CARVED IN STONE

A masterpiece it is not, but a marked improvement over the first one, and the natural step in the evolution up to their definitive statement, Tyranny. Musicianship is much better, as is the composition, but the sound is mediocre. Not all of the songs are worth bothering with, especially not "Deeper Than Life" and "Ghostship", which isn't much more than a patchwork of ideas and instrumental masturbation. Still, Alaska and Warcry are two damn good songs, and Don't Ever Cry, Just Remember manages to put a tear to my eye despite its clichees and excess. I guess that what makes me like SG is their ability to infuse their compositions, no matter how trite and bad they may be (and let's face it, some of them aren't that good), with energy and soul. A recommended listen for anyone and a must-have for fans of Tyranny. 3 out of 5 stars.

Shadow Gallery is one of my all-time favourite bands. This album is for a music lover of both metal and classical. If you like the sound of piano in a metal album and majestic piano intros into songs this album is for you. The piano is quite technical but not too overpowering and the guitars are layered of the album very well. Wehrkamp and Allman are two amazing guitars and this album displays this very well. They are in my opinion two of the greatest guitarists. Another thing to comment about on this album is the vocals that Mike Baker adds. Another defining point of this album is how well he does this he is a great vocalist and can change his style from a soft soothing sound to the powerful sound of a great metal singer. If you do not own this buy it.

This album has set a good example of what prog metal music should sound like. This second album of the band remarks critical milestone for the band career in prog arena. Through this album, the band has set its standard in their music direction where the style and composition are much better than the debut. In terms of music flow, this album has demonstrated its consistency and balance combining those hard driving rhythm tracks and those with ballad-based structure interjected with classical music influence. It combines the high and low points flawlessly throughout the music stream offered in this album. Since this album onwards, this is the band that we should watch closely as their music has improved steadily from time to time. This does not mean to say that this one is less superior than its successor "Tyranny" album. If you enjoy Tyranny, most likely that you will love this album as well. The music of SG is a blend of QUEENSRYCHE, DREAM THEATER, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN and SYMPHONY X.

I have a bit problem with the production side of this album. Sonic quality is excellent. But, when I look at track list, sleeve notes and printed lyrics, I got confused. Track- wise, this album has many "bridges" that contain a sort of connecting or transition piece between tracks. It's okay actually, but there is no description or whatsoever about these bridges. I would suggest that this should have been combined as one track with previous or succeeding track. It's so confusing. Another thing is the hidden track at the end of the album where there is a very loooooong quiet passage until there is a door- knocking sound followed with light music. It's a bit unstructured, I would say. Afterall, the music is excellent and I don't want to use this aspect to penalize the musical review.

Cliffhange (8:41) is a true killer. It starts with an ambient nuance followed with soft touch acoustic guitar fills followed with medium tempo rock music led by guitar solo (played stunningly). The keyboard work provides symphonic nuance of the song. At the end of first lyrical verse the music turns fast with dazzling bass lines, guitar, keyboard and drums work together in relatively complex arrangement with inventive guitar and keyboard sounds. Some keyboard works remind me to Keith Emerson even though in different vein. The guitar solo is stunning - it's a combination of Yngwie Malmsteen and John Petrucci styles. Keyboard provides a background that gives symphonic atmosphere. It's a masterpiece song! At the end of this song there is a short track (0:40) featuring piano that functions as a bridge to the next song.

Crystalline Dream(5:44) flows seamlessly from previous track with guitar fills in very slow tempo followed with hard driving rhythm and fast tempo music. The first part of the song is a straight forward rock music with some guitar riffs and good choruses performed by multi vocal. I really enjoy the choruses. The guitar solo in the middle of the track is stunning with very good and memorable segment demonstrating skillful keyboard work. The bridge part of this song is an exploration of spacey keyboard.

