AJATUKSIA MAAILMAN LAIDALTA

Is a brilliant prog folk album from these Finnish rockers. Fronted buy a female singer, (Päivi Kylmänen) all the lyrics are sung in Finnish. The opener, "Leihonan Syksy" (6:27) (8/10) sounds like a dead ringer for a Finnish "Living in the Past." The title song is at times a bit bland, at times a bit too folksy, but still a solid song. "Ilmalaiva Italia" (5:59) (9/10) is a mellow tune with some simple but great musical support to some awesome vocal harmonies. "Meri" (7:57) (9/10) is great throwback to CURVED AIR's "Marie Antoinette" with great electric guitar substituting for David Cross' violin. "Luuttomat" (5:56) (8/10) starts as a gorgeous acoustic guitar vocal & flute folk song before switching gears to electric guitar and saxophone. The finale, "Johdatus" (9:31) (9/10) again shows a lot of similarities to CURVED AIR, musically, but especially in the lead vocalist's sounds and stylings. The piano-based, classically-tinged second section and the electric guitar play in the eighth minute are both highlights for me.

A solid four star classic.