AFTER ALL...

This sophomore effort by French outfit Eye 2 Eye should please many fans of what's coined Neo Progressive rock, as well as quite a few followers of the more vintage-sounding symphonic prog expression - as long as the latter don't mind modern sounding synths that is.

Tracks close to or of epic length, carefully crafted guitar patterns of the melodic variety underscored neatly by the bass guitar with all manners of keyboards, organs and synths in the back of the mix is the name of the game here, sometimes sounding like a UK act of the mid 80's suddenly discovered while at other times the band are closer to the more symphonic moments of German act Eloy in their overall sound.

Some odd choices, at times somewhat weak and accented vocals and a production that on a very few occasions fails to do the music justice is the main negatives here. All of them minor points, but in total enough to make this a very strong effort rather than an instant classic.

Fans of Neo Prog may well regard this as one of the better albums of 2009 though.