HOME IN THE UNIVERSE

Corey & Maple are a Finnish partnership of Teijo Tikkanen and Tero Mikkonen. They do not label their music as progressive rock per se, but their goal is to make music without borders, taking influences from various directions. I think this album fits pretty well to Crossover Prog (well, I was the one who suggested the inclusion of this artist anyway). The slow instrumental opener 'Two But Not Two' is a great pleasure if you enjoy Pink Floyd -influenced, spacey and relaxed sound. Fits very nicely together with the space-themed cover art! 'Merry-Go-Round', 'Action Is the Magic Word' and 'Messenger' are vocal tracks, more earthly and the latter two even with a gritty blues-rock flavour. The unspectacular vocals are slightly raspy, perhaps a bit closer to Chris Rea than David Gilmour.

At this point this album may raise some disappoinments as the opener is so gorgeous. 'Root' is another instrumental, this time faster and more fusion-like instead of spaceyness. Keyboards and electric guitars shine in the lead roles. 'Secret City' has a funky rhythm and programmed sound. Also vocals arrive. Not my cup of coffee, but some nice keyboard/guitar playing and an instrumental tail make it better than its first moments. 'Shadowed' starts as a very programmed track too, with murky, treated vocals. But hey, it happily variates the sound again for the better. Electronica / Techno / Chill- Out flavours continue, and the Pink Floyd -type of spacey sound make a nice return on the instrumental 'Be the Change You Wish to See'. Indeed, these highlights wouldn't much pale compared to some latter-day Pink Floyd. Unfortunately they are only a minority. 'Trial and Error' is again a fast rock'n'roll song.

Instrumental 'Questions of a Stargazer' is on the high level of the opener and features cool trumpeting by Antero Priha. This slow, jazzy track has an urban, late night atmosphere. And finally the slow and dreamy title track gives more of that warm, spacey sound I'm so fond of. For the dual nature of this album it's likely that very few will enjoy all of it. But the highlights - ie. instrumentals, more or less - are really enjoyable. The production is highly professional too. 3½ stars rounded down because of too many uninteresting songs.