THRENODY FOR A DEAD QUEEN

I love this album.

I always look forward to new work from Comedy of Errors with great anticipation and "Threnody for a Dead Queen" does not disappoint.

We know what we're dealing with from the names of some of the tracks on this album; "The Seventh Seal", "We are such stuff as dreams are made of", "Through the veil", "Threnody for a Dead Queen", "and our little life is rounded with a sleep". Seems to me this subject (death) could/should be sad, full of grief or remorse but here, because of the music, it isn't.

Right from the first song "Summer Lies Beyond" it's atmospheric. Wonderful keyboard work and subdued lyrics before opening up allowing expansive guitar and always backed by solid keyboard, leading to surprising tones and a satisfied ending.

"The Seventh Seal" is bold and progresses seamlessly through a montage of sound, thanks to slick keyboard playing. I think we're meant to conjure up Bergman's film of the same name, I certainly did. The pace is excellent throughout while "death is stalking all around". I like this song.

The third track, "We are such stuff as dreams are made of" is a Shakespeare quote. A light, atmospheric instrumental track. Very easy to listen to and float away?.

Track 4, "Jane" is different again from what's gone before. This is a catchy number, instantly popular and memorable long after hearing the album.

"Through the Veil" is next and it's a bit special. Another relatively short instrumental. Intelligent keyboard playing a hypnotic melody which fits perfectly, like a thanksgiving.

Threnody for a Dead Queen is a worthy title track. A long, atmospheric keyboard and drum introduction with a theme that then runs the course of the whole song. The first part is almost otherworldly with its spiritual feeling. After 9 minutes it develops into a powerful full band song of acceptance, always with the original keyboard melody in the background. Listen to this song a few times.

Track 7 is another Shakespeare line "and our little life is rounded by a sleep". Lovely introduction but with a more sorrowful theme, harping back to previous tracks. This is like slipping away peacefully, it's lovely.

The album is rounded off with "Funeral dance". Almost like a medieval dance, happy and resigned. I really liked the cheering at the conclusion. It just fitted.

In summary, this is bold, taking on a difficult subject and handling it with care. It was almost transcendental. We are taken on a journey "through the veil" to an ending that is ethereal and yet somehow joyous. Well done Comedy of Errors and especially Jim Johnston for the vision to put the lyrics and music together in such an innovative way. This band just gets better and better.

The virtues of containment or more exactly of the global pandemic of 2019....until today. For what ? because this new COMEDY OF ERRORS opus was born largely thanks to Covid 19, the musicians of the Scottish group having had time to prepare the material to compose and record two discs at that time... This one displays a little less than an hour for eight titles which is very reasonable, with three pieces of more than twelve minutes each, the other five counting between three and four minutes.

Among the qualities that we must recognize in COMEDY OF ERRORS is their consistency, six albums in twelve years and no failures, not all bands can say the same. Your neighbor across the street is going to make itchy hair between your shoulder blades, and retort "no unforgettable peak", which isn't wrong either...Let's start with the beginning of this "Threnody for A Dead Queen " whose title has nothing to do with the recent disappearance of ELIZABETH II...pure chance, with "Summer Lies Beyond" and its fifteen minutes twenty-seven, the longest track of the album (10/ 10), range of evanescent keyboards (samples of strings) like a soundtrack in front of the ocean before the arrival of the guitars and the vocals, a beautiful mid tempo which is more catchy, the voice more withdrawn than on the previous discs of the group, including six strings at their best (Sam McCULLOCH & Mark SPALDING), very nice start with a long piece, what more could you ask for, maybe (even if it's always easier to say it afterwards) the best piece of COMEDY OF ERRORS, historically speaking?

Since I just named the ocean, let's continue with the second epic "The Seventh Seal", more energetic than the first title, Jim JOHNSTON who composes all the music, proves that he is an excellent keyboardist (there was no doubt allowed but he proves it much more than before), he fires all the wood, all the keys I should say, he carries the piece all by himself, embellished with a largely instrumental second half (a real delight for your ears 9/10), reminiscent of ABEL GANZ's first two albums at the dawn of the eighties and which puts the thistle in the spotlight.

A good breath before three short titles, from "We Are Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On" instrumental without drums to "Through the Veil" flooded with strings and instrumental also but with drums via "Jane" mischievous radio ballad that takes you in in the brain from the first listening, hemmed with a well brought guitar solo (8/10 for the trinome), not very progressive will say the grumpy .... Place at the third long piece of the work with the eponymous "Threnody for a Dead Queen", slightly oriental acoustic guitar in introduction accompanied by Jim's piano, an introduction which continues in an adventurous and instrumental vein, even if it turns out to be a bit repetitive at times, frankly impossible to recognize COMEDY OF ERRORS on the first eight minutes (i.e. two thirds) of the piece, surprising and exotic (not peasants!), you will only find vocals here during the last three minutes coupled with a very appropriate solo of six strings (9/10) and you will be able to recognize the mark of the Scottish formation.

