PICTURE

Since its inception, this band was intended to produce modern rock music with some touch of prog. With this in mind, I did not expect the band would do some kind of seventies prog or even neo prog such as early Marillion or Arena; psychedelic prog like Porcupine Tree; new-wave prog like It Bites. I was wondering actually on what kind of music the band would produce. I thought it would be an AOR like music. When I listened to this album at the firs time, I was surprised that it turned out as something similar to RPWL music, overall. Well, you may recall that RPWL's music is similar to Porcupine Tree or Pink Floyd but they are in a way different in style and beats. While if I compare between Kino "Picture" with RPWL's "Trying To Kiss The Sun" or "World Through My Eyes", they are very alike. The only exception is probably that some tracks in Picture are more upbeat compared to RPWL's that usually produces floating psychedelic music.

The album kicks off with a rocking track - yes, this one is different with RPWL! - "Losers' Day Paradise" (9:03) combining hard driving guitar by John Mitchell, drum work by Chris Maitland and Pete Trewavas' bass lines. The music flows in relatively fast tempo. John Beck inserts some soft keyboard sounds at the back. This track in fact reminds me to post-Neal Morse Spock's Beard, something like "Onomatopoeia" of the "Feel Euphoria" album in terms of nuance. This opening track is bit unclear to me as the structure is loose - it has some changes in tempo and forms but not in smooth transitions. It seems like disjointed segments. The band seems to construct a combination of hard rock and psychedelic music but does not seem to succeed with creating such a cohesive structure. It's enjoyable on part by part music of the song but unclear about the linking pins among segments that unify them.

The second track "Letting Go" (5:25) is truly an RPWL-like music. It starts with soft guitar and keyboard featuring vocal line in ambient style. This is a nice track with some guitar solo augmented with bass lines. Next is a poppy song "Leaving A Light On" (6:17) that reminds me to the music of Mike and The Mechanics in the 80s especially its opening part. I feel annoyed actually with this opening part with sort of vibes. Luckily, the next part is an interesting and catchy part where the music flows smoothly with keyboard-based rhythm section in floating style. The short interlude part with soft guitar solo is nice.

The fourth track "Swimming in Women" (5:22) is a melodic tune with excellent piano and keyboard featuring vocal at opening part. Yeah, I like this opening part with touchy piano work that features John's vocal. It's melodic man! The music flows in medium tempo with catchy segments produced by keyboard with some soft guitar riffs at the back.. Keyboard work is stunning in the middle of the track with some kind of floating wave sound and some middle-east nuance at the back followed with cool base lines by Pete. An excellent track with killing melody! It's my favorite track and I think you would probably like it.

Having been in relatively slow/medium tempo, the band brings the music into more uplifting mood with fifth track "People" (6:07) that starts off with soft guitar fills and keyboard that feature voice line. Pounding drum sounds enter the music and bring it into a medium upbeat tempo style with energy. Multi-layers keyboard sounds give rich textures of the song augmented with some orchestration work and acoustic guitar fills. Yes, you may agree with me that the combination of keyboard and orchestration has produced excellent music. The drum solo accompanied with guitar solo backed with orchestra at the ending part of this track is truly stunning.

Simple piano work starts "All You See" (5:08) beautifully, especially when it features vocal line. The music suddenly change with full music in a louder sound, reminiscent of Black Field or Porcupine Tree. It's another floating, ambient style of music with good guitar solo.

From its intro, it suffices to say that "Perfect Tense" (4:16) is a pure pop song in terms of beats as well as structure. It has nice guitar solo. "Room for Two" (3:43) is a pop rock outfit with relatively fast tempo style and some soft guitar riffs. The structure is simple. It then continues with "Holding On "(7:08) that starts with a nice acoustic guitar work that features vocal line. The music flows smoothly with excellent guitar solo mixed softly. In the middle of the track the music moves into more uplifting mood with stunning guitar solo. The album concludes with title track "Picture" (2:22) that's basically a nice melody track using piano and soft keyboard sounds as rhythm section for a vocal line in low register notes. A nice ending tune.

SUMMARY

Overall, don't expect this album is something similar to typical neo progressive bands that usually deliver catchy, melodic symphonic music. As colleague Collaborator Lise (Hibou) has put it in the band's page: "The listener, however, shouldn't expect a progressive masterpiece or anything resembling, say, TRANSATLANTIC", I fully agree with this statement. The music of this album is basically light modern rock with some insertions of prog elements. It's not a bad album at all, and it's accessible to wider audience base than its original bands where the members are coming from. Those of you who like psychedelic prog kind of music might like this album. It's really up to you on whether or not to purchase this CD. For me personally, this album is enjoyable for a change after listening to many heavy stuffs. But it cannot stand for long as I tend to get bored with the styles. Rating: 3+ out of 5 stars. If you are curious with the mathematical expression that I mentioned above, purchase the CD and enjoy! After all, keep on proggin' man .!!!.

Yours progressively,

GW

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