FROM LAND TO OCEAN

I have tried to love this album. I have tried very hard. It has many things that, in themselves, I do love: it is neo-Prog, of which I am a fan; the musicianship is, as other reviewers have pointed out, excellent, and the compositions themselves are well-crafted; musically, the album holds together very well; vocally, it is strong, though I do not think vocals are this band's strong point. Some songs, for example "The Porch," are also lyrically striking. but on the whole--and here I have to admit to placing a great deal of importance on words--the lyrics are weak. It is not that the ideas behind them are bad: they are actually, in my opinion, quite good. It is rather the absolute lack of any kind of potic subtlety. I think--actually I am quite sure--that if the songs were sung in the band's native Swedish, I would be able to appreciate this album purely for the sound of it, and in that case, I would almost certainly love it. As it is, every time I try to give it another chance, I find myself tripping over clunky lines that undermine my appreciation of the very fine music that these guys are playing. So it is with regret that I assign this album only three stars rather then the four that I wish I could give it.