GHOST

The Watch is the physical transformation of The Nightwatch,the band lead singer Simone Rossetti found in mid-90's in Milano.The Nightwatch disbanded after Rossetti had serious problems establishing a stable line-up.By the dawn of the century Rossetti decided to make a new start under the name ''The Watch'' having guitarist Ettore Salati,bassist Marco Schembri,drummer Roberto Leoni and keyboardist Gabriele Manzini by his side.The debut of the band ''Ghost'' was released in 2001 on Italian label Lizard.

Despite the massive changes on the line-up,the sound of the band hasn't changed a bit compared to the Nightwatch'es ''Twilight''.Pure Retro-Symphonic Rock in the vein of GENESIS with mainly long tracks and constantly changing atmospheres.Rossetti continues to sound a lot like Gabriel and perform in a very theatrical way.Keyboard work is great featuring plenty of intricate mellotron,piano and organ parts,while guitarist Ettore Salati delivers some inspiring melodic plays.The compositions continue to be rich and captivating with both dark and lighter parts,grandiose atmospheres and soft interplays.However,the band still is on the way to find a more personal style and become immediately recognizable.

I found ''Ghost'' to be an excellent release for anyone searching for some good old-GENESIS sounding prog,but the album fails a bit next to the Nightwatch'es only album,lacking in the stunning melodies of ''Twilight''.However this remains a really good and recommended addition for any Retro-Prog fan of nowadays...3.5 stars.