FANFARE & FANTASY

With their return in 2011 with "Disobey" I really got interested in Comedy of Errors, a band from the United Kingdom who saw the light back in the 80s, and came from the ashes a couple of years ago creating excellent music, neo-prog at its best. That's why in this 2013 I got interested once again in their new production, entitled "Fanfare & Fantasy", which I will review right away. If you like symphonic or neo prog with cool concepts, then you will enjoy this 9-track album that has a total of 66 minutes.

It kicks off softly with "Fanfare for the Broken Hearted" a song that by the way, can work as a hymn for people who has had a experience like this (broken heart) recently. The first seconds are just words but little by little the instruments enter and the music is beginning to build up structures. Of course, the work of keyboards is primordial here, creating the nuances and atmospheres that are brightly accompanied by guitars and Joe Cairney's great voice. After two minutes drums appear and the music simply flows, creating a very solid piece of progressive rock, which has different episodes, soft passages, emotional ones, faster moments, so it pleases everyone. "Something She Said" continues with this well crafted album, I say this because all the pieces are carefully composed and structured, they were careful with their decisions, that's why the album is so good. In this song the neo prog sound is always evident, but there are some passages where the music might turn more in the vein of the 70s symphonic, mainly due to the great use of keyboards. Worth mentioning that the songs are great with or without vocals, I love Cairney's voice, but I also love the instrumental passages.

"In a Lilfetime" begins with acoustic guitar in a soft way, then little by little keyboards and guitars join, and after 40 seconds the voice does the same along with the bass and after a minute and a half the music changes and becomes rockier, catchier without a doubt, but pretty cool. "Going for a Song" starts very charming, with a delicate sound, but a minute later the music changes, becoming vertiginous and with much more punch, a neo prog track in the wide sense of the genre. So here you will have almost 9 minutes of excellent music, showing off the compositional skills of the band. This might be one of my favorite tracks here.

"Merry Dance" is shorter but exquisite as well, here I love the guitar sound and how all the musicians gather and create a solid structure, whose main "riffs" are easy to remember; the drums are also great, as well as the keyboards as background. The following one is "The Cause" which has a somber 5-second start, and then it vanishes and a brand new passage begins with acoustic guitar and keyboards, so little by little the song flows and progresses, creating emotional moments in which the voice sounds louder, touching our nerves. But later, the music is faster, the emotions increase, one can feel powerful, like wanting to go out and run, run out from our cages, and this is how I feel due to the great performance in this song, especially keyboards and guitars.

"Time's Motet and Galliard" has a long keyboard start, and after two minutes the music changes a little bit but remains with the same essence. Actually, this song is clearly divided in two parts, the first one I assume is the instrumental, while the second begins just before the fifth minute, in the vein of Yes-Wobbler (a wide gap, actually) very symphonic, but soft, never bombastic. "Remembrance" is the shortest track of the album, lasting only 4 minutes. This is a soft song, a ballad-like track that will make you think and have a nice and relaxing time.

On the other hand, "The Answer" is the longest track with 10-minute length, and the final one. This song is simply amazing, wonderful, the best way to finish this excellent album. Here they do have a bombastic beginning, fast sounds, vertiginous moments made by the great keyboards, but here what especially caught my attention was the sound of the bass, the notes/lines the bass man plays are truly great, very suitable for the music. After the first minute the music changes, becoming softer and thoughtful, but a minute later it changes again and the full energy is brought back. But guess what, it slows down again, now with the vocals and the atmospheric keyboards, so here you will have a feast of changes that are the sum of what Comedy of Error's music is about, first class neo-prog.

I loved this album, and now I am struggling to know which of the two recent CoE album Is my favorite, because I also love Disobey. This album is highly recommendable for fans of neo prog and symphonic. My final grade will be 4 stars, almost perfect.

Enjoy it!

Share this COMEDY OF ERRORS review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to memowakeman
• Report this review (#1082535)
• Buy COMEDY OF ERRORS music online with PA partners
• Show all COMEDY OF ERRORS MP3/Stream
• Go to COMEDY OF ERRORS page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Fanfare & Fantasy page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for COMEDY OF ERRORS related discussions