TALES FROM THE GREEN SOFA

Well, what a giant leap forward when compared to their already good debut A Secret Place. But unlike their first effrord this one is much more cohesive and personal: the early Camel sound is now a big influence, not a copy anymore. The strong Marillion references on a couple of tracks before is all but gone. The result is a very melodic, powerful and diverse CD, where you can still hear a lot of Camel references, but with a music of their own and very good songwriting.

The somewhat odd female singing is also history (Agnès Forner is now cited as a guest and on flute only). And even the male singing is much better now. However, the instrumental parts is where the gold is really in: gorgeous guitar solos, terrific bass playing, dreamy keboards (much on the Peter Bardens vein) and very versatile drumming. To top it all, we still have excellent flute on some songs. Those guys really know how to write great, memorable songs and performe them with very tasteful and varied arrangements. The playing here is top notch and there is absolute no low moments on the whole CD. All tracks are excellent and it is a joy to listen to it from start to finish.

Production is good, with all instruments very well balance in the mix.

Conclusion: a reall winner! A very nice surprise from France. If you like early Camel (around the time of their 4 first albums) with a slightly more jazzy approach, you just can´t miss Tales From The Green Sofa. An hour of pure prog heaven for all those who love great melodic symphonic prog. Rating: 4.5 stars at least. Highly recommended!