THE ALL EUROPEAN HERO

I have listened to another two or three albums from them but I can't remember which (that actually says a lot on how I feel about the band but also on the quality of the music itself, I'm afraid) but this one I am sure of because of the sleeve. Your average neo-prog from the 90's with lenghty tracks, smooth instyrumental passage, but nothing you will really want to admit in public that youy actually listen to this.

Don't get me wrong for this is "probably fine" neo prog but that is the problem with me : it is just fine neo prog and it does not do much for me.

GALLEON's fifth CD offers the same melodic neo-progressive rock that you are used to hear from GALLEON. They have been around for quiet a long time now and have become an institution in the Swedish prog rock scene. The band was started back in 1985 in the neo-progressive wave. Their music is competent and have reminiscences to bands such as GENESIS, MANTICORE, MARILLION, PENDRAGON and RUSH.

When you buy a GALLEON CD you know what you get, and that is both of good and bad. All in all, this album is a good album in the genre melodic neo-progressive rock. So if you're into this kind of music, GALLEON may be worth checking out.

This Galleon album is one of my favorite actually. Although, the general consensus is that this is one of Galleon's worst efforts. Galleon sound is never complicated neo prog, and that can be a good thing. They stick to what they know best and do not experiment much in their sound. Let other band do the difficult and risky things. Galleon plays it save. About the album: It is sort of semi concept album. The songs on this album are much more connected with each other than in previous albums like, for example King of Aragon and Heritage and Visions. Personally, I dig more coherent albums, because it puts you in a mood that lasts longer, so the experience of the music is more intense. The down side of concept albums is that when you do not like it, the whole album is not worth listening. But because I like this semi-concept album, I give it 4 stars. I do not think it is an essential piece of music, but I do want to emphasize my preference towards this Galleon album over others the Swedish neo prog band released.

Among the various commitments Galleon had back in their most prolific period during mid-90's they also worked on a proect initially entitled ''Divina comeda''.This work was eventually prepared in 1996,the title changed to ''The All European Hero'' and Galleon released it on VF Produktion,the same album was re-released by Progress Records (as all of the early Galleon back-catalogue) in 2001.

Finally the band had established a very challenging, grandiose but mostly very tight style, throwing among their strong MARILLION and RUSH influences some good PINK FLOYD hints, remaining fairly accesible but also quite intricate at the same time.Galleon mix the symphonic grandieur with the catchy Neo Prog aesthetics in alternating inspired choruses and atmospheric passages with nice vocal work around.The usual MARILLION-esque keyboard flashes change radical into more evident FLOYD-ian smooth piano passages, while the symphonic influence is more prominent in lots of dreamy instrumental soundscapes among the more straight moments of the album.The long tracks feature excellent arrangements and it is really remarkable the way the band shifts from the complicated ideas to the easy-listening tunes.

The talent was always there and finally Galleon transmitted it into an almost world-class Neo Prog album.This is quite a definition of great Neo/Symphonic Prog in the vein of CLIFFHANGER, FLAMBOROUGH HEAD or COLLAGE, absolutely satisfying and certainly highly recommended.

I really have a soft spot for this band but this is my least favourite album from them. I'm not sure what happened to the guitar on this one, but synths, vocals and drums dominate. Lots of calm passages on this one.They thank ANEKDOTEN, FLOWER KINGS and MANTICORE in the liner notes "For making the Swedish art-scene so...Swedish."

"The All European Intro" hits the ground running with a synth/drum melody. It stops as we hear some samples 2 minutes in followed by gentle piano. Reserved vocals before 3 minutes. A full sound 4 minutes in. I like the calm with atmosphere 7 minutes in as we get waves of synths. Great section. It kicks back in with drums and synths to end it. "Trafalger Square" continues with the drums and synths. Vocals after 1 1/2 minutes. This is such a feel good passage.I'm reminded of RUSH as the synths come back in around 4 minutes. A calm with lots of atmosphere 5 1/2 minutes in to end it. "The Russian Ice Princess" opens with piano and almost spoken vocals. Some actual heaviness 1 1/2 minutes in as piano continues.The heaviness leaves before 3 minutes. Passionate vocals a minute later. Solo piano 5 minutes in to end it.

"Jack's Slumber Party" is a mellow track with piano and vocals leading the way. Tasteful guitar 3 1/2 minutes in. "Paternity Suite" is another laid back song with vocals,drums and synths standing out. The tempo picks up as the synths get crazyy. Nice bass lines before 5 minutes. "Seeking Knowledge" opens with strummed guitar and reserved vocals as drums follow. I like the guitar after 2 1/2 minutes. The song is getting better as it plays out. The acoustic guitar 5 minutes in sounds great. "European Anthem" is an instrumental but some brief vocals come in with piano to end it. Some prominant bass in this one after 4 1/2 minutes when the sound gets fuller. Before that solo piano then synths dominate. "Repent" is an uptempo track that is a welcomed change. This reminds me of mid-eighties RUSH.

Good album but that's all.

When I saw the rating for this album and read some of the reviews I couldn't supress a sarcastic smile I'm afraid. Here we have another extremely fine sounding neo progressive album that gets critisized just because it isn't special or original enough. Hmmmm ....

Okay, maybe it's not really groundbreaking in this subgenre let alone for prog in general but where is the appreciation for a great piece of music ?? Not here on PA I have to say with exception of a review of one of our guests. All European Hero is simply an excellent neo album, as far as I'm concerned they don't get much better. Some of the passages are very accessible, true, but that doesn't make it inferior music to me. Especially the opening intro track and the instrumental anthem track are superb pieces of melodic music with brilliant compositional elements.

Maybe there has been little appreciation for this album on our site so far but at least the band will get it from me. For me this release could be their best ever with some competition from King of Aragon, From Land to Ocean and Engines of Creation. Ok, the other songs aren't as magnificent as the mentioned stand out tracks but they are at least very good. So I can only give this album a high rating. Not a masterpiece, let's not get carried away but a wonderful neo album in my opinion. Maybe I'm from another planet ..........

Galleon is no doubt one of my fav bands ever and probably in my top 3 best neo prog bands. I simply love this band and I have a soft spot for each album they got, specially those released in the '90s. The all european hero from 1996 continues the neo prog tradition we get use from previous albums , but this time this album is concentrated more on keyboards and vocals, the guitar parts are left little bit behind. Not bad at all, what we have here is long pieces with lush instrumental harmonies, beautiful vocal arrangements and some superb keyboards. This is definetly the kind of neo prog I like, they have that something that other bands from this genre doesn't have. All pieces stands as great with a plus on opening track The All European intro , Traffalgar Square and the excellent lenghty instrumental European Anthem. All in all a very worthy neo prog album, at least for me, I'm a fan of the band for years and with each listning I discover new and enjoyble arrangements. Among the best Galleon albums for sure. Love this band, greta cover art. 4 stars easy.