Don't Ever Cry Just Remember (6:29) starts with a combination of piano and keyboard sound at the back, bring the vocal to enter the music.The music flows smoothly with piano as basic rhythm section augmented with electric guitar. The pace of this track is slow/medium tempo with good melody. The bridge at the end of this track is longer than previous track. It features piano as main rhythm.

Warcry (5:59) is a slow track with a basis of piano as main rhythm instrument but it slowly moves into faster tempo with full energy, allowing electric guitar to take guitar solo. This track has a strong nuance of symphonic especially with the keyboard work at the back. Celtic Princess (2:05) is a short instrumental piece explores the use of piano with intense classical touch combined with keyboard work at background resulting a music with good harmony. Those who love classical music will like this song. Deeper Than Life (4:32) is a rocking track with a hard driving rhythm featuring a vocal quality reminiscent of Geoff Tate of Queensryche. It's a nice and energetic rock with a very little prog touch except the interlude in the middle of the track: fast paced with great guitar and keyboard work! Alaska (5:18) is a ballad song with acoustic guitar and piano works to accompany vocals. Ghostship (19:84) is an epic that concludes the album. It contains 7 parts that form the whole epic's structure. Composition-wise, it's an excellent epic with good structure and powerful songwriting. It starts off with an energetic music, medium/fast tempo with multi vocals and combination of speed guitar and keyboard. It moves to different style at second part where the music is influenced by blues filled with stunning and awesome guitar solo. The guitar solo fades out and followed with an ambient nuance enriched with sound effects coming from keyboard sounds. It suits to the title of the part: Dead Calm. Overall, this epic is truly excellent especially with a combination of piano solo influenced by classical music. It's really nice composition.

Overall, it's an excellent addition to any prog collection with a rating of 4¼ out of 5 stars. RECOMMENDED! Keep on proggin' .!!!

Progressively yours,

GW

This is my first SG's album and i'm still listening to it even if i've got it in my musical box since 3 years! this album is great but still tied to 80's prog-period with strong emotional songs like Don't Ever Cry Just Remember,Alaska and some parts more aggressive like Cliffhanger, Ghostship and Deeper Than Life.In my opinion the real mature album from SG is Tiranny but for those who wants to approach to SG for the very first time Carved In Stone it's a good beginning.Enjoy yourself with Shadow Gallery's Symphonic-Prog Metal!!

This is no doubt my favourite from them. Absolutly amazing music. I can't choose a track because the entire album is very good. The musicians are talented and most important they are very skillful with the instruments. A true masterpiece of prog music, one of the biggest in the '90, and in entire prog music.

the only reason that Shadow Gallery don't enjoy the top of the prog metal world like , for example, Dream Theater do, is that they respectfully try to remain an underground, non touring band... without being pretentiously bohemians or snob, they focus on releasing only albums of the highest quality every three years.. without even caring what damage might that do to their career (if such word as 'career' exists in their dictionary), their only pursue is progression... from their first self-titled LP up to Room V they manage to maintain all the characteristics of their personal sound but also are not afraid to follow the behests of time (the Toolish influence is more than obvious in Room V)...

quite early, in 1995, Carved In Stone sets the standards of reborn prog metal of the 90's even higher... six very talented musicians manage to incarnate their 70's prog and 80's metal influences into six varied songs and a stunning epic...

Cliffhanger: the opening track is exactly as it should be: power/prog dynamite with stunning solos and passionate vocals...

Crystalline Dream: beautiful song, elavating mood but one quibble: listen to the break right before the chorus then listen to the same break before the chorus of 'The Guardian' by Fates Warning in 'Awaken The Guardian and then listen to the same break before the last chorus of 'Infinite Dreams' by Iron Maiden in Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son'... Three generations of prog metal meet..

Don't Ever Cry, Just Remember: beautiful ballad, AOR, with great flute solo..

Warcry: my favourite track...starts with fine piano work to evolve to one of the most integral compositions

Celtic Princess: a two minute instrumental break.. nice...

