LET ALL MEN KNOW - THIS IS SACRED GROUND

Well, this album is a bit of a mixed bag for me. This is definitely neo-prog with some classical influence. So far, so good. The synth work here is outstanding, and there are plenty of synth solos to feed the strange synth-hunger I have. I was also impressed by the vocalist's tone. It is quite deep, smooth, and a little bassy. I was somewhat surprised at this because it seems out of character for most neo-prog. I was also impressed with the great sax throughout the album. I've been developing my love for sax over the past couple years, and this album has some of the best I've heard.

However, I feel that there are some basic issues with this album. First of all, it's cheesy. I found the lyrics to be cheesy even though the basic theme is nice. There just seem to be a lot of cliches throughout this album, and also a lot of overly predictable chord progressions and REALLY simplistic drums. In fact, some of the songs don't even seem like they are prog at all. Some of these songs sound more like soft rock from the 80s or something. I usually don't like to scrutinize music like that, but this album just seems lazy at points, especially the last half. However, at other times, this album wows the listener. So, I think this is an easy 3 stars.