SPACE WALTZ

The 80's were a terrible time for prog IMO. Most bands sold their soul to the biggest devil of them all - money. However, there were still some artists/bands who stayed true to themselves, and one of them was surely Pekka Pohjola. While it's fairly easy to hear that this album was made in the 80's, for once, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Of course, the keyboards do sound a bit dated and the music does have a slight 80's twist, but when you get past that, you'll realize there's some great music for you to discover here.

Again I find myself hesitating, trying to figure out how to describe this album. In fact, it's nearly impossible. Pohjola has a very distinctive style, so if you haven't heard any of his songs/albums, this review is probably not that helpful. Space Waltz manages to combine his classical tendencies, with the obvious jazz-rock elements and there are even moments where the music could be described as symphonic prog. All this quite effortlessly, if I might add. The music sounds natural and quite accessible also, in Pohjola's standards.

There are lots of keyboards on this album, but mr. guitarman Seppo Tyni gets to shine too, on many of the tracks. As Mike already pointed out, Cat Boulevard is a new version of Wigwam's PK's Supermarket. It's much slower than the original, and the atmosphere is surprisingly gloomy and dark... Quite an interesting version, but it works quite well.

None of the tracks are weak, and the album works nicely as a whole. Not a perfect album by any means, but still quite good, and confirms my believe that Pohjola has never made a downright bad album. Nevertheless, do not start here, it's best to work your way up chronologically with Pohjola.