FANFARE & FANTASY

I buy and sell rare vinyl records, so what you might ask am I reviewing a CD for, well, Comedy Of Errors just released a limited 250 run of their new album 'Fanfare And Fantasy' on vinyl as a Double album with an extra track..'Time There Was'..which is kind of the other way round from the old days when a 35 minute record was eventually released on CD, it was the CD format that contained the extra hidden gem or two. Comedy Of Errors have not skimped on CD content either ..their two CD's are close to max 70 minutes each, which in my vinyl world means each release was the equivalent of a double album...the beauty here is they have never released a duff track, no time fillers or second rate stuff here.

Maturity springs to mind after listening to 'Disobey' then 'Fanfare' it is whatever magic makes them glow, they have dug deeper into their musical pockets and 'branched out'.'Disobey' sounded to me like the band had bolted from the gate at full musical prowess, seems now with 'Fanfare' they started as masters of their game and continue, molding the pieces into a different form just because there is an art to the challenge.

The band's overall musical genre on both their CD's is what all you young 'uns affectionately term 'neo progressive' with just a hint of the classic progressive era and nary a look-in to the current progressive era, or any of it's sub genres, unless you include some symphonic touches, but they have that ability to provoke the minds time-travel back to those days when a prog track had melodies you could remember and choruses you could sing along with..was that called 'tunes' ?

Other than a maturity the biggest difference I noticed between the two CD's is in track layout..the first CD had a long four piece conceptual set called 'The Student Prince' which was almost a hallmark of classic prog to fill one complete side of an album, this time around the 9/10 tracks show just how the band has molded their own unique formula without 'sounds like' being an issue. When I came across the band at The Glasgow Ferry a couple of years back, I could tell then they had their own sound. I'm impressed by how they have continued to make magical songs.

Prior to the internet there were so many brilliant Classic Prog albums that sank without a trace, only to be more prized and popular now than their original musicians dreamed of. I'm thankful that with Comedy Of Errors releasing a great follow up album to 'Disobey', which put them on the ladder, they will get the success and popularity they deserve.

Everything I liked about 'Disobey' is still here with 'Fanfare And Fantasy'...Great musical composition with memorable lyrics and tunes, an immensely tight drum and bass, hallmark keyboards, guitar breaks to write home about, and a vocalist as individual and rare as they come.

And as I wait patiently for my vinyl copy to arrive, I can attest to just how good CD quality is...They definitely sound better than the cassette tapes they replaced !