REDEMPTION

1. "Behind the Mirror" (6:46) it's been a while since I've heard Mystery's sound this thick, this heavy. It feels good. Solid. But not enough flash and dynamic change (except for from the drummer and bass player). Quite a solid song--one that reminds me of all that I love about NeoProg and Mystery in particular--but one that also reminds me of just how difficult it is to deliver perfect heart-melting melodies and/or chord progressions. (13.25/15)

2. "Redemption" (6:36) the incredibly full and deep bass is the key to the "new" sound. (8.875/10)

3. "The Beauty and the Least" (9:15) from the opening notes and chords one can sense that we're in for some of Mystery's very best song-crafting. The bass is, again, very full and heavy beneath Jean's melodies and the rest of the band's great chord progressions. The guitar solo at the end of the third minute, though brief, is among Michel St- Pere's best--and he is definitely one of the best--but this is quickly moved away from into a more pastoral weave of multiple guitar and keyboard arpeggi. Michel starts to wind up again within and over this two-chord passage, striking some truly epic bursts and moments. In the second half of the sixth minute, the band switches chord motifs--goes for a heavier sound--as drummer Jean-Sébastien Goyette gets to really shine within the walls of glorious sound. The eighth minute reveals a more 'tron-dominated Genesis-scape before emerging into what feels a classic Mystery "reveal" with Michel and Jean rising above the dense and beautiful heavy prog soundscape. Mystery doing what Mystery does best. (18.75/20)

4. "Every Note" (6:01) two chorus-treated electrified 12-string guitars provide the background support for Jean to sing a heart-wrenching vocal--whichis understqandable considering the wording of this powerful love song. But, despite continued amazing musical background throughout, I feel that Jean's investment in his message loses some of its depth and/or sincerity in the middle (but, thankfully, he regains a bit of it in the final climactic 75 seconds). Great music--especially the guitars--but the drumming feels a little over the top. (9/10)

5. "Pearls and Fire" (12:43) a "coming of age" story about a boy that is counseled by his parents to hold back his tears in order to "be a man" who then ends up joining the military to continue to prove his manhood. The ensuing description of Leo's war experience gets quite graphic as he is "caught in the crossfire" during a particular battle. The instrumental passage that follows this revelation is the best on the album so far. Prog at its best. In the sixth minute we come out of the mayhem of battle into a space of silence--used to sing about Leo's death. These are the kinds of passages in which both Jean Pageau and Mystery excel: encasing scenes of emotional weight in stunningly gorgeous music. The eighth minute, then, shows the band exploring some electronically-framed spurts of heaviness, coming out with a passage of keyboard-soloing over prime NeoProg. At the nine-minute mark we switch to a heavier version of a previous motif for some electric guitar soloing weaving in and around Jean's singing. (Man this guy can sing!) The sudden switch at 10:35 to a more 1980s sound palette and motif is short-lived, a bridge to another round of the current heavy motif, but it returns each time Jean takes a break from singing. The lesson of "Pearls and Fire" is that no one can really control the outcomes/consequences of a young man's dreams. A very good though not really ground- breaking or earth-shattering epic of highly professional, proficient, masterful heavy NeoProg. (22.5/25)

6. "My Inspiration" (8:24) opens with arpeggio-picked multiple guitars like a setup for a heavy ballad. Jean joins in over the guitars and keyboard synth washes and tuned percussives while drums and bass hold back until the chorus. The drums and (awesome) bass remain for the rest of the song as Jean sings with no little emotion about his "inspiration." Several of the brief instrumental bridges in the mid-section feel quite Wind and Wuthering-era GENESIS-like (which is exactly one of the foundational definitions of NeoProg, isn't it?) Beautiful, dreamy, magnificent, pompous and bombastic. (18/20)

7. "Homecoming" (5:10) cool change-up with a multi-voice choral approach to the vocal deliveries over the opening 90 seconds. A long and heavy instrumental passage follows. The vocals rejoin (some solo Jena, some choral-crafted) with some excellent RICHARD WRIGHT-like keyboard work before Michel's guitar takes over. Very nicely (and differently) crafted song. (9.25/10)

8. "Is This How the Story Ends?" (19:11) opens with a couple of minutes of excellent msuic with the rhythm section feeling so tight, so polished, that I'm reminded of Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford at the absolute peak of their skills/powers. The instrumental passage beneath the dramatic narration in the eighth minute is among those sublime high points of Mystery's career. The final three minutes are about as classic 1976 GENESIS as one can get--so heavily dripping in Mellotron and bombast. (35.25/40)

Total Time 74:06

In my opinion drummer Jean-Sébastien Goyette and bassist François Fournier make up the best rhythm section Mystery have ever had and this, their seventh album and ninth year together, serves to capture their finest performance. I can listen to this music/album over and over in large part due to the amazing performances of these two. (Jean comes in a close second). Unfortunately, I think Michel extraordinary guitar skills never really hit the highs of previous albums--though they are always of the very highest caliber of skill and appropriateness. (It must be so hard to continually have to either reinvent your self/your style or try to top your shining moments from year to year, album to album--especially over a 30-year career and over 11 albums. The only other guitarists I've known to accomplish such a feat are Jeff Beck, Nick Barrett, and maybe Steve Hackett.) There are many pleasing, great moments of guitar play, but none so memorable of those I still get chills from during One Among the Living, World Is A Game, and Delusion Rain.

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of NeoProg--narrowly missing "masterpiece" status (though, who knows what further/future familiarity while reveal).

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