WHOSE DREAM?

Bun Chakeze is a talented quintet and I quite enjoyed their album, Whose Dream. By far the best aspect for me are the various guitar textures throughout- so many great tones and so many well-chosen notes. But great guitar-playing goes nowhere without a good rhythm section and other musicians to fill out the sound. However, this band goes above and beyond adequate background music. These gentlemen sound like they work well together, able to provide solid progressive music while allowing each member to shine in his time. The vocalist sounds like John Elefante of Kansas in the 1980s, which some might consider a failing, but I certainly don't. While Crossover is an apt genre label, Bun Chakeze possesses quite a few elements of both classic and modern neo-prog.

"Bun Chakeze" That opening instrumental, though brief, offers fresh and exciting music. I love the bursts of bass and guitar. It has Hispanic flavors and dynamic flourishes that warp me into Yes's Relayer.

"Whose Dream" The title track is a gentler song with ethereally masculine vocals- the initial frostiness of the track makes me think of Camel. The screaming guitar that enters is brilliant.

"Walk in Paradise" Bluesy synthesizer opens "Walk in Paradise," which leaps into more skillful guitar bits. I'm not crazy about the wild vocal explosions, but soon the music moves into a more pleasing, R.E.M.-like passage. The instrumental work consists of interplay between light piano and electric guitar- very nice.

"Handful of Rice" In "Handful of Rice," I hear a fusion of Genesis, Renaissance, and Van der Graaf Generator- somewhat theatrical, mysterious, and enticing. However, the Hispanic-sounding electric guitar runs and percussion sets it apart from all three of these bands.

"Flight of the Phoenix" Lovely acoustic guitar greets the listener in "Flight of the Phoenix." The piece gains some intensity as the rest of the band enters, and once again the lead guitar is amazing- the instrumental excursion here is like Pink Floyd on their best day. My only gripe with this song is the abruptly weak ending.

"Midnight Skies" "Midnight Skies" is a moderate song with both clean and gritty electric guitars, again evoking latter-day Pink Floyd in a number of ways.

"Long Distance Runner" This is one of those strange cases where everybody individually seems to be doing everything right, but as a whole, it just doesn't grab my attention. Sure it is a pleasant piece, but it doesn't go anywhere particularly exciting- an average song that reminds me of early Marillion during the latter half.

"The Deal" "The Deal" is the darkest piece on the album, sounding like a cross between something that belongs on Pink Floyd's The Wall (particularly with that "Run Like Hell" rhythm guitar chugging and shimmering along).

"Bun Chakeze (reprise instrumental)" The album closes with an instrumental reprise of the title track, and features riveting guitar once again.

Pink Floyd inspired beautiful ambience with polyrhthymic patterns

Bun Chakeze's new album has been a work in progress for some time and I had the privilege of listening to the earlier versions of these tracks ans now finally the album is complete. "Whose Dream" is comprised of 9 tracks of exceptional quality.

"Bun Chakeze" (instrumental) begins proceedings with a short sharp shock of prog; fast tempo, blazing guitars, hammering keyboards and frenetic drumming. A good start to the day.

"Whose Dream" is acoustic beauty, with a nice gentle vocal delivery. Lyrics are reflective; 'you're running on seas preparing to go whose dream are you dreaming,' you know it sounds like the vocal style of Pink Floyd's 'Pigs on the Wing' at least the melody, but better vocal style than Roger Waters from Joey Lugassy. The ambience of sustained key pads and wind howling effects are terrific... 'screaming and shouting outside they're wild... pitching their tents just like a child...' the lyrics are part of the emotive vibe and then the soaring guitars of Colin Tench take it to another level. A satisfactory track for certain.

"Walk In Paradise" features low droning synthesizers sounding like Gary Numan of the 80s, and a crash of cymbals herald the lead guitars, sounding a bit like Steve Howe of Yes. The synth motif is joined by Lugassy's vocals 'darkness beckons me for the time has come, there's a new horizon... angels take me where I have never been, I've been to paradise, it's not a dream...' the time sig then changes direction and a harmonious feel sets in. Gilmour like guitars chime in. An enjoyable twin guitar passage follows and innovative percussion of Cliff Deighton. The time sig shifts again and the pace quickens considerably. There is a lot of prog noodling in this section, particularly the fractured guitar riffs and fret melting lead work. It slows again to a moderate pace. A true mini epic worth a listen.

"Handful Of Rice" is next and the piano is relentless on this and the vocals come in immediately and are more up in the mix; 'With grave intent times were spent dancing on the streets..' the vocals continue, 'once the winner once the sinner but who is counting now?' When he sings 'in moments of silence' and whispers 'silence' it reminds me of Peter Hammill whispering 'waterbabies' in Van der Graf Generator. The Spanish flavour acoustics and erratic drum metrical patterns are wonderful. At times it feels like early Genesis, in fact the vocals sound as theatrical as Gabriel in places; 'With a handful of rice we open the door when we pay the price we kept the score'. It continues into an impressive instrumental section and ends on high pitched synth notes.

