BEDROOM CIRCUS

Hello fans of Fish-era Marillion! You can´t miss this album! Picklelegaz is a dutch band that was founded in the late 80´s and it´s been around for a while since. However, they had only released one official CD before Bedroom Circus in 1999. So it took them some 13 years to have a follow up. Well, it was well worth the waiting, as far as I´m concerned. I don´t have their debut album, but according to a friend who have heard it, it was good, if not well produced, efford. Bedroom Circurs, however, is a fantastic work, full of great melodies, extremely well performed and with an excellent recording and mixing quality.

Ok, as you might have guessed already, originality is not one of their many qualities. The group makes no secrecy of their strongest influence: in fact the references both musically and lyrically of Marillion abound here. Which would maybe be a bad thing if the original Marillion had stuck to their guns and produced the same symphonic prog they used to. But, alas, since the early 90´s Marillion is another band I don´t recognise anymore. And, fortunatly, those dutch guys of Picklelegaz are excellent songwriters themselves, capable of coming up with a bunch of brilliant songs that emulate their idols and still bring something new to the style. Likewise, their arrangements are not really copycats either (there are more keyboards and less guitar than Marillion, plus the guitar solos and riffs are often different). Some instrumental parts are just marvelous! Singer Ernst Brobbel is a fan of Fish, of course, but thanks to his unique timbre he does not sound like a clone. In fact, he is very good vocalist with a dramatic delivering that is perfect for this kind of neo prog.

Although I liked the whole CD, I must say that the second half of Bedroom Circus is where you´ll find the best material, including a stunning 15 minute opus called Anger & Fear that closes this surprising album with an elegant note. As you might expect, there are majestic keyboards waves, beautiful emotional guitar solos, a strong rhythm section and an overall symphonic feel that is quite overwhelming. They possess that rare kind of energy that makes it all sound so refreshing and new that I just can´t have enough of it. Every note seems to fit in perfectly.

One of the best releases of 2012, IMO. I´m looking forward to hear their next CD. I only hope they won´t take another 13 years to do so!

Rating: 4,5 stars. Highly recommended for fans of early Marillion and the ones who love melodic symphonic prog in general.