LYNX

"Now, hold on, what does the beginning of this track ('Eternal Shadows') remind me of? Ah, yes, got it...'Kids in America' by Kim Wilde. Kim Wilde, the 1980s British icon of pop? Well, yes, there certainly is some resemblance ? the catchy, driving melody, the sharp, almost electronic, drum beat punctuation, the synthetic keyboard accompiment almost shouting 1980s pop production values. OK, 'Kids in America' might have been a good piece of well crafted pop but, hey, it was 'Pop' and here we're listening to something supposed to be Progressive Rock? Surely Kim Wilde's 1980s output and Progressive Rock are two incompatible forms of music?" Such were the thoughts passing through my mind as I listened to this album. And they indicate a problem which so often plagues supposedly 'Neo-Prog' music: 'Lynx' does offer some nice, catchy songs and, yes, the lyrics are generally intelligent and not too cringe-worthy and there is at least one fairly lengthy track which at least nods in the direction of having an 'epic' structure. But how does the music stand up as a piece of Progressive Rock? There is little in the way of harmonic invention, instrumental virtuosity, development of musical themes in anything other than the most rudimentary form...and it sounds so much like a 1980s Pop production. So although the album does not, by any means, deliver an unbearable listening experience, it falls radically short with respect to all the values by which I am usually drawn to Progressive Rock. Nevertheless, I suppose it does posses some qualities ? primarily the 'pleasant' song writing attributes ? which suggest that Galleon might be capable of providing some more notable Progressive Rock in their later albums.