DIFFERENT POINT OF YOU

I read a lot of good reviews about Alias Eye and their 2003 release called Different Point of You. A number of reviewers referred to them an "pop-prog," and I'd have to strongly agree with them on this point. Alias Eye to me is sort of like a modern version of Supertramp, but not as skilled at songwriting. They sound very little like Supertramp. It's just the song-oriented approach is similar. So, the music is highly accessible, but it does have a wide variety of styles. Singer Philip Griffiths sounds like a mix of Michael Sadler (Saga) and Maurits Kalsbeek (Egdon Heath).

The first track, A Clown's Tale, kind of reminded me of a heavier version of Van der Graaf Generator with some Jethro Tull influences. I believe that was mostly from the sax. It's a nice song to start things off with. The second track, Fake the Right, is pretty much straight ahead rock, with some minor VDGG influences, especially at the ending. Your Other Way is kind of like a ballad in parts. After 3:00 it gets much better with some nice piano and some beautiful Spanish guitar. The fourth track, Icarus Unworded, is my second favorite song on this album, sounding part Floydian, part Ayreon, and somewhat Beatlesque in places. Great song!

With the fifth track, I start losing interest. Usual Routine is mostly rock, changes styles in the middle of the song, and has a nice piano solo. Drifting is an acoustic guitar/piano ballad. Nice, but my attention is beginning to drift away. On the Fringe is average and has a piano/orchestral feel to it. It's not particularly good and loses the energy from the previous songs. The eighth track, The Great Open, is much heavier than the previous songs, has some great guitar solos and a slight neo-prog feel to it. This song has a lot of energy and is the best on the album. The ending track, Too Much Toulouse, is kind of like lounge music with the emphasis on the piano. Not a particularly memorable track.

Overall, I thought this was a nice release. There aren't too many other words that pop into my head to describe this. It's not "proggy" enough for me and that's because it's "pop-prog." Easily fits into the "good, but not essential" category, thus three stars.