BY THE DARK OF LIGHT

Shaun Guerin was a musician from Los Angeles,California,who began playing the drums in 1969,at the age of seven,next to his father John.His first listenings included Jimmy Hendrix,The Cream,Jannis Joplin and of course The Beatles,but it was his contact with E.L.P.,which turned his preferences around.Getting into the sounds of Genesis,Hatfield and the North,King Crimson and Brian Eno,Shaun became a huge prog rock fan,while during the years he also studied keyboards and guitars.He was the secondary drummer and lead vocalist of the Genesis tribute band Cinema show,but in 2002 he released his first personal work ''By the Dark of Light'' on Clearlight,entirely composed and performed by himself.

The album is a typical example of modern melodic Prog/Art-Rrock with strong Classic 70's Prog vibes.The tracks are split between vocal- and instrumental performances,with Shaun's voice being very close to that of PETER GABRIEL's.Additionally the album has strong GENESIS hints,especially from the 75'-80' years.The drumming of Shaun is of course steady and confident,but it's his guitar and keyboards abilities,which were a questionmark.Regarding his keyboard/piano work,Shauh delivers some good passages with flashy synths and melodic piano around,but the plastic sound does not help at all and buries the good ideas.His guitar work is mostly on the background with a few nice solos to be found throughout.Most of the instrumental tracks are very complex with a grandiose style and heavy synth and piano work,but not always inspired and conveincing.The obvious reference points are bands like MAGELLAN,AJALON,FOREVER TWELVE or AKACIA.

For most of its duration time,''By the Dark of Light'' justifies that it is a one man effort.Plenty of light mistakes,absence of tight coherence,as all vocal tracks are mellow with the instrumental being far more energetic, and average compositional skills.On the other hand plenty of passages really shine and show strong indications of a better follow-up.This one though is exactly in the middle...2.5 stars.