COMEDY OF ERRORS

Comedy Of Errors are a Scottish based neo-prog band formed in 1984 who originally existed with various minor line-up changes until 1989. They recorded a demo called "Ever Be The Prize" in 1985, and more songs were developed and released as a mini album in 1986. Another demo tape called "24 Hours" was then prepared in November 1987, and this was later combined with the mini album to form the band's only (self-titled) CD originally released under the French MSI label in 1988. The style is typical 80s style keyboard oriented AOR(ish!) in the main, but some of the instrumental passages have more complex progressive leanings similar to several other neo-prog bands of that era - notably Abel Ganz.

The CD seems to have been a fairly low-budget production, being a direct transfer from vinyl rather than genuine master tapes, with these early versions also having a pressing error so that the song "The Student Prince, Part I" was replaced by a demo-quality version of another song on the album, "Behold The Knight". The cover shown here appears to be from a different version of the CD than the original French one - whether the omission of the final track was ever corrected, I don't know. Despite these minor drawbacks the songs that ARE present are all very listenable, with excellent melodic compositions and decent musicianship throughout, albeit somewhat light on the progressive side in places.

"Emperors Clothes" is a straightforward driving 4 minute rock track which although pleasant, doesn't really come to life until a minute or so before the end when the lead guitar is introduced. It ends very suddenly too! "Rule Britannia" is a longer track (nearly 8 minutes) which starts very slowly and melodically with no drums, but gradually turns into a rock number similar to the first one until later on when there are some subtle changes of tempo to make things a little more interesting. It also has a much better ending than the first track. "Tunes Of Glory" is another out and out standard rock number, pleasant throughout & with a pretty decent guitar solo midway, though the lyrics are somewhat repetitive. "Seventeen" follows on in the same vein for most of the first four minutes, but then slows down for a while before picking up again, introducing some brief guitar "noodling" towards the end. "Stage Of Fools" starts out slowly and promisingly, with some nice atmospherics and organ chords before breaking out into the keyboard-driven rock style of the previous tracks, with a repetitive guitar riff almost throughout - not unpleasant, but nothing to really grab your attention either. "The King Of Kings" is the shortest track on the album at just over three minutes, and is another very pleasant simple rock tune. "Time There Was" is where the album starts to get really interesting. Definitely progressive music here - this is as good as anything IQ did at the time with Paul Menel on vocals, and much more varied than the earlier tracks on the album. Numerous changes in tempo and timbre, a stunning melody line, great musicianship & vocals - the album is worth seeking out for this track alone! "Once In A While" is a slowish tune - as good a ballad as you'll hear anywhere, with a splendid soaring guitar line and a lovely hook. Another fine track indeed! "Behold The Knight" closes the album in fine style too (unless you have found a copy with "The Student Prince Part 1" appended - I believe they DO exist, AND it is good!) Complex time signatures here rather than the basic 4/4 rock of the first five tracks (which were actually the ones from the later "24 Hours" demo tape, recorded at a time when the band were undergoing a shift in direction from their original prog roots).

The big news is that the band have now reformed and released a much more polished and substantial effort called "Disobey", which combines both old and new material with much more of an overall progressive slant. The band's website refers to the new album as their "debut", thus apparently disowning this earlier work - but there is nothing to be ashamed of here! It was certainly worthy of more attention than it got when it was originally released, and it is still available for £9.50 in the "bargain basement" of www.progressive-rockcds.com at the time of writing this review (mid- June 2011). Definitely worth a listen for neo-prog fans, & especially if you have (and like) the new CD - a solid 4 stars for me!