US

Well, not in the conventional sense; but in the sense of hits the right spots and is an all out cracking listen, then, ya, it rocks.

This may be an easy one to target for proggers, however. The 'Us' album deals with relationship problems and incorporates, as well as world music, a fair amount of 90's pop and soul. Oooohhhh, dirty words according to some people.

But Gabriel tackles his paradigm with great creative flair, and marries so many different elements that it is, at times, pure genius. I mean, take 'Only Us' for example, perfectly catchy chorus and slightly hip-hop beat. However, add in backward chants that sound vaguely Eastern, some colourful guitar work and stretch it out to 7 minutes, and you have something rare in either a 'pop' or 'prog' sense. Some goes for the anthemic 'Talk to me'. It's sought of early-90's alt-pop, yeah it has bagpipes, and African drums, and a Duduk.... A Duduk? And it's got his partner in crime too! And gotta love the build up of 'Secret World'.

And even some of the less 'progressive' numbers are enjoyable, like the groovy 'Kiss that frog' or the totally infectious 'Steam', and others aren't too impressive 'digging in the dirt'. Oh well, not everything is perfect. Well, some things come close, and while this doesn't it's a fine listen ****

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