The last two short tracks have their charm (8/10), the first very Vangelisian, the second takes us back to the "Prelude, Riff and Fugue" from the album "Disobey" in 2011 with the crowd applauding. Overall an excellent surprise that this album, because original, irreproachable keyboard, not very far from the new age at times even if the whole moves away from the full progressive rock to which we are accustomed.

Back for their sixth studio album release since 2010, Comedy Of Errors' stalwart lineup produces another impeccably engineered collection of smooth prog songs. I would think this album would only serve to increase the quintet's fan base.

1. "Summer Lies Beyond" (15:27) checks all the requisites for a solid if mellow NeoProg classic. I like its spaciousness and ALAN PARSONS PROJECT I Robot-era sound, but dislike some of the engineering choices that leave it feeling a bit stark and remote. Still, the final five minutes and finish may make up for any sonic deficiencies. (27/30)

2. "The Seventh Seal" (14:10) I do not like the effects used on Joe Cairney's voice. Though his Geddy Lee vocal similarities are here matched by the song's RUSH-like musical sound palette, there is also a STYX/ALAN PARSONS PROJECT syrupyness to it as well--especially the longer the song goes on. Actually, this could very well have been a cutting floor outtake from one of the BUGGLES or ART IN AMERICA albums. (26/30)

3. "We Are Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On (3:02) a pleasant, dreamy, atmospheric instrumental that suffers from some of the same engineering choices I've already noted. (It sounds like a 1980s New Age piece.) (4.375/5)

4. "Jane (Came Out of the Blue)" (4:00) Joe's voice is a little pitchy over this rather simplistic, pop-oriented construct. This is simply not up to par with modern prog song standards--more like a demo for an OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS piece. (8/10)

5. "Through the Veil" (3:33) a fairly obvious attempt at a replication of STEVEN WILSON's "Perfect Life" only left as a one-dimensional instrumental. The violin isn't even a violin! It's a sound generated from a cheap computer keyboard! (4.125/5)

6. "Threnody for a Dead Queen" (12:28) a nicely hypnotic three-minute electronic intro that reminds me a lot of something TANGERINE DREAM or TORTOISE might have done for a movie soundtrack is augmented in the fourth minute by bass and drums, propelling the main theme forward though causing no shift in direction or pacing, but then everybody seems to fade into the ether leaving only a weave of keyboard generated (sequenced?) tuned percussives mixed with space atmospherics. What strikes me as odd is that a threnody is defined as a "wailing ode, song, hymn, or poem of mourning composed and performed as a memorial to a dead person" and yet nothing in this song feels sad or funereal, and there aren't even any voices, lyrics, or singing until the tenth minute! The vocal point that joins the party in the tenth minute feels totally as if it came out of one of JON ANDERSON's spiritually-expressive solo albums. While I like the music--and song--I always find myself a bit confused as I try to match the music with the title. (22/25)

7. "And Our Little Life Is Rounded with a Sleep" (3:09) another instrumental filler. At least this one has multiple motifs worked into its three minutes--and the sound feels cleaner, better engineered. (8.6667/10)

8. "Funeral Dance" (3:09) an oddly ironic electronic attempt at an ancient/mediæval sound. It sounds okay but would never fly at a Renaissance Faire. Maybe it would work at an Emerson, Lake and Palmer tribute band competition. And, to knock it all off, this seems to have come from a performance before a live audience! Go figure! (8.25/10)

Total Time 58:58

I've not felt as engaged and attached to any previous Comedy Of Errors release as I have with this one, and yet the engineering and production choices as well as the repeated use of half-baked instrumental fillers between the epics leaves me with a sour taste. It's similar to my reaction to Andrew Marshall's WILLOWGLASS releases: I love the sounds and ideas of the songs but feel as if they could have all been further developed and polished As a matter of fact, the album as a whole feels more like three fully-worked out (but perhaps not-fully-polished) epics with a bunch of partially-realized ideas included for the expressed purpose of reaching the proper length for a CD release.

C+/3.5 stars; an enticing-sounding album of prog lite that feels under-realized and/or prematurely released, which, ultimately, I find to be rather disappointing--especially from veterans--(veterans whose skills I know to be far superior to this).

