BEYOND DAYLIGHT

Man have these guy's grown since there 1st CD The Color Temple. Then, essentially a rock band. They took it to the next level on there 2nd CD The God Thing and introduced the progressive element to their sound and song writing and never looked back. Now, 3 Cds later with their latest CD Beyond Daylight, Vanden Plas has taken their song writing to a new level. All the songs on this CD are meticulously arranged and thought out. Vanden Plas is not interested in showing off their musical abilities to the point of personal musical masturbation. Most of the vocals and music is laid out strictly for the songs sake. All of the music was written by S. Lill(gtr) and/or Gunter Werno(keys). All the lyrics are by Andy Kuntz. I must mention the songs Phoenix and the title track Beyond Daylight as being 2 of the most intense and sophisticated Vanden Plas songs to date. Honorable mention must go to drummer Andreas Lill (brother of guitarist Stephen Lill) who really knows how to create drum charts for these songs. If you isolated just the drum tracks, the drums would stand musically sturdy all on their own. He has a way of making his drum patterns very clever but they never ever get in the way of the music. Like the way John Bonham Did, until one really listens to the drums they seem simplistic, but nothing could be further from the truth they just blend incredibly well within the context of the song. Its been 3 years since Beyond Daylight was released so their about due for a new one and I for one cant wait. To me each CD has been better then the previous (as it should be) Also of note, Vanden Plas still has all it's original members. 10 years without a line-up change is a considerable feet, specially a progressive band. That in itself is an accomplishment.