RAISING THE STONES

Quite a disapointment. The once Genesis-derivative, but great band anyway, now reduced to a duo, has become a too much complex affair. The music turned out to be too dense, unecessary intricated and lacking hooks and melodies most of the time. Of course those guys are great musicians: I still think that Cyrus is even a better bass player then the original one. But excellent technique itself does not automatic translates into good music. And sadly, this is the case when the band reaches a level that they simply seems willing to show how good and skilled they are, delivering more instrumental exercises than memorable tunes. Even the lyrics suffer from this malady, being too far out and inextricable.

Production is very good, but not above earlier releases. Also there´s the problem that Stewart Bell is not that great drummer for this kind of music. There is also almost no guitar on this album, another big loss, since the band had good guitar lines on both two first albums. Once In while through the 70+ CD you find some good moments, but they are few and far between.

Conclusion: after a lot of spins I did not changed my initial opinion. The once exciting and interesting Citizen Cain became too complex and boring. Some scattered melodies and good ideas here and there do not save this album. Two stars.