THE COSMIC REMEDY

A very pleasant surprise, a new international project got together thanks to the internet and a new album has born under the name of The Cosmic Remedy. Even the name suggests that we have to deal with vintage instrumentation. The love of The Beatles is obvious, but there are heavy Genesis, Yes and Supertramp influences too.

It is wort mentioning that the members couldn't meet yet, since the lead singer is from Brazil, the guitarist is Hungarian, the drummer is from Finland, the bass player from Italy and there are lots of special guests, members from The Samurai Of Prog, Argos, Yesterdays, Yacobs, Tabula Smaragdina and Klima.

The album has 14 songs gathered into 4 big suites.

The album starts with a dynamic symphonic prog instrumental Overture. Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman comes to mind, clear Yes influences. The next track, Blue Skies is more like Genesis, thanks to Ulf Yacobs' Gabriel-like voice. Acoustic guitars, moogs, Zappaesque electric solo guitar passages, heavy flute and mellotrons all over.

The second suite is very sixties-like both in structure and instrumentation. It starts off with a pretty instrumental with harpsichord and flute. Susie and Me must be a hommage to The Beatles, Tico de Moraes (BR) sounds just like the young Paul McCartney and this helps the next two songs to sound more like the Fab Four. My personal favorite is I'll Be Your Friend, it has everything: nice acoustic guitars, Wurlitzer piano, bells, amazing backing vocals and a string quartet too.

The Lost Marbles Suite is the "girly" suite, featuring three women. Vera Klima comes from Germany and Daylight Dreaming starts with her amazing shiny vocals. It reminded me of Renaissance and the Hungarian band You And I too. Story of a Prince is more like a pop song and the lead singer this time is Iulia Pardau from Romania (lead singer of a Led Zeppelin tribute band). Her voice reminds me of Sia Furler. Strong pop material here. The next song Blue Sea is simply a prog gem, like Wondrous Stories (by Yes). Acoustic guitar intro, mellotron strings and a fine crescendo till the only one chorus of the song where a Moog Taurus steps in with more mellotrons and rich backing vocals. Breathe-taking! Song Without a Home continues this melancholic mood, but it is more calming, giving a nice ending to the female block.

The last Suite is again very Beatlesque. The Pepperland Lounge celarly shows this and also, the acoustic guitar solo quotes Eleonor Rigby too. Train To Nowhere is more like a dark pop song, where the bridge part reminded me to Tim Christensen's work. Hiding From The Sun is the last piece on the album, it builds up slowly and melodically, guitarist Ákos Bogáti-Bokor (Yesterdays) plays a nice George Harrison-like slide solo in the middle and a psichedelic reversed guitar solo ends the album.

The editors of PA decided to list TCR as Crossover Prog, it was a good decision, this album has many things to offer to open minded vintage prog lovers, who appreciate not only the symphonic prog side, but the melodic, harmonic pop structures played by amazing musicians on vintage instruments. The instrumentation brings back memories... A nice album to enjoy in your car, easy prog listening. Highly Recommended!

Four solid stars. Very enjoyable album!