CARVED IN STONE

1. CliffHanger classy and spacious intro with piano, acoustic guitar, the air rising, the plane passing and...Mike tumbling in with his recognizable voice, the enthusiasm is in order, the prog metal is there; Brent's tortured guitar with voice-over behind, the riff and rhythm calm, tenacious; the break brings us to Chris and Gary for a surge of notes; the notes flow, squirt, clash frantically, no rest; we head to the Orient with this bewitching solo; ending a little long but you have to recover from such a slap 2. Interlude #1 on the return and the piano finale for digestion before 3. Crystalline Dream which sets the air, oh no, it's bursting with a cheerful title where the most is found in the orchestral evolution; guitar solo then keyboards which turn and set fire and the riff is still there; 4. Interlude #2 as end of title or interlude to keep you glued I think 5. Don't Ever Cry, Just Remember classic piano and synth, ballad I guess, Mike uses his voice in a grand way, some backing vocals; the rhythmic bordering on symphonic rather than melodic, on SHADOW GALLERY, inimitable, airy, grandiloquent; yes a ballad with a struck drum, it's difficult to describe just grandiose 6. Interlude #3 on a SUPERTRAMP tune, yes the piano is still there, creamy, intimate, evoking the first real ending. 7. Warcry with a minute of piano before having the voice, 2 to have the chorus in a heavy tone, ah classic orchestration, I think about ELO for a while; the hard riff reminds us that their territory is above all metal with a fluid and rhythmic guitar solo; so beautiful that I struggle to find words to explain the joy of listening! 8. Celtic Princess acoustic duo piano and guitar more Andalusian than Celtic but hey an interlude howien hey 9. Deeper Than Life frank attack, melodic metal here they let go; oh, there's a great riff... again, the voice, the voices join in chorus; it's energetic; a concept album as imagined which leaves no time for rest 10. Interlude #4 as fast as a breath 11. Alaska for a more airy, crystalline ballad, more guitar arpeggio and flute; a title which denotes the power of others with a rustic air, on a ballad by Hodgson; it's sweet and it brings 12. Interlude #5 abysmal, take a whiff before diving into

- Ghostship and its 21 finally 28 minutes with the hidden room 13.The Gathering The Night Before for the second layer of this major album; magnificent for the rhythm, for the intonation, for the creative madness, for the choirs, for this enthusiasm that they secrete and especially for the solos used as catalysts; Travel as inter-galactic gear change and one of those famous bewitching soli which swells and seems to never end, a machine gun with interchangeable barrel; good spatial sound, we are well beyond that; Dead Calm shows us what it's like to be in space-time; noises, sounds from elsewhere, hold a guitar arpeggio, it's not that different; we hear Fripp's repetitive guitar; Approaching Storm shows us the approaching stellar storm, phew a bit of explanation with Mike who explains everything (in English in the text, finally in American!); the synth suddenly, or a bass like that of E5-150; Storm yes that's it we're in, the neo keyboard between a MARILLION and a HELLOWEEN, yes it goes far but it now merges with Chris and Gary who launch into an intergalactic keyboard battle, it doesn't stop, it lasts, it lasts increases, a torrent of musical lava I tell you! Well Brent gets into it, it's more heavy than prog but hey we're not complaining; the end of the tunnel arrives and Enchantment for the piano arpeggio... no way, we are in a sonata, the time has darkened, the prog and classical metal fusion has just taken place in front of you! Legend for the finale and try to bring you back to earth with the grandiose chorus exercise to guide you a little more; the outro which leads right back to the end, classic at the time.... and that's the end! - 20. Ending (TG94 or Thanks Giving 1994) - Hidden track ...yes a minute of blank and there is a knock on the door, on the window, well finally a door opens, what a memory of this knock... coming out of my speakers; the mysterious air, cinematic before its time, yes now we would say that, this crystalline, airy, ethereal sound, coming from Outro or Aldébaran, this moment to settle down, to breathe, to realize what 70 minutes can lead to our brain; a rural air, Olympian yes with these solemn trumpets, a little OLDFIELD in the background, even if it's fleeting, just dreamlike pleasure. An OMNI!

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