OUT OF THE WATER

While all of Men of Lake's full length albums are strong, Out of the Water represents the culmination of their efforts in the organ driven proto prog style. The keyboard dominated sound blended with judiciously used electric guitar reached its peak here, and the vocals for the most part shatter the Peter Hammill comparisons with their warmth and dedication to following the strong tunes presented herein.

The best tracks are all great, so even though the filler quotient is a bit higher than I would like, the gems like the romantic and ethereal "The Day We Met" and the anthemic "The Dark Little Figure" more than make up for it. The peak of the Men of Lake career has to be "The Perception of the Wind", an epic swelling with feeling and virtuosity. The passage that immediately follows each chorus is a prog rock epiphany, with its keyboard heavy underpinnings and minimalist guitar lead to accompany it. The contributions of the rhythm section , particular the bass player, are also worthy of praise.

The album closes with an almost Celtic sounding "Ballad of the Lake". This delightful song seems as a cheerful signal to the end of the original Men of Lake sound, as the following album, "Music from the Land.." is a more modern work less reliant on the organ. It is also worthy, but if you have come to Men of Lake via comparisons to the 1970s classics, this is the album to get first.

3.5 stars.These guys don't sound anything like I thought they would. I understood them to be quite mellow and lush, instead I found this Italian band to be quite dark and aggressive at times. There is a lot of Hammond organ though in this seventies flavoured music. Maurizio Poli seems to be the man in charge as he composed all the songs, sings (English) and plays synths, organ, piano, moog and acoustic guitar. There is also a bass player, guitarist and drummer.

"Vipers (In The Bottom of The well)" opens with bass, organ and drums. Great sound. A nice heavy beat takes over as guitar plays over top. I'm thinking of the band STANDARTE at this point. Vocals come in with venom (haha). A calm after 2 minutes with some fantastic background organ and synths. The tempo picks back up 5 minutes in,then guitar ends it. Great tune. "The Day We Met" is more laid back with organ and vocals that really remind me of VIOLETA DE OUTONO. I really like this one. "The Dark Little Figure" opens with piano, bass and guitar. Vocals follow as the steady beat continues. Lots of organ and guitar in this one. Something moving about this song. "The Prodigal Father" features deep bass and vocals as drums and raw sounding guitar help out. I like the catchy chorus. Piano and organ come in as well. It turns darker after 3 minutes with some smoking guitar leading the way. The chorus is back before 6 minutes. That's four excellent songs to start us off.

"Dedicated To Saul Frances Levine And John" opens with a dark mood as keys and vocals lead the way. Synths after 1 1/2 minutes lead the way until vocals return after 3 minutes. I have a hard time getting into this one. "Strange Sleep" opens with drums and organ as faint vocals and guitar join in. A tasteful guitar solo after 2 1/2 minutes. A pleasant synth / organ soundscape follows. Those psychedelic vocals return 5 minutes in. "The Perception Of The Wand" is a feel good song with tasteful guitar and lots of synths. A great sound after 4 minutes as drums pound and waves of synths wash in. Nice bass too.This might be the best of the bunch. "The Ballad Of The Lake" is the shortest track fortunately. Oh it's pretty good, it just reminds me of east coast Folk music from Canada that's all. MEN OF LAKE do it better though.

I like this album a lot but it's just shy of being 4 stars.