THE CROSS & THE CRUCIBLE

Having really enjoyed their previous album I was looking forward to this one - a concept album from a band who were showing strong signs of improvement after their previous release - I didn't enjoy the albums prior to "Beat the Drum" much at all.

"The Big Bang" - A dramatic sound-scape to start the album incorporating soft vocals towards the end. Setting the mood.

"The Cross and the Crucible" - Symphonic keyboard start leading into a powerful track - immediately the drum work impresses. Dramatic and powerful stuff. Each of the band members stand out in the mix here.

"For the Greater Glory" - Pompous almost middle eastern drum and keyboard start leads into a driving neo-prog rock track. I'm still not a fan of Alan Reed on vocals however he doesn't detract from the music.

"Who's to Blame" - Acoustic guitar to start. A simple track with a more commercialised sound serves to lighten the musical mood.

"The Blinding Darkness of Science" - Swirling keyboard sound into hard neo-prog rock turf.

"Towers of Babble" - Gentle opening into pompous rock. The keyboards impress on this one. After the "Church organ" solo solid neo-prog ensues with a section that typifies the genre.

"Generations" - Softer almost folksy ballad track.

"Midas Touch" - Spoken lyric accompanied by thunder and swirling keyboard sound followed by a driving beat laced, tempo changing epic punctuated by contrasts.

"Celebration" - Pompous to start, good closer to the album.

I would love to give this album a 4. It is well done and the musicianship is very strong. There is something missing though. Where the previous album had two tracks that were mind blowing for me and pushed the rating to 4 this is good but nothing blows me away. It is a neo-prog fest for sure but there is a lack of those moments where I'm transported out of my surroundings on musical clouds of beauty. I would say that for those wanting to discover or explore the neo-prog genre this is a good place to start as it uses the palette without demanding too much. As I've said previously elsewhere and to an extent here I don't dislike Alan Reed on vocals but he doesn't do much for me either. Perhaps with a "Fish" on vocals this would have been a magical album for me. In neo-prog I like a vocalist who can use anger, angst, despair, joy and other feelings in his voice. Dramatic music needs a dramatic vocalist. Ah to hell with it, I am going to award four stars as opposed to the 3 I am vectoring in on here - 3.5 pushed up to 4 (I know I'll get there with further exploration of this album anyway and then kick myself for having to do a re-rate.