composer and multi instrumentalist Steven McCabe plays almost everything here, but he is helped by the very able Christopher Knigh on drums (thank god he did not rely on those programmed drums!) and Ken Senior on vocals.

It is obvious that McCabe loves old fashioned prog: he uses basicly vintage sounding keyboards all over the record. His guitar solos are nice, smooth and melodic following the school of Camel´s Andrew latimer style. Vocals are only average. So why only 3 stars? Well, I found Too Many Goodbyes one of those CDs that apparently has everything I liked on prog music. The main issue, if I can called it that, is the fact that the songs did not excite me much. it´s like hearing a record that lacks a kind of conviction and spark that abounds on so many others I love. All the tracks are pleasant and good, but not really that great. His compositions are quite strong like the second tune Unconditional, but his guitar solos seem only adequate, as if he hadn´t tried hard enough to show the tune´s feeling. And to make matters a little more the vocals are too bland. Those small faults really take away the song´s power. Over the CD it happens way too often. For the style he chose, it should have more passion. And passion is what neo prog is all about, right? Well, at least that´s what I felt. Still, the music is very good.

Steve McCabe is a talented guy and I really think he has everything to stand out both as performer and songwriter. This is my first entry on his lengthy discography and I´m looking forqard to hear his other works. This one is good, ok, but I feel he can go much further.