COMPLAINT OF THE WIND

An unknown band emerging from the 80's Belgian scene,who blended progressive rock with more commercial sounds.Formed in mid-80's and led by guitarist Vincent Fis,NOW featured also current MACHIAVEL keyboardist Herve Borve in his first steps in the music scene.For their first LP,released in 1988 on Auraphon Label and entitled ''Complaint of the wind'',they were helped by MACHIAVEL singer Mario Guccio.Reportedly the album was recorded in August 87' in a castle and mixed in a studio in Switzerland by Glenn Miller,who had collaborated with ''Talk Talk''.

Seemed the band wanted to hit big time,however the album was a typical product of the 80's , in ''progressive'' terms,with all its positives and negatives.At times the keyboards sound a little bit cheesy and the piano parts are somewhat ''plastic'',while the compositions follow a rather simplistic form,sometimes they are closer to 80's hard rock/A.O.R. than prog.On the other hand the band features a very strong vocalist under the presence of Fis,who's voice can be thrilling and dynamic at the same time,reminding of PALLAS' Euan Lowson.Speaking of PALLAS,this album holds a lot of similarities with 80's YES but mainly with PALLAS' ''The sentinel'' from 1984.Compositions are mainly short with some grandiose symphonic keys here and there,some hard rockin' guitar work with a lot of energy,a strong drumming performance by Andre Hercot and a few memorable melodies played by Fis...strange combination really...The result is a work of easy-listening progressive rock with some good but also some flat moments.Not exactly recommended,expect you're a devoted fan of neo progressive rock...2.5 stars...