BANQUET

Fourth album from this German band with an? English vocalist (and not one of the least). The problem with this band is that their great debut was never confirmed. From a four stars rating they dropped to two in my books with their "Rock'n'Roll Singer" stuff. And I can tell you that this "Banquet" is no feast at all. At least I feel so.

The long opening song ("Spanish Galleon") holds some good (but so damned short) guitar moments à la Carlos but it paves the way for the whole. Namely: a brass section that I can't stand. But these instruments were never too much a passion of mine (and never will).

Where did the great and heavy rock from this band go to? Not on this album, that's for sure! If you thought that the weak opening song was a mistake, it was not. Unfortunately: the awful "Thus Spoke Oberon" is a perfect confirmation of this feeling. A short guitar solo (soon covered by these stupid brasses) is the only good moment. Some thirty seconds out of almost seven minutes. Big deal!

It was quite a disappointment to listen to this work but as I have said, the creativity / originality declined seriously after their debut. A good option would have been to call it quit after such a great piece of music; as many, many Italian bands did. But they decided to go through. Unfortunately.

The bottom low and almost ridiculous "High flying Lady ? Goodbye" only highlights this feeling. How is it possible to release such a song? Just bear in mind that the band was categorized in the heavy prog style? We are far, very far away from the genre with this "Banquet" album.

Don't expect the second long song from this offering to save the bill. "Sorrow" is just another soft jazzy number with little appeal as far as I am concerned. Excellent vocals (but this can be experienced throughout the album) are really the only positive point.

This has NOTHING to do with heavy prog. Two stars is my maximum rating. Below average music it is. No prog and little rock. What else???