TIMELESS

What I like about THE WATCH is that when you buy one of their albums you know what your getting. Sure some albums are better than others and "Vacuum" is still my favourite, but listening to their music is like visiting an old friend. There's a certain contentment and satisfaction involved with their sound because it sounds so much like the source of Progressive music.This one's a little different in that they've gone as far as to actually include three GENESIS covers. Normally i'd say that wasn't the best idea except that the two on the studio album here are from "Genesis To Revelation" which i've never heard before, then there's "Stagnation" from "Trespass" which is on here as a bonus track. And I must say that "Stagnation" stands alone as the best song on here. Oh, and there's plenty of mellotron on this album too.

"The Watch" is acoustic guitar and vocal led then we get some atmosphere as it blends into "Thunder Has Spoken". It kicks in fairly quickly with vocals.The guitar sounds different here and synths lead after 3 minutes. "One Day" is pastoral with acoustic guitar and vocals before it kicks into gear.These contrasts will continue. An excellent track. "In The Wilderness" is the first GENESIS cover. Even before I knew this was a cover I could tell from the lyrics that this had GENESIS written all over it. Check out the pulsating organ as well. Great sounding tune.

"Soaring On" just hits me emotionally for some reason. Acoustic guitar and flute to start as reserved vocals join in. Simply beautiful. Majestic mellotron 3 minutes in. If "In The Wilderness" had those typical GENESIS lyrics then the rearranged GENESIS track "Let Us Now Make Love" has very untypical lyrics as far as a GENESIS song goes. It kicks in with pulsating organ and drums standing out as vocals join in. So GENESIS-like. Wait a minute. It settles back as contrasts continue. A good groove to this one and John Hackett adds some flute too. "Scene Of The Crime" is piano and vocal led early. It picks up around 1 1/2 minutes.Vocal melodies a minute later then distorted keys ?

"End Of The Road" opens with pulsating keys with mellotron and outbursts of sound. It settles in with vocals before a minute. I like the guitar and organ that come to the fore everytime the vocals stop. "Exit" is a short piano piece. "Stagnation" features acoustic guitar and vocal melodies before the vocals come in. Haunting keyboards 2 minutes in. It kicks in after 3 minutes. My God ! Emotion. A calm with flute follows then acoustic guitar and vocals kick in at 6 minutes. So good. Simone rules !

I would rate this as my third favourite THE WATCH album after "Vacuum" and "Planet Earth ?".