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This album from Moon Safari carries the following elements. It's main emphasis are vocal harmonies and luckily all members of the band have a very pleasant voice. The vocal harmonies are not only very well done, but rival the vocal work of the best progressive bands. They resemble Yes and the Flower Kings. The instrumentation is for the most part very pleasant and melodic. There are lots of mellotrons, 12-string guitars, pretty electric guitars, pretty synthesizer tones, gentle drumming ... you see what I'm getting at: the music can be described as pretty, peaceful, innocent, sunny. This is an important element in terms of whether you will like the album or not. If you don't like it when The Flower Kings or Yes gets too peaceful and pretty, multiply that tenfold and you'll find this album too sugary and irritating. For example, the opening acapella song Constant Bloom (which I love) is accompanied by bird noises and such. Not to say that it's always that, there are moments where the drums pick up, the guitar gets distorted and they start rocking out for a bit. It's just that there is not much of that throughout the long duration of the disc. For example, in their first epic Methuselah's Children , the heaviest part is around minute 12, which is brief and despite it being louder, it is still a very uplifting sound. When you hear this epic, you'll notice how easily parts fit together. The album is very coherent, tho you might say it sacrifices some dynamics.

The folksy In The Countryside continues the pleasant sound and is even softer with floating electric guitars in the background, soft synthesizers, a symphony of 12-string guitars, and vocal harmonization playing in stereo as a conclusion. Moon Safari , which is instrumental, is a bit more energetic which begins with a deep hammond organ riff, continues with a few motifs and briefly has a majestic rhythmic part. Afterward, there's a very memorable melody playing with 12-string guitars initially but then it returns with a soaring electric guitar. The rest of the song uses different happy motifs.

The next two tracks are my two favorite tracks of the disc, with the epic slightly behind. Bluebells has excellent upbeat vocal harmonies which are very catchy and memorable: especially during the choruses. Call it poppy if you want, but I love them. After four minutes, a new vocal melody appears under flute mellotrons. This is used to introduce one of the best passages of the album: a light, yes-like electric guitar melody that is very moving. Another section worthy of mention is a Gentle-Giant meets Yes acapella section. The Ghost of Flowers Past is another excellent song, probably the best one in the album. It has an energetic intro with solos, it introduces mellow verses and after minute 3, the song gets into some great passages: a complex vocal workout over a great melodic theme, a brilliant and soaring guitar line, and the climax when an even more majestic version of the guitar line is played with plain awesome vocal workouts: definitively the best part of the album for me.

The second CD luckily continues the good songwriting qualities of the first. Yasgur's Farm is an upbeat and energetic rocker that keeps a fast pace during most of the song. The musicianship is very good in this song. The ending of the song has its tempo lowered and is more melodic. Lady of the Woodlands is another fast-paced tune, but this one is more focused on memorable melodies. A Tale of Three and Tree is an acoustic campfire sort of song. Simple and pleasant: it works as a musical break between the energetic tunes before it and the epic.

The epic Other Half of the Sky actually takes a few minutes to get really started. When it stops floating on mellotrons/12-string acoustics, a percussive theme is introduced and rapidly, the song turns into a distorted guitar riff that is as metal as these guys get. I think it will take too long to explain each part of the song, so I will state that apart from the heavy metal riff (which reappears later), and the parts surrounding it, the music is like the songs in the album, but probably more inspired. To Sail Beyond the Sunset sounds like its title and works as a fitting closure.

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