Deeper Than Life: speed/power/prog at its best...

Ghostship:along with 'A Change of Seasons' by DT, it redefined the term 'epic' for the 90's... the best way to close a monumental album...

in conclusion, those of you that already have it, you will continue to enjoy it, the rest of you... FIND IT!!!

Album Carved in Stone is very dissapointing. Except great technical skills, musicians are not showing anything special. There aren't any good or original ideas, no feeling, no love for playing... How can it be possible that in 20 minutes long song ("Ghostship") there is NOTHING interesting? They can learn from Dream Theaterhow to compose great long songs... Guitar player must know that it is NOT enough to play fast, solo should also have melody and feeling. This album is just a cliche, building a stereotype of progmetal as kind of music, in which there is more form than 'real' content.

I think there are some improvements here compared to their debut, but overall I rate them both 3 stars. The things I dislike about this album are the multi-vocal parts that remind me of eighties Metal bands, and the abundance of piano.There is a lot of light weight music on this record. You know I like my Tim Horton's coffee, but if they put too much sugar in it I can't even drink it, it ruins it. My point is that this album is too sweet for my tastes. Thankfully this would change later on, specifically on "Room V". They show 13 tracks on the back of the cd, but they skip songs 2, 4, 6,10 and 12. These are in fact short untitled interludes consisting mainly of synths. The final track "Ghostship" consists of 7 tracks, and then there is the final song "TG94" which is the twentieth song. Confused ? Me too.

"Cliffhanger" opens eerily before piano arrives with gentle guitar and synths in tow. Some scorching guitar and vocals arrive in this reserved tune. Harmonies follow. More great guitar later on. Good start. "Crystalline Dream" is faster paced with vocals and more harmonies. The background synths are good. This one is ok. Nice guitar solo 3 1/2 minutes in followed by a keyboard solo. "Don't Ever Cry Just Remember" is like a power ballad. Lots of piano and synths with reserved vocals, and even some flute. "Warcry" again opens with piano as fragile vocals come into the song a minute in. A fuller sound 2 minutes in with some ripping guitar a minute after that along with a galloping rhythm, but unfortunately it's very brief. "Celtic Princess" is all about the piano. "Deeper Than Life" is heavier with more aggressive vocals. I like it !

"Alaska" is a mellow song with piano, reserved vocals, acoustic guitar and some flute. "Ghostship" opens with "The Gathering The Night Before". I like the drumming, it's great ! "Voyage" is a really good track with scathing, filthy guitar. Finally !! It ends with haunting synths. The best song by far. Way too short though. "Dead Calm" continues appropriately with the haunting synths before acoustic guitar comes in."Approaching Storm" features fearful vocals as various eerie sounds follow. "Storm" naturally has heavy drums, ripping guitar, fat bass and strong vocals. Not as fast paced as I thought it should be though. "Enchantment" is filled with piano melodies for 3 1/2 minutes. Then heavy drums and a full sound arrives. "Legend" is more upbeat with vocals leading the way. "TG20" is kind of weird as we can hear someone knocking on a door for such a long time before the door finally opens. Synths and piano lead the way as it builds to a big sound. Not a fan of this one.

I was disappointed overall with this album. I was expecting more I guess.

The successor of this bands debut immediately starts with the first mindblowing composition they made in their career and up till now I still consider it as one of their very best ever. I'm talking about Cliffhanger of course, a track where Gary Wehrkamp shows his abilities big time and also a composition that shows great class and potential (4,5*).

Unfortunately the next track is almost in the same style is most tracks on the debut, maybe slightly better (3,5*). This album by the way has all kinds of short interludes that really don't add anything positive to the album so I wonder why a band does something like this. The second one of these reminds me a lot of V:The New Mythology but this album by Symphony X was composed 5 years later so that means that SX would be the imitator unless it's all coincidence of course and we're talking about similarity and not about copying. But still it makes you wonder ....