This veteran Scottish prog band has been consistently dishing out quality releases at a steady pace since kicking off their recording career with "Disobey" in 2011. All of their previous five studio albums have met with critical favour, having a clear knack for consistently attractive progressive rock, with not only first-rate musicianship but a stellar vocalist to boot in Joe Cairney. Their line-up has also been quite anchored, only recently parting ways with bassist John Fitzgerald. So, dual guitarists Mark Spalding and Sam McCulloch, drummer Bruce Levick and keyboardist/composer Jim Johnston maintain their form, simply because they excel at their craft. In fact, they have elevated their considerable skills by having the audacity to start off this new 2023 release with two consecutive mini epics, thus putting to rest any misunderstanding (or mistake, Mr. Collins!) that they can only perform less than 5-minute neo-prog hummable ditties. The title of the album is "Threnody (Elegy) for a Dead Queen", perhaps a coincidence only with the recent passing of the British monarch.

The highly atmospheric synthesized sheen that introduces the 15 minute + "Summer Lies Beyond" slams the gavel quite emphatically on that debate, a glistening sonic evolution that provides amply amounts of subtle grandeur, gradually incorporating some deft polyrhythmic drum fills, crisscrossing guitar slashes that united with Johnston's extensive ivory arsenal. Cairney settles in on the microphone, spinning his tale. The shimmering effect in the lead guitar instills beauty and elegance to the arrangement which, like any outstanding prog piece, only serves to enhance the variations of all the intertwined themes on display here. Just like the title's significance of the spring's radiant blooming process that just keeps expanding as the sun caresses that planet with its warmth, showing the road towards summer's bliss. Beautiful is the only adjective I can think of. A stunning anthemic opener.

"The Seventh Seal" surely refers to the classic Ingmar Bergman film from 1957, where the Black Plague had devastated mostly Western medieval Europe by killing millions of people, hence challenging the notion of an all- caring divinity. Naturally, this challenging piece will require slightly more vigour in its disposition, a platform for the crusading Johnston's multitude of keyboards to battle with the story line, propelled forward by athletic drums, and a riveting and uncredited bass guitar. No mistake here Mr. Rutherford, this is definitely prog! The piano work alone shows a sense of delicate composure that proves the finesse involved in composing such impactful music. The serene vocal section is, pardon the overt pun, to die for, in battle or in sickness. Does it really matter? A half an hour in, after only 2 tracks, and I am slayed by these Tartan armoured warriors.

Emotional relief comes in the form of three shorter songs, just to confuse the enemy even more with subversive camouflage, beginning with the calm instrumental "We Are Such Stuff as Dreams are Made On", literally a sonic cinema open to interpretation. Vaporous and wistful, it serves only to reset the heartbeat, after all those poor departed souls, slayed by perfidious disease. How about a little ballad, that comes out of the blue? Well, "Jane" is simple elegance, a rolling bass leading the merry troubadours along a majestic ride, enhanced by a shivering guitar flicker, this could have been a classic Strawbs song, as it does incorporate some typical British folk tendencies. The aural sandwich is consummated by another brief orchestral flutter, showcased by strings galore, sultry axe phrasings, a roaming bass curvature and a steady beat. Simply celestial. This trio of pieces work like a charm.

The title track is the third epic offered, and as befits the extravagant title, it's a brooding, somewhat sorrowful yet also hopeful elegy, a musical lament for the deceased. Crystalline rivulets of Oriental sound , authoritatively fragrant and articulate, percolating with percussives, mellotron swaths and lingering on adventurously, I thought perhaps this was a Jade Warrior outtake. When one least expects it, the swerve into song happens at the very end, as a gentle electric guitar phrasing transforms the arrangement into a more conventional symphonic construct, Joe's high-pitched vocals recalling some Closeness to an Edge and massed instrumentation that give this both luxuriance and pathos. The outro guitar rage is absolutely mesmerizing.

Two shorter tracks lock the lid on this gilded coffin. "And Our Little Life is Rounded with A Sleep" has a classical/electronic keyboard slant that would astonish any unsuspecting listener by its cinematographic audacity, a modest nap before the big slumber of "Funeral Dance", a medieval adieu that has a memorial festivity to the impending voyage to Valhalla in the case of the crusading knight (Max von Sydow) in "The Seventh Seal" or perhaps the burial vessel leading to the island of Iona, the perennial Abbey cemetery for mostly Scottish, but also Irish, Norwegian and French kings.

This is an easy choice for election into the top five prog albums of 2023.

5 Regal requiems

Comedy Of Errors known in 1988, 4 years after their debut; disbanding then restarting with Joe Cairney, Mark Spalding and Jim Johnston remaining at the helm, in a sort of Aragon, Marillion, Pendragon, Galahad, IQ, Pallas or Abel Ganz; in short, this 7th album falls into the terminology of melodic neo-prog with a melancholy tendency with proven new age detours.

