MARS HOLLOW

Well, I'm not surprised about the debut new album of this intelligent line-up of veterans, with its leader Mr John Bakers (his vocalism is very interesting, being also supported by his guitar, which is well fitted into this project) and other three expert musicians, always conscious of their role; while Steve Mauk is able to re-create the atmosphere of the seventies, regarding in particular the melodic compositions by R. Wakeman and K. Emerson: anyway, even though I can't get crazy for the "Genesian" mood a-la "Trick of the Tail", here revisited and corrected, within an easier structure in comparison to the master work of the late seventies (I mean, it's more like some tunes by "Big Big Train" , a band that I don't love too much), after all I'm not disappointed...As a matter of fact it's not a derivative album, but their strong references are clearly present here (think of the track "Eureka", in the vein of the early Yes) and the variety of the themes, giving the songs all the necessary dynamics, make this work worth to be checked out! Engineered by by King Crimson associate Ronan Chris Murphy, the sound is clear and the mixing not bad as well, so such features are important in the "economy" of the band!

In fact the whole project Is not so modern, consisting of a couple of albums, but their cleverness and also the good arrangements inside, let me think of this "Mars Hollow" like an almost essential product, even though of course it's not a masterwork!!

Interesting music effort after all, where in some circumstances you could add an half star to my evaluation, in order to recognize the good job of the musicians!!