5th (3rd in real) song is a bit ballad-like, good song but not exceptional (3,25*). Next three shorter songs are quite mediocre in my belief and are probably the least of the album (appr. 3* each). Alaska is another ballad and somewhat better than the previous few (3,25*). Finally we have the epical Ghostship, a better one than the Queen of the City of Ice of the debut but a little bit incoherent in the end (3,6*).

So that leaves us with one fantastic song (Cliffhanger) and the rest that is slightly better than the debut so all in all it's an improvement and we know by now they would keep improving with their next (Tyranny). A positive conclusion for Carved in Stone but not yet fully mature (3,4).

Carved in Stone is one of the most celebrated Shadow Gallery albums, and quite rightly so, since it filled a space that usually signified a certain gasp between the standards of symphonic prog and prog metal: noticeably following the heritage of DT's Images and Words and classic Queensryche, while simultaneously retaking the grandeur of Yes, ELP, The Wall-era Pink Floyd and Kansas, SG delivers an impressive repertoire that shines through its versatility, melodic richness and sonic power. The opener 'Cliffhanger' is an adequate indicator of most of the main features to be displayed in the tracklist: metallic-oriented guitar riffs and leads, epic treatments of keyboard harmonies, complex dynamics, well-ordained mood and tempo shifts, chamber-flavored piano lines, polished vocal and choral deliveries. 'Crystalline Dream' is pure punchy prog metal structured in a reasonable complex pace, and surely one of the most remembered songs from the album. Later on 'Deeper than Life' will go for a similar mood although leaning more on the metallic side of prog metal. Sandwiched between the two are 'Don't Ever Cry, Just Remember' and 'Warcry', two particular pinnacles of SG songwriting. The former is a hauntingly beautiful power ballad full of eerie piano chords, dreamy backgrounds of synth and string arrangements, even a Moody Blues-like flute solo right before the solemn, carefully orchestrated multi-layered guitar lead. The latter brings more of the epic feel that had been so flamboyant in the opener, only this time being more focused: the song includes a good deal of Gothic- inspired textures in the choral arrangements and the final keyboard layers that assume the leading role for the final minute. Simply irresistable these two tracks are. The fact that almost all these songs are linked in a continuum due to the use of brief segues (written and arranged by the never-shy newcomer Gary Wehrkamp) helps the album to go beyond the grandiosity of each individual track and make it grandiose as a whole. 'Celtic Princess' is not a segue, properly, but a deliciously Wakemanesque piano solo at unison with acoustic guitar as a mirrored complement. This makes it a convenient bridge of classicist relaxation between the epic fade-out of 'Warcry' and the in-your-face opening section of 'Deeper than Life'. 'Alaska' is the acoustic ballad, bringing shades of Jon Anderson's bucolic feel, Pink Floyd's calmer side and Genesis' acoustic facet to a song that goes beyond the mere melodic approach of your current acoustic guitar-based ballad. The controlled tasteful piano flourishes, synh layers and the pastoral flute solo serve as great ornaments. 'Ghostship' is the album's ultimate gem, an exciting tour-de-force that finds the band exploring their usual domains of prog metal and symphonic prog, adding psychedelic and space-rock textures in places, plus a majestic piano solo sandwiched between the suite's heavier instrumental section and the solemn last part. The various moods and motifs make perfect sense with the storyline delivered in the lyrics. The album does not end here, but with the last segue (actually, the epilogue), a very symphonic treat full of candid feelings that flow through the track's patently epic structure. My only two complaints are: the sound production doesn't take full advantage of the band's sonic potential; the two members of the rhythm duo don't complement each other 100 %, despite the fact that Soffera is an undisputed terrific drummer (his style would make more sense in a band like Pain of Salvation or Fates Warning than on this bombastic SG). Nevertheless, Carved in Stone is an excellent item in any good symphonic prog collection: it also works as a hint of the maturity incarnated in SG's style, soon to be reinforced in the follow-up album Tyranny.