"Flight of the Phoenix" is a compelling track. Acoustic picking and ambient key pads opens it. I like the guitar playing in particular here, reminiscent of the intro to many metal songs of the 80s. The vocals are quieter and melancholy. I like the feel of this which does not have a time sig to latch onto but is still mesmirising with long pauses in music. An improvised style guitar break on acoustic drives it. At 2:55 the drums crash in and lifts the atmosphere. It doesn't build much from here for a while and could have done with some extra instruments to take it to the heights rather than staying on the same level. Eventually, the lead break is a good addition however, in fact the lead begins to soar and then there is a drum break and the pace goes into double time and is very quick till it suddenly ends.

"Midnight Skies" is the show piece of the album in many ways. The vocals are higher in places like Gilmour has performed in recent years. The lead break takes off and sounds beautiful like 'Comfortably Numb'. There is a quirky staccato guitar riff that grows on me. The majestic feel is echoed by lyrics about huge concepts, 'dreams of peace are shattered all around...' It sounds like Gabriel again. The synth lines are great but the guitars especially blaze away on this with a phase effect and long sustained string bends, ala Gilmour. The lyrics are intriguing: 'November 1964 rattlesnake boots at dawn by cannonballs shattering the peace.... run free as the wind under midnight skies'. The music fades and this is a definitive highlight.

"Long Distance Runner" features an infectious little guitar riff and a strong vocal; 'look at the world through hazy diamond eyes... follow the footsteps of those from the past, they'll show you the way to go'. There is a lot of vocalisations on this, non stop in places not allowing the music to breathe but its relentless pace settles with a divine synthesiser lead. There is a spacey section with Alex Foulcer's piano, Tench's echoing guitars and strong drumming from Deighton. Gary Derrick's basslines are good when we hear those synth lines that sound like whales screeching similar to Pink Floyd's "Echoes". Lugassy's storytelling vocals return with: 'A prisoner in a king's disguise, why chase the sun, a man whose life depends on the sound of a gun, now I know, I know there's no turning back, close my eyes, shut out the light, prepare to attack attack attack attack...' Gabriel is channelled again and I love it. A great track by any standards.

"The Deal" features a very Pink Floyd like guitar riff reminiscent of the chugging riff in 'Run Like Hell' or 'The Happiest days of our lives'... you know the one. It even features a helicopter effect mid way through just like on 'The Wall'. I really like this one and it pays homage to Pink Floyd in the guitar lead style too. I love that lead break sound, a huge blast of notes. The lengthy instrumental break is excellent. The vocals are estranged and echoing like a psychedelic song. The loud thunder crashes are effective and echoing scratches on guitar. One of the highlights for sure and it will definitely remind listeners of various riffs from 'The Wall', and that's not a bad thing. I like the lyrics too and the way they lock in to the various melodies; 'Seem to be confused time to fade into, the words that you say, you can't run away... Now you understand it's taken from your hand... you've had your final deal'. The final instrumental section features spacey synth and innovative guitar flourishes; a delightful wall of sound.

"Bun Chakeze Reprise (instrumental)" finishes the album. To end the album we return to the melodies of the title track. It is familiar now on my 6th listen and the album has definitely grown on me. The reprise brings the album full cycle.

In conclusion I gained a lot of enjoyment from this album, in particular the standout tracks are The Deal, Long Distance Runner, Midnight Skies, Walk In Paradise and Flight of the Phoenix. Overall the album has a solid neo prog feel with shades of symphonic and crossover prog. I can recommend this as one of the great prog albums of recent times.

Following pattern set by one old book about logic (yep, Marty's into mathematics as well), What Is the Name of This Book? by Raymond Smullyan. One of his questions is the same as his book is named. So let me ask: Whose Dream ?

As a surprising lighting from clear sky came this outfit originally from London. At first, two months ago, I didn't know anything at all about them, never heard their name. Then I had to listen their myspace samples in order to place my vote if they're Crossover Prog or not. I said yes, but I was charmed by these samples. And so I've began to be interested in them. Discovered their a little bit sad story

I won't go track-to-track, because you already could see it here. I'll just mention few tracks that particularly interests me. And that's difficult, because each of these songs has a "soul" for me.

Whose Dream is silent runner. It shows so easy to listen complex song writing. Not just one simple melody line, but more disguised one, changes of melody are common, there is more in this song than you will hear on first listening (probably). And it's not typical "grower" (the more you'll listen to it, the more will like it, as is usually with Gentle Giant album for many people), but different kind of "bird". The one that flies, without hesitation, showing how positive the world can be and how important is to dream.