'Summer Lies Beyond' intro new age, evangelistic, melancholic, slow linear tempo contemplating the sea; vocals from Joe and a towering orchestral drift on IQ and Pendragon in spades, synths and guitar on the up; intimate hovering break before the final crescendo. 'Seventh Seal' changes, more dynamic between a Magellan and an overboosted Yes, with predominance of Jim's synths; the almost orchestral second half with ethereal vocals and stratospheric guitar parts. 'We Are Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On' oriental instrumental interlude, coming from limbo, delicate and relaxing then 'Jane (Came Out of the Blue)' with its 70's love flower for the romantic pop ballad embellished with a beautiful bucolic, consensual solo then 'Through the Veil' closes this triptych with a title similar to 'We Are'; interlude with pad accompanying the mesmerizing church lament tune. 'Threnody for a Dead Queen' and the last of three long sequels for a repetitive journey in which the rhythm seems maintained at its basic momentum; oriental piano, plaintive guitar; you have to wait 5 minutes to have a fat synth that cuts the procession; the Japanese air is not far away, amazing I find Kitaro, Apsaras and Kitajima of course; end at 9 minutes? before the soaring solo guitar and Yessian religious voices. 'And Our Little Life Is Rounded with a Sleep' comes to close this lyrical flight with an enjoyable intimate climate eyeing Sigur Ros and Vangelis. 'Funeral Dance' as a second chance, Mozart, Chopin or Purcell tick the box; baroque at all costs and wink for the fans with the 'Prélude' of their first album; folkloric, bucolic and festive Olfieldian bucolic finish.

Comedy Of Errors never ceases to surprise by offering a sound full of keyboards surfing on the new age at times; a fresh and singular ambient melodic prog rock, innovative that changes from neo, more contemplative, soft and airy, bewitching.

In many ways I find it wonderfully strange that Comedy of Errors reformed and released a new album on CD in 2011, since when this has been their sixth, as to me they have always belonged to an earlier time. I am not sure exactly when they broke up, but it was before I was introduced to them in 1991/92, and still if anyone mentions their name I immediately think of the original tape version of "The Student Prince - Part 1" and Mark Colton (Credo) raving over them time and again. Since returning with the excellent 'Disobey' their line-up has been incredibly stable and there are few other bands who have managed to keep up with their output since then (a notable exception being Galahad and their offshoots), with IQ releasing just two albums during the same period, Pendragon two, and Credo just one (although I see from a FB post today that Mark and Mike Varty are in the studio).

In CofE we have the excitement and drive of a new band combined with the experience of a very old one (singer Joe Cairney and keyboard player Jim Johnstone both played on the 1985 'Ever Be The Prize' cassette while guitarist Mark Spalding joined soon afterwards). That they continue to perform exciting neo prog as if they have never been away, is simply wonderful, and yet again we have a great album displaying everything that is good about the genre, and them in particular. It opens with two epics, and another further along, so there are three songs more than 12 minutes in length while the other five are all four minutes or less. Some of these are instrumentals which allow the band to bounce along and have some fun, mostly acting as nice cleansers which give a pace and dynamic to the album. It is to the longer pieces to which fans will naturally be attracted as, like everything on the album, they are highly polished and wonderfully inviting. I don't believe Joe has ever really been given the credit for being such an amazing singer, and I am sure that if CofE had been formed in London instead of Glasgow then they would be much more of a household name. They are no longer using a second guitarist, and what we have now are the same quartet (with drummer Bruce Levick) who recorded 'Disobey', along with bassist John Fitzgerald who joined in time for the next one, 2013's 'Fanfare & Fantasy'.

This is exciting, vibrant, and if somehow you have missed out on Comedy of Errors and their albums so far then now is the time to rectify that as they continue to release wonderful works.

This is the 6th album from Scottish progressive rock band Comedy of Errors since re-forming in 2010, and follows their very strong 2022 release, The Time Machine. But this one takes a very different approach, with wonderful results. Threnody For a Dead Queen is a much more gentle, mostly instrumental, enveloping soundscape of an album, taking its time to let ambient recurrent sounds and themes slowly develop and build into richly textured musical events. They are in no hurry to get anywhere here, as the journey is the whole point, and the songs all fit together as a conceptual whole. You can tell they had a very clear concept for what the sound and feel for this album would be, and they executed it perfectly. Three long pieces (12-15 minutes each) provide the bulk of the album, with other shorter interludes and connecting pieces between. A very soothing and relaxing album, but one that is never dull, always interesting, with slow dramatic builds and beautiful soundscapes. Vocals are used sparingly, but quite effectively, such as in the final 3 minutes of title track. This is the type of album that you just need to immerse yourself in and just let it flow all around you for a richly rewarding experience. Best Tracks: Threnody for a Dead Queen, Summer Lies Beyond, The Seventh Seal, Jane. Rating: 4 stars