WORLD IS ROUND

If Believe's goal on their 2010 release "World is Round" was to create a pleasantly listenable "middle of the road" album that still manages to meet the minimum qualifications required for an album to be considered "progressive rock", they succeeded magnificently!

On the "plus" side, Karol Wróblewski's vocals are well performed and the album is well produced. But I cannot shake the feeling that these songs make a better impression taken "one at a time" rather than "one after another" in succession. Everything leading up to the finale was certainly "nice enough" and somewhat "progressive" kind of... sort of...

Introductory sitar on the final track, "World is Round", provided welcome respite from the sonic sameness and an emotionally inspired violin solo performance closed out the album in fine form. In the end, however, it was "too little to late" as I was left pondering where this creativity and depth of emotion had been during the previous 9 tracks.

"World is Round" can be characterized as relaxed pop-rock with a melancholy vibe and violin added to the arrangements. It is not objectionable. It is not poorly executed. But neither is it particularly compelling or memorable.

Too bad we can't award "half-stars". This one deserves 2.5 at least. Perhaps it will grow on me with repeated listens. If so, I'll be sure to round upward. If you love this CD, feel free to send me a message telling me about its sublte virtues. But for now, despite its strengths, I just can't seem to award it a 3rd star.