SNOWTORCH

Once again I am astounded at the reception this music receives here on ProgArchives. Theatric like a Broadway musical. As I listen to Snowtorch I constantly feel as if I'm either caught in a lost ANDREW LLOYD WEBER musical from the 1970s or in a church rock opera production. The keyboards are so music studio, so Broadway-support. The vocals--male and female--are total pop rock opera. (I have no idea what they're singing about and frankly could care less.) The musical theme shifts are so swift and incongruous as to lead the listener to expect a scene change--"Gone to commercial. We'll be right back!" The drums also feel/sound as if they're in the orchestra pit. Where's the show! I can't see it! While I find several themes from "Snowtorch, Part 2" pleasant and memorable (guitars in general; male vocal harmonies; piano instrumental part; Eastern European violin/sax-led theme), and "Helix" has some redeeming parts (female vocal towards the end; guitar soli), overall I find myself more repulsed by obnoxious or cliché sounds and structures. Not an album that I will seek out except only to try to understand what it is that people so like about it (as I have done with Phideaux' last five albums). Good Broadway music; a bit too cheezy for true prog accolades. Good performances--especially guitars.