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Strangefish - Fortune Telling CD (album) cover

FORTUNE TELLING

Strangefish

 

Neo-Prog

3.85 | 66 ratings

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Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer
3 stars This is a concept album about an ordinary man who is content with his life but because of the constant media barrage that he hears and sees he wonders about what it would be like to be rich. One day a robbery occurs and he is shot and is taken to the hospital in a coma. During this state he dreams that he is rich and famous, but he doesn't like it's trappings and what he has become. He wakes up from the coma to find out(surprise) he has won the lottery, and now that he is awake he can collect. He decides to pass on the riches though and continue his normal life. A little corny in my opinion although I like the message of being content with who you are and what you have. I think musically it's pretty similar to "Full Scale"(their debut), but I don't think it's as good. Something is sacrificed I believe in trying to stay true to the concept.This one has violin on it as well.

"Happy As I Am" takes a while for a melody to appear, but when it does you know it.The Banks-like synths are cool. Some nice bass lines 2 minutes in followed up by some great guitar from Bob. Vocals before 3 minutes and they do get theatrical at times. A calm 4 minutes in is broken by some aggressive guitar and a full sound. Check out the bass 5 1/2 minutes in. It becomes calm again to end it. "It Could Be Me" is sort of dark with piano to open before vocals come in. Our subject is being tempted. Some spacey synths before the bass becomes prominant. Acoustic guitar after 3 minutes. Electric guitar a minute later. More synths washes and guitar late in this melancholic tune. "Random" opens with the robber shouting "Don't anybody move !" This is where he gets shot. Great sound throughout this song.The synths and guitar are excellent. Vocals 2 minutes in with more powerful melodies to follow. "360" is one minute of violin melodies that blends into "Keep The Exits Clear". Piano joins the violins before it all sort of fades away as reserved vocals come in. It builds to a full sound a minute in. The contrast between the mellow and fuller passages continue. I love the guitar from Bob 3 minutes in that goes on and on. "Have You Seen The Light ?" is an uptempo track with fast paced vocals. He really reminds me of Marco from SYLVAN after a minute. Nice bass lines 2 1/2 minutes in followed by some ripping guitar. Organ follows and they really kick butt after 5 minutes. "Lightswitch" features lots of spacey synths. "Ignorance Of Bliss" opens with slowly pounded drums with synths and gentle guitar. Vocals slowly sing. Some heaviness comes and goes during this track. I like the mournful guitar later on. "Reflection" is spacey to begin with before guitar and synths take over. Nice sound. It blends into "This Is Me (Part I)" where we get vocals again sounding like Marco. "This Is Me (Part II)" opens with soft higher pitched vocals and normal vocals trading lines in a mellow soundscape. Piano followed by some nice gentle guitar and synths.The guitar becomes more passionate and simply shines. I can't help but smile because it all sounds so dreamy and content. Violin before 5 minutes. This is the end of the concept with a bonus track left called "Lighthouse Jig". The keyboard player(Paul) tells how this song was put together in his flat that they had nicknamed The Lighthouse. It really is a jig ! Yikes ! Actually it's pretty good with violin taking a lead role. It gets better as it goes with some blistering guitar and the jig part becoming less obvious.

I feel much like UMER in that "Full Scale" for me was barely a 4 star record, while this one is a notch below it in my opinion. So 3.5 is my rating. Hopefully tszirmay will still talk to me.

Mellotron Storm | 3/5 |

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