And following the first question, let me answer it .- It's their dream, band member's dream, long awaited and finally fulfilled. Fortunately, it's not just pleasant from human point of view, but also musically.

And being like Pigs on the Wing ? Well, I'll alter this a little bit, it's not that simple (even I like Pigs on the Wing - great lyrically, because Pink Floyd are amongst the top bands in my perception of music, but this song beats it).

Or nice vocal harmonies in Long Distance Runner

However, I don't like beginning of Walk in Paradise at all, but since chorus (and also there are enjoyable parts later on), it's starting to be better again. I also had problems with liking The Deal at first, but it's simply one of these more difficult to "take" (for me at least), so it just takes some time to "adjust".

5(-), Pink Floyd influence is strong (in this one, or was it force?), but I like the way how it is combined with melodic and less darker elements. There is strong possibility that I'll raise my rating in future (soon), but for now, that's it.

I especially like vocals combined with guitar. But after all, Gilmour's guitar was probably Pink Floyd's most interesting thing. After lyrics (73-77 era). But I think that it's important to differ between being influenced (which is a good thing) and copying.

This album does sound very original, this is the better case.

ED|T: +0.5

The long lost record of ROGER WATERS using THIN LIZZY as his backup band! I always wondered what direction PHIL LYNOTT's music would have taken had he lived. It's too bad Roger thought he could sing. 1. Bun Chakeze (1:57) ("Argus" Moore; 5/10) 2. Whose Dream? (4:05) (Waters; a hollow imitation; 4/10) 3. Walk in Paradise (6:57) (Break down Roger's Wall, Phil! Gary! 5/10) 4. Handful of Rice (5:10) (Lynott's not himself. Must be the low budget recording equipment. 3/10 5. Flight of the Phoenix (6:20) (WISHBONE ASH?!) (Roger has one of his moments; 5/10) 6. Midnight Skies (6:25) (Phil's swan song; 6/10) 7. Long Distance Runner (6:09) (Trying to be YES or THE DECEMBERISTS on Broadway? 6/10) 8. The Deal (7:50) (And Roger's Wall comes Running LIke Hell; 6/10) 9. Bun Chakeze (reprise instrumental) (2:24) (The Boys are back in town! But which town is it? Somewhere in the Russian outback?5/10) Hollow sounding music that seems to lack roots in any particular era--certainly not the 21st century. What? You liked the music of the 80s?!!

Recorded during the heart of the drum-machine infatuation of the 1980's, then remixed during the sparse alt-rock scene of the early 1990's, Bunchakeze's self-produced progressive, melodic album oriented rock album "Whose Dream" understandably didn't generate much interest from trendy rock music labels. Disillusioned and more than a little exhausted, rather than self-release and tour to support the album, the band opted to allow it to gather dust on Colin Tench's bookshelf. Over a decade and a half later, a social visit between band members prompted the idea of resurrecting the dream for at least one final hurrah. From there, who knows what the future might hold? And so it was, that in 2010, a full quarter-century after it was originally recorded, Bunchakeze finally released their debut album.

Hmm. Does anyone know whether The Guinness World Book of Records tracks this sort of thing? Surely 25 years for an active band's debut is rather remarkable, is it not? Anyway, let's get down to what's really important. THE MUSIC!

"Whose Dream" opens and closes with short progrock pieces named after the title of the band, ("Bunchakeze" and "Bunchakeze reprise"). Although each member gets a brief moment to shine during the 1:57 opener, it is the distinctive flamenco-like flair of Colin Tench's guitar that is particularly memorable. Drummer Cliff Deighton takes advantage of his spotlight moment to let us all know that he is clearly a Rush fan with enough chops to aptly imitate his hero. Gary Derrick's intelligent bass lines will consistently impress perceptive listeners throughout the entirety of the album. Next up is the title track, "Whose Dream", a song which makes up for the opening track's absence of vocals by placing the spotlight on Joey Lugassy's smooth rich baritone.

Hmm. That comes to a total of three title tracks on a single record! (Two band name title tracks plus one album name title track.) Does anyone know whether The Guinness World Book or Records tracks this sort of thing? Sorry about that. Evidently I'm easily distracted today. Let's get back to what's really important. THE MUSIC!

Highlight tracks:

"Flight of the Phoenix" is a yearningly soulful tune, the opening section of which evokes images of 1970's era Kansas. An excellent, tastefully extended guitar solo ensues before the song transitions into "rock ballad anthem" mode for a second vocal passage. A second guitar solo section emerges, reminiscent of something we could expect to hear on a David Gilmour solo album. Unlike the "rock template" for epic ballads, there is no "jam section" at the end. Instead, the tempo picks up for a short return to