GHOST

Simone Rossetti's first band THE NIGHT WATCH lasted for one album ("Twilight"). This is his first with his new band called THE WATCH. For me the highlight of this record is without a doubt Simone's vocals.The instrumental work and the actual songs are not as good as I heard on "Twilight" or the follow up to this album called "Vacuum".

"DNAlien" opens with the sounds of synths rising slowly out of the silence. GENESIS-like keys follow before we hear Simone's amazing voice. Some tasteful guitar 6 minutes in. "The Ghost And the Teenager" is my favourite song on this album. I like the guitar to open that comes and goes. Lots of tempo changes in this song. Nice contrast between the reserved vocals with piano to the melancholic guitar melody with the more passionate vocals.The mellotron is a nice touch.

"Heroes" has lots of mood changes and atmosphere.Theatrical vocals 3 minutes in. Beware of the mellotron floods."Moving Red" is good, but probably my least favourite along with the slow moving "Riding the Elephant". Now I know why it's slow moving. Anyway I feel they make the mistake of not taking better advantage of Simone's vocals on these two songs. "...And the Winner Is..." is the final tune, and better than the last two but still lacking. A cool drum / mellotron melody starts before the 5 minute mark.

3.5 stars.