ALTITUDE

The Lifesigns sound and song quality is now, after three albums, legendary. I'll never forget the delightful surprise that was 2013's eponymous debut--an album that still sits on the edge for me as to whether it's a masterpiece or not. In terms of aural candy, it definitely is. Though the list of John Young's support cast has shifted, the sound is still great.

1. "Altitude" (15:18) a song that gets better and better the farther you get into it, the vocals and lyrics are a bit lackluster while the bass, drums, guitar and keys are quite good. Wonderful aural scapes and an absolutely gorgeous finish. I was hoping for/perhaps expecting the amazing lead and harmony vocals from the band's debut, I'm sad to find myself a bit disappointed. But, then, the sound production value is so beautiful, so clean and multi- dimensional, I'm almost willing to let go of my disappointments. (26.5/30)

2. "Gregarious" (4:38) opens with a bouncy piano sounding a bit like Queen or Foreigner. A bit too much like the quirk of "Cold as Ice" yet weakened by the relative stuffing into the background of John's lead vocal track. I was not expecting this as his warm, intimate voice was one of the highlights of the previous albums. Really nice PINK FLOYD "Comfortably Numb"/GEORGE HARRISON "My Guitar Gently Weeps" section from Dave Bainbridge and the background chorale singers in the fourth minute till the close. (8.5/10)

3. "Ivory Tower" (7:42) Whoa! 4:25 of Steven Wilson's Hand. Cannot. Erase. crossed with Peter Gabriel's "Mercy Street." Then it kicks into part two, drive. Nice music, nice sound--except for the thinness and deeply buried effect on John's vocal track. A song of regret and envy whose lyrics are a bit too simple. (13/15)

4. "Shoreline" (7:38) a jazzy opening turns spacey before still settling into an almost Steely Dan vein. Finally, John's vocal track is brought slightly forward and given a little girth (but still not enough). Keyboards dominate, chord sequencing and background vocals are definitely in the Steely Dan house of pop jazz. Great excursion into jazz fast lane in the instrumental sixth and seventh minutes. A very solid song with excellent musicianship that seems to need a different vocal approach (or lyrical topic). (Where are Donald Fagen or James Grant when you need them.) (13.25/15)

5. "Fortitude" (10:07) nice song structure, chordal flow, and melodic trails. Again, I'm not sure what John's singing about but something here feels meatier--feels like something to which I'm more connected (which is entirely due to the magic of John's voice). Just wish his voice didn't sound so compressed. Interesting tension built from the musical drift in the seventh minute. Brilliantly brought back to warmth and trust by the following vocal and instrumental passages--the latter of which, starting at 7:30 is quite powerful. Great synth work along with deep, throbbing bass. Now this is good prog! The best song on the album! (18.75/20)

6. "Arkhangelsk" (0:57) interesting inclusion on the album--unless it's meant to be the introduction to the next song. (4/5)

7. "Last One Home" (6:14) from the opening piano and synth chords one can tell this is going to be a sad song. It sounds like a pretty blatant lift of Elton John's "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"--piano, pace, and vocal melody lines. A song that seems to be about the relationship dynamics of a seaman and his distant wife while the seaman is at sea--the stereotypic idealization of the "sad" life of the sailor and the often solitary sailor's wife. Very nice bluesy guitar solo by Dave Bainbridge--for a full two minutes--in the instrumental middle. (8.5/10)

8. "Altitude (reprise)" (1:50) sounds like a new, trailing verse to STING's "An Englishman in New York." (4.25/5)

Total Time 54:24

For whatever reason, the engineering of the vocals are not as warm and intimate as those on Lifesigns, and, thus, not as effective. (Perhaps there has, in fact, been a weakening of John's voice over the past decade?) Having that gorgeous, engaging voice so "removed" instead of "in my brain" is actually quite a disappointment. John's support crew of Jon Poole, Zoltán Csörsz, and Dave Bainbridge are definitely a winning combination--as are the other collaborator guests. As competent as Jon Poole is, there's just something so magical about the bass/stick work of Nick Beggs. My final impressions are that the music needs to be more dynamic and John definitely has to record, engineer, and mix his wonderful voice back to the front and center of each and every song.

B/four stars; a nice addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially valuable for the two centerpieces, "Shoreline" and "Fortitude"--but, if you've never heard this band's debut, you are really missing out.