A PLACE IN THE QUEUE

Well, I have been lucky enough to hear the promotional release of this album, which is due out in Feb. of '06.

My first impression was that this is where The Tangent truely becomes a band, rather than a project. No more can there be the "just another Roine Stolt project" tag that was wrongly applied to the other two albums (considering the writing has always been done by Andy Tillison, it was always his baby). But on to the music.

First song, "In Earnest" will undoubtedly be considered the "classic" track for most people on first listen. It has everything a prog lover could hope for, while retaining some similarities in composition with previous Tangent albums. But this is certainly no retread of Suppers Ready or Close To The Edge. It has a modern approach and unique sound that is a result of Andy Tillisons approach to prog. This song, unlike some of the others on this album, does contain some tips of the hat to the "classic" prog bands of the 70's though. But not to the point of plagerism, and they are seamlessly blended into the whole. A truely great epic song.

"Lost In London" brings us back to the Canterbury style found on "The Canterbury Sequence" from the first album, but sounds far less like a tribute to that branch of prog and more like a modern take on the style. Excellent track.

"DIY Surgery" is Van der Graaf Generator through and through, while not really reminding me of any particular song of theirs. So not a rip off by any means, but certainly has the feel of their early 70's material. Interesting considering David Jackson is no longer with the band (but is MORE than sufficiently replaced by Theo Travis.....more on his contributions later).

"GPS Culture" is the one track that doesn't stand out as much to me. Perhaps it is because it is reminiscient of the previous album, which I found a bit lacking in adventurousness, unlike this new album. Overall, a good track, but not as outstanding as the others (with one exception).

"Follow Your Leaders" is fantastic. Featuring a solo section that very strongly evokes Gongs better material from the Radio Gnome trilogy days. This one did not strike me on the first listen, but after a couple of listens I now consider it one of the standout tracks.

"The Sun In My Eyes"......the less said about this track the better :) It is a fun track with some entertaining lyrics, but is also the one that keeps me from labeling this album a masterpiece. Still, it is short, and has a certain retro charm (I'll leave it to the reader to decide what sort of retro I'm referring to when they hear it for themselves.......I suppose it is safe to say that I'm not aware of any modern prog band dipping into this musical style :)

"A Place In the Queue" is not as immidiate in terms of "prog appeal" as the epic that starts the album, but repeated listens reveal that it is just as vital and interesting a piece of music as the first album track. Perhaps even more so due to the fact that it requires a few listens to sink in. Another winner for me, to be sure.

So, overall, not quite a masterpiece, but a definite 4 1/2 stars out of 5 for me. I will add here at the end that others have suggested that Theo Travis is the true replacement for Roine Stolt in terms of contributions to the music (as opposed to new guitarist Krister Jonsson). After hearing this album, I would have to agree completely. He helps to change the whole dynamic of this band, and I think that anyone who may have had doubts about him replacing David Jackson will have them throughly dispelled by this album. This is not to say that Krister Jonsson is not a good replacment on guitar, he is and he plays some VERY impressive solos as well as being an excellent rhythm guitarist. But Theo is as important to the sound of this album as Andy Tillison in my opinion.

All in all, excellent job by Tillison and company. I can't wait to get my hands on the Special Edition when it is released.

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