ACROSS THE WATER

Jadis make good, if sometimes rather lightweight neo-prog. For me, their main weakness is in the vocals, which sound similar to Nick Barratt of Pendragon having an off day. While the band are instrumentally strong, the vocal weakness is not helped by the poor melodies on some of the tracks.

With that admittedly rather negative introduction out of the way, let me focus on the positives. The guitar sound is what might be termed typical neo-prog, with echoes of Steve Rothery of Marillion and John Mitchell of Arena, but always firmly rooted in that of Steve Hackett. With two of the band members also being involved in IQ, there are inevitably similarities with the music of that band, with Both IQ and Jadis recognising Genesis as a major influence.

In terms of the music, the tracks are all around 6 or 7 minutes long. "Daylight fades" is probably the most appealing track, being a slightly slower ballad with some excellent guitar. "A life is all you need" has a similar structure, the track being complemented by some fine oboe work backed by piano.

Elsewhere, "Everywhere I turn" is more upbeat and commercial, with a decent Clive Nolan like synth solo, while "Touch" is a mid-paced number, with some pleasant symphonic keyboards to close.

It is hard to get excited about this album. It is enjoyable and well performed, but lacks anything which might distinguish it from the myriad of similar neo-prog albums. The potential is there, but with "Across the water", it has yet to be fulfilled.

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