"Carved In Stone" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US progressive metal act Shadow Gallery. The album was released through Magna Carta Records in June 1995. It´s the successor to the eponymously titled debut album from 1992. There have been a couple of lineup changes since the debut album as Kevin Soffera (drums) and Gary Wehrkamp (piano, guitar, synthesizer, backing vocals) have been added to the lineup, making Shadow Gallery a sextet on "Carved In Stone".

While the debut album certainly had its fair share of quality moments, intriguing songwriting ideas, and high level musicianship, it was still a bit of a mixed bag in terms of consistent songwriting, and also featured a sound production which left a bit to be desired. In comparison "Carved In Stone" is a much more consistent release, and all the other features have also been given a lift in quality. The sound production is more well sounding and powerful (although still not as polished as the most well produced contemporary releases), the musicianship is on a high level on all posts, and the songwriting slightly harder edged and focused. "Carved In Stone" is generally not a very hard edged progressive metal release though, and there are many parts of the album, which have more in common with progressive rock than heavy metal (the occasional use of flute is one of them).

I hear influences from artists like Queensrÿche (the vocals, the melodies, the atmosphere), Dream Theater (some of the most complex instrumental parts of the album), and Fates Warning (only a few times, but the influence is there), but also artists like Queen and various other 70s progressive rock acts. Savatage and their most Broadway musical styled tracks are also a valid reference, as Shadow Gallery often arrange their songs and vocals in a way that is similar to Broadway musical style arrangements and vocals (listen to the opening of "Don't Ever Cry, Just Remember" for proof of that). Classical music influences are also heard throughout the album (although this is not neo-classical metal in any way or form).

"Carved In Stone" features no less than 20 tracks and a total playing time of 71:03 minutes. Most of the first 12 tracks are constructed with one "regular" track followed by a shorter interlude track, before the 13th 21:56 minutes long epic track "Ghostship" kicks in. "Ghostship" is subdivided into 7 shorter tracks (although they all flow into each other to form the full "Ghostship" track), and "Carved In Stone" closes with the hidden classical influenced track "TG94 (Thanks Giving 1994)". So it can definitely be labelled a mammuth size album. Shadow Gallery produce quality all the way through the playing time of the album though, and even the hidden track is quite the treat (excluding the rather annoying first couple of minutes of silence and knocking sounds).

I wouldn´t call "Carved In Stone" a perfect release by any means and the Broadway musical influences are slightly cheesy in my book, but there´s no denying the high level musicianship and compositional skills involved in the project, and the good features of the album far outweighs the bad. The album features both the most beautiful melodies and the crazy jaw-dropping moments of technical playing that only the greatest progressive metal artists can produce and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

I pulled this one out of my collection so I could listen to it and decide if I wanted to pick up their album that was released today. I'm glad I did.

Take two parts Dream Theater, one part Kansas, add a heaping dollop of Spinal Tap, and stir. What you get is Shadow Gallery. There are some very nice tracks on this album. Particularly, the epic Ghostship has some great moments. The problem is, in between all the meat, there are big slabs of cheese. I just can't get past singer Mike Baker's pinched vocals. And a power ballad about The Rapture (TM), come on.

2.5 stars, raised up because of the epic.

I'm not buying the new CD. But if you get raptured, can I have your stereo?

I was deeply saddened last year by the tragic loss of singer Mike Baker. Gone is my hope that Shadow Gallery would one day decide to hit the roads and come to Europe to play live, so that we could have the chance to see them playing their masterpieces from both this album and Tyranny. In anticipation for their new album, I decided to review my personal favourite, and, for me, a masterpiece of progressive metal.

