Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Spock's Beard - The Kindness of Strangers CD (album) cover

THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

Spock's Beard

 

Symphonic Prog

3.75 | 548 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Mr. Mustard
5 stars If I were to recommend someone an album which best represented Spock's Beard as a whole I would probably give The Kindness of Strangers. The quirky Gentle Giant sounds still linger on this album but there is also a lot of pop in songs like Cakewalk On Easy Street and June. I'm not surprised a lot of the prog community disowns this album; it is rather poppy and is probably void of prog in a few songs. If I had a guilty pleasure in prog It would be this.

'The Good Don't Last' (10/10) is the first track of the album and it is pure Spock's Beard from start to finish. The melodies are strong, all the instruments are well-represented and the lyrics are catchy and well sung.

'In the Mouth of Madness,' (7/10) 'Cakewalk On Easy Street' (7/10) and 'Strange World,' (7/10) besides the use of Mellotron, are not prog. They're just really catchy and well played pop songs. Despite this, they're still some of my favorite Beard tunes.

'June' (7/10) is a really nice acoustic number that eventually builds up and adds keyboards and drums. The vocals are great, especially from the other members who often do backing vocals.

'Harm's Way' (10/10) is the second 10+ min song on the album and is probably my favorite. The song opens with pure energy before a short interlude with Mellotron. The part that starts at around 2:50 always gives me chills; the bass and keys together create free jam feeling similar to 6:31 in Shine On You Crazy Diamond. The song picks up tempo again at 6:52 for a beautiful synth melody that is played out for most of the rest of the song.

'Flow' (10/10) starts off with blistering energy before settling in with some gentle keyboards and soaring guitar lines before picking up again around 5:30 with some blistering bass. Similar motifs are repeated until the 'Into the Source' section. The remaining three minutes always make me incredibly uneasy for some reason, probably due to the soaring guitars.

The Kindness of Strangers is an incredible album and is my personal favorite after V. Despite the more poppy songs beginning to creep in, it's still Spock's Beard at their best.

9/10

Mr. Mustard | 5/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this SPOCK'S BEARD review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.