REVERSAL OF TIME

Elegant Simplicity aka Steven McCabe start to be a serious contender among Melodic/Neo/Symphonic Progressive Rock acts after the mid-90's.''Reversal of Time'' is another good proof of the fact,the 9th studio effort of Mr. McBabe with Ken Senior on vocals, released in 1997 (Proximity Records).

No grand epics like the 43-min. ''The nature of change'' this time from McBabe, but still the album holds a couple of 15-min. tracks along with some shorter compositions to develop another nice package from Elegant Simplicity.McBabe's sharp guitar style and melodic hooks are again the leading force.CAMEL, MIKE OLDFIELD and PINK FLOYD are the obvious reference points.These excellent guitar leads are supported by the nice and careful use of keyboards, often presented under symphonic arrangements, to rise McBabe's talent for one more time.The arrangements are on a great level.The themes constantly change from radical and sharp guitar instrumentals to piano/keyboard-driven mellow passages and the combination of old school Symphonic Rock, Melodic Rock and Neo Prog soloing along with a touch of OLDFIELD-ian New Age parts is again lovely and attractive.Of course the drum programming and the minor keyboard flaws hold the album from being absolutely essential, but the huge amount of interesting moments make it worth owning.

An endless source of good and melodic Progressive Rock, Steve McBabe deserves much more of a promotion.''Reversal of time'' is nothing else than another inspired, consistent and tight album from this talented guy along the realms of both modern Progressive Rock and vintage 70's Prog.Warmly recommended.