BORDERLINE

A nice surprise by this French outfit, releasing a strong album with this third effort.

There's a distinct 70's flavour to this album, although personally I have a hard time placing exact influences in this case. Some parts sound like Kansas or Rush, traces of Camel and Genesis appear as well; and even some Jethro Tull flavoured moments. But the final product here doesn't really sound like any of these acts; and I would guess their main influences may be artists so far unknown to me.

The nine compositions on this creation are all parts of a whole - one song divided into 9 parts. So basically we're talking about a tune lasting for more than one hour. The band specialize in the mix of electric and acoustic guitars, with electric piano, organ and the occasional flute adding some spice to the mix. Another key asset is changes in pace, sound and style - where the band creates effective, free flowing structures where one change has a natural flow into the next; utilizing breaks more as a dramatic effect.

A strong effort, which should appeal to many fans of 70's prog rock in general.

With "Borderline", Mirage has completed the transition from Camel clone band to their own style, albeit remaining faithful to their original inspiration as well as a host of other artists from that era. In casting a broader brush, in general they have chosen the harder rock approach than on "Tales from the Green Sofa", especially in the rhythm guitars, but they remain committed to variation even in the heaviest songs.

The first four tracks are all lengthy indulgences with plenty of tasty guitars in bluesy and jazzy tones, interspersed vocals, strong melodies, and skillful shifts from quiet to raucous and back. In general, track N is heavier than track N-1. Like the previous album, it takes numerous listens to sink in, which I am only too glad to indulge. Unlike the previous album, I am not entirely happy with the production, which seems oddly compressed and lacks the openness of "Tales..". Also the vocals seem a bit colder, which may relate to the production. These factors may help influence my assessment that the songs are just a little less appealing than I had come to expect.

With the brief "When I Play Part 1" the album shifts into a relatively mellower mood, with songs generally running shorter. At 6:19, you would expect "I Saw You" to have sufficient time to develop, but it seems half baked by comparison to what came before, perhaps because the band enjoys slow buildups which necessitate proper allotment. In fact, "The Girl with the Sun in Her Hair" and "Blue Pill" both show greater progression, especially in the song structures themselves and the creative vocal melodies. even though they are much shorter. They make me think of "Breathless" era Camel a bit, and hence the Canterbury style. "When I Play Part 2" develops the original motif and includes some excellent organ work and another aggressive guitar solo before closing out with 2 minutes of bird sounds.

I had been so anticipating this release, and it does have many merits, not the least of which is the boldness of the band, but ultimately "Borderline" has me sitting on the fence a bit more than I would like.

One thing you can´t really accuse french band Mirage of is sameness. Their so far 3 albums are quite different from each other, their sound always evolving somehow. And. alas, that does not exactly mean for the better. While Songs From The Green Sofa is a tremendous improvement over their debut, this new offer from this very interesting group somehow failed to excite me as much. It is like they want to have their own sound, whatever it takes. But I really enjoyed more their early Camel-like approach of the first two discs.

Don´t get me wrong, Borderline does have very good moments. The group is not totally removed from their past, but the new songs are leaning much more towards average jazz rock/fusion than to the symphonic/neo/jazzy mixture they were so good at. The music is a lot less melodic and takes much more time to really sink in. After repeated lsitenings I can say I liked most of what I heard, and yet it does not have real memorable tunes, if you know what I mean. I don´t have the same willingness to push the repeat button like I had when I hear A Strange Place and Songs From The Green Sofa. I can´t point my finger at what is wrong (Production? Songwriting? Arrangements?), but the guitars are heavier. the new material is less interesting, the vocals are duller and the general feeling is that the band is going to be one of those "all skills and no heart" type of jazz rock records I really don´t like.

Of all the tracks here I guess the Pink Floyd-ish Nothing Stops Me is a highlight.

Conclusion: A good, if not outstanding, CD. A bit of a letdown considering their previous works. Still. a 3 star affair. Barely.