20 YEARS AFTER

When I looked at the booklet I thought, hey another humoristic story spoiling the music, but after having listened several times to this new album of the little known Dutch band Life Line Project, I had to admit, that the music is just great. Here we have a band with a true original sound, straight forward warm and well chosen melodic lines and often baroque sounding harmonies. And what is more: we are offered a well conceived story with a clear beginning and end, a thing so rarely encountered on most progressive rock albums where free-floating supposed intellectual and incomprehensible stuff is interwoven with so often exaggerated complex music. On 20 Years After we get a simple but effective story about the silliness of communism and the exaggeration of capitalism as seen through the single eye of a little green haired guy called Duplo, who desperately tries to find his own way. A charming and original story, well sung by Marion Brinkman-Stroetinga, sometimes funny but always touching! Erik de Beer may be held responsible for all of the music and I was amazed by his keyboard- playing, which is truly way above the average.

I almost fell in love with the short but extremely beautiful interventions by oboe player Dineke Visser, most of the time assisted by a likewise excellent woodwind section, consisting of flute, clarinet and bassoon. Also liked a lot the very symphonic electric guitar solo's in parts like "Move Out". The bass playing by Iris Sagan is solid, but very melodic as well: the right connection between the drums of Ludo de Murlanos and the sumptuous keyboard parts on Moogs, Hammond and piano by Erik de Beer. Recording quality is reasonably well succeeded, with perfectly recorded acoustic parts. At some spots the more heavy parts sound a bit thin (too little punch on the bass drum and lower toms).

An album I liked a lot and advisable to everyone who likes his symphonic rock warm, melodic and straightforward without superfluous complexities!! Rating is somewhere between 4 & 5 stars, but since this is impossible and I think the album is closer to 5 than to 4, it will be 5.