PILGRIMAGE TO A POINT

Robert Berry is an odd character, in the liner notes he insists in reminding us of his relationships to proper prog (member of 3 = close relationship with ELP, his work with GTR and Steve Howe etc, he even includes a family tree showing all these links and more) but actually his music is plainly crossover. A very similar case to Trevor Rabin or Billy Sherwood.

The music we find here is not much different from 3, GTR, Asia or Trevor Rabin / Billy Sherwood-era Yes, AOR-oriented prog, easy-listening and melodic while still retaining a decent level of complexity and using several typical prog sound patches and motifs, it sounds good but it's far from outstanding when you think of it a bit in detail.

Robert's voice is good, no question about it, but it is not very personal and it does not save the whole thing.

The best songs for my taste are in the second half of the CD, with "The Blame", "The Otherside" and "Last Ride Into The Sun", the best song here, a great symphonic 10 min epic with many nods to ELP.