BEAT THE DRUM

I had Sentinel on tape when it came out, all those years ago, and always loved it. Recently, I have purchased the re-mastered cd, with the bonus tracks, and it is even better! Unfortunately, after that album, the original vocalist, Euwan Lowson, left, (or was kicked out, not sure which). Nothing much was heard from them after that for a long time. However, they had, reportedly, come back with some very strong material. Well, a friend of mine lent me the tape of Beat The Drum 3 or 4 months ago. What a disappointment! This is nothing like prog, it is mediocre, predictable AOR, the sort of stuff you could imagine seeing on Top Of The Pops in the awful eighties. I won't go into detail about individual songs, as they are all pretty dire. Blood And Roses, and Fragments of The Sun are about the best of a bad lot. Sorry this review is so negative, but any prog fan who rates this, must be easily pleased, and not really bothered if it is prog or not. If you want ballads, then other bands, not prog related, are doing this sort of stuff better. There is no danger, excitement, interesting chord changes, rhythmic patterns, or original keyboards and guitar here at all. Personally, I would give this only 1 star, but fans of the bands will doubtless want this, to complete the collection. Not the worst album I have ever heard, but as disappointing for me as "Tormato" was when Yes released it as a follow up to the brilliant "Going For The One." Sentinel lovers beware!