There are twenty tracks on this album, but only 8 songs, the last of which is the wonderful 22 minute epic, Ghostship. The rest are musical interludes that help blend all pieces into a homogenous whole. From the beginning to the end, Mike Baker's star shines. He delivers beautiful acoustic performances, he is great on the heavier stuff and the background vocals all have an LA 80s feeling. Fear not, dear reader! This is Progressive Metal at its very best, without the weaknesses that plagued the genre in the 90s. Everything at its place, no unnecessary solos, only the use of extraterrestrial music skills (by all the band, I feel uneasy about who to mention first), all complimenting the most important thing, the song composition.

Cliffhanger starts with a beautiful piano introduction that will be revisited 6 years later in the Legacy album with Cliffhanger 2 and slowly but heavily develops into a Powerful Crescendo of guitar and keyboards, with heavy rhythmic guitar setting the pace.

Crystalline Dream would have been the obvious single, that is if Shadow Gallery were a commercial music group. Heavy as much as it needs to be, very melodic at the same time, including complicated rhythm changes, which leave an impression the first time you listen, but after repeated listens blend in.

Don't ever Cry, just Remember is one of my favourite ballads ever, including a flute solo by Carl Cadden James, wonderful lyrics and, again, a spectacular performance by Mike.

The best thing about Ghostship is the haunted atmosphere that goes through the middle parts of the epic. After all, it is a song about a ghostship - it does convince, and so do Mike's vocals. Then come the solos in Ghostship e - Storm, that once again confirm that Shadow Gallery was one of the most technical - yet at all times melodic bands in the progressive metal 90s. Ghostship f - Enchantment, the piano solo, always haunts me when I get in front of my keyboard. I can never get this piece out of my mind.

Though these are the highlights of the album, all songs have something to offer and justify their place in this album.

In terms of musical skills, the band would evolve even further in the next few albums - Tyranny considered to be their finest hour. However, Carved in Stone is their earliest masterpiece and a statement in the mid 90s that Shadow Gallery are here to stay and to make our life more beautiful with their albums.

"Carved in Stone" starts off with the excellent "Cliffhanger". The song demostrates quite well what these guys are capable of technically. At 8:41, its the second longest song on the album after the epic "Ghost Ship" and is easily the best one.

We segue into "Crystalline Dream" which sets the trend for future Shadow Gallery songs with a instrument-driven melody with a catchy, sing-along type chorus. Again, we segue into the strong, melodic "Don't Ever Cry, Just Remember".

After this is a rather weak sequence of songs with "Warcry" which sounds a little disorganized (a surprise for a group of the standard of SG) and the quaint "Celtic Princess" which kind of gives me the feeling the band didn't really know what they wanted to say with the song.

It gets better from there again with "Deeper Than Life" and the soft, pleading vocals of "Alaska". "Ghost Ship", the epic closer, sounds suspiciously like several songs forced together as one long piece. It still makes a formidable package, though, and the instrumental parts are reminiscent of technicality of "Cliffhanger". Which is to say, the album leads us back to where we started and leaves us waiting impatiently for what comes next...(which, incidentally, is the amazing masterpiece "Tyranny"!)

Carved in Stone - 1996 )2.6/5) 9 ? Best Song: Storm? Taking a four year hiatus from creating, little-known pomp-prog amateurs Shadow Gallery finally came in with their second installment. I need to learn more skillfully literate transitions from one review to the next. I want to be taken seriously as an intelligent, creative critic with a notable opinion on these matters, and I try to both remain entertaining while balancing it with humor, but that [&*!#]'s hard. Carved in Stone's like the jump you take from one step to the next when you're not entirely certain of the coming landscape ? so you play it safe. 'Cliffhanger', the opening epic starts off rather enticingly, with a ripping guitar blast, but then the song chops its own balls off, metaphorically speaking, taking nearly six minutes before the jam session begins and the shredding solo duels pop in between guitar and keyboard (sound familiar?) If one thing can be said it's that they know how to play ? they're merely unsure as to why. Lacking vision is one of the major wastes of skill, these days. Another thing, probably a bad idea, but that's just me talking, is how they slap in a cheesy little moody interlude between every song, like they're stage actors for a concert play. The Battle of figar-no. Come on, that was funny! No ? no it wasn't. I hate myself. I can be random you know. I can scream PENIS! Does that make my review better? 'Carved' is a sing-song ballad, hollow and cheesy, but that was to be expected. Oh, those interludes were a terrible idea. It makes the decent normal songs seem fake and pointless. They pretty much are, at this juncture.

Crystalline Dream

This album was my introduction to Shadow Gallery. I have since listened to their other studio albums, but nothing has impressed me the way Carved In Stone did and continues to do. I should admit that I wasn't immediately overcome, but after many, many listens over a long period of time, I have become convinced that this album is indeed a masterpiece of progressive music. I wholly enjoy every second of the hour long running time.

Compared to later albums by the band (as well as to other bands in the Prog Metal category), Carved In Stone is less Metal and more Symphonic Prog. As such, I'm certain that this album would appeal to a broader audience than many other albums in the subgenre. The well-known American Symphonic Prog act Kansas (one of my favourite bands of all time) seems to have been a major source of inspiration for Shadow Gallery at this point as it was for Dream Theater. But Carved In Stone is even more Symphonic Prog than the latter's classic Images And Words album.

The lead vocals readily bring Queensryche's Geoff Tate to mind and they are strong throughout, but there are also some wonderful almost Beatles-esque harmony vocals. The many piano parts are in the style of Rick Wakeman, but the other keyboards as well as the lead guitar sound is more Neo-Prog-like. Early Arena comes to mind, especially since the longer pieces are connected by shorter bridges just as they were on Arena's two first albums (of which the debut Songs From The Lion's Cage is a masterpiece). There are even some lovely flute parts and some passages are almost New-Age-like which creates a powerful counterpoint to the more intense passages.

The material is very strong and all of the full songs are melodic and memorable. Symphonic ballads like Don't Ever Cry, Just Remember and Alaska might perhaps remind some people of (the better such songs by) bands like Asia or Journey, but these are great and bring a welcome variety to the album as a whole. This is an album that is stronger than the mere sum of its parts.

Very highly recommended, not just for Prog Metal fans but for all Prog fans

'Carved in Stone' is Shadow Gallery's second album, in which the performances as a whole seem a lot tighter and polished, but the quality of the compositions don't quite surpass that of their debut. However, fans will instantly notice the improvement in production, which sounds a lot richer and "cleaner", giving the music the punch it needs, and which would go on to become the bands somewhat "signature" sound.

However, despite the improvements in production, the album is still fairly average at best. While it may contain one of Shadow Gallery's best songs ('Crystalline Dreams' is just so damn catchy!), the rest of the music can seem fairly lackluster at times. The biggest letdown has to be 'Ghost Ship', which, similar to the group's debut, is the "epic" of the album (clocking in at a total of just over 20 minutes). Broken into seven smaller parts, most of the highlights last no longer than a minute or two before going into the next section, making the whole piece feel mostly disjointed.

As for the other tracks, we have 'Cliffhanger', 'Don't Ever Cry, Just Remember', 'Warcry' and the previously mentioned 'Crystalline Dream', as well as a couple of highlights from the 'Ghost Ship' piece. These are all good songs that definitely make this album worth getting, but honestly, most of them just pale in comparison to some of the bands later material.

As per usual with Shadow Gallery, the musicianship is spectacular and Mike Baker's vocals are truly a thing of beauty. Overall though, it's just a "good" album. Nothing to write home about, but a worthy addition to the collection if it can purchased cheap enough.

An album that finally hit the music headlines not long ago!

1. CliffHanger classy and spacious intro with piano, acoustic guitar, the air rising, the plane passing and...Mike tumbling in with his recognizable voice, the enthusiasm is in order, the prog metal is there; Brent's tortured guitar with voice-over behind, the riff and rhythm calm, tenacious; the break brings us to Chris and Gary for a surge of notes; the notes flow, squirt, clash frantically, no rest; we head to the Orient with this bewitching solo; ending a little long but you have to recover from such a slap 2. Interlude #1 on the return and the piano finale for digestion before 3. Crystalline Dream which sets the air, oh no, it's bursting with a cheerful title where the most is found in the orchestral evolution; guitar solo then keyboards which turn and set fire and the riff is still there; 4. Interlude #2 as end of title or interlude to keep you glued I think 5. Don't Ever Cry, Just Remember classic piano and synth, ballad I guess, Mike uses his voice in a grand way, some backing vocals; the rhythmic bordering on symphonic rather than melodic, on SHADOW GALLERY, inimitable, airy, grandiloquent; yes a ballad with a struck drum, it's difficult to describe just grandiose 6. Interlude #3 on a SUPERTRAMP tune, yes the piano is still there, creamy, intimate, evoking the first real ending. 7. Warcry with a minute of piano before having the voice, 2 to have the chorus in a heavy tone, ah classic orchestration, I think about ELO for a while; the hard riff reminds us that their territory is above all metal with a fluid and rhythmic guitar solo; so beautiful that I struggle to find words to explain the joy of listening! 8. Celtic Princess acoustic duo piano and guitar more Andalusian than Celtic but hey an interlude howien hey 9. Deeper Than Life frank attack, melodic metal here they let go; oh, there's a great riff... again, the voice, the voices join in chorus; it's energetic; a concept album as imagined which leaves no time for rest 10. Interlude #4 as fast as a breath 11. Alaska for a more airy, crystalline ballad, more guitar arpeggio and flute; a title which denotes the power of others with a rustic air, on a ballad by Hodgson; it's sweet and it brings 12. Interlude #5 abysmal, take a whiff before diving into

- Ghostship and its 21 finally 28 minutes with the hidden room 13.The Gathering The Night Before for the second layer of this major album; magnificent for the rhythm, for the intonation, for the creative madness, for the choirs, for this enthusiasm that they secrete and especially for the solos used as catalysts; Travel as inter-galactic gear change and one of those famous bewitching soli which swells and seems to never end, a machine gun with interchangeable barrel; good spatial sound, we are well beyond that; Dead Calm shows us what it's like to be in space-time; noises, sounds from elsewhere, hold a guitar arpeggio, it's not that different; we hear Fripp's repetitive guitar; Approaching Storm shows us the approaching stellar storm, phew a bit of explanation with Mike who explains everything (in English in the text, finally in American!); the synth suddenly, or a bass like that of E5-150; Storm yes that's it we're in, the neo keyboard between a MARILLION and a HELLOWEEN, yes it goes far but it now merges with Chris and Gary who launch into an intergalactic keyboard battle, it doesn't stop, it lasts, it lasts increases, a torrent of musical lava I tell you! Well Brent gets into it, it's more heavy than prog but hey we're not complaining; the end of the tunnel arrives and Enchantment for the piano arpeggio... no way, we are in a sonata, the time has darkened, the prog and classical metal fusion has just taken place in front of you! Legend for the finale and try to bring you back to earth with the grandiose chorus exercise to guide you a little more; the outro which leads right back to the end, classic at the time.... and that's the end! - 20. Ending (TG94 or Thanks Giving 1994) - Hidden track ...yes a minute of blank and there is a knock on the door, on the window, well finally a door opens, what a memory of this knock... coming out of my speakers; the mysterious air, cinematic before its time, yes now we would say that, this crystalline, airy, ethereal sound, coming from Outro or Aldébaran, this moment to settle down, to breathe, to realize what 70 minutes can lead to our brain; a rural air, Olympian yes with these solemn trumpets, a little OLDFIELD in the background, even if it's fleeting, just dreamlike pleasure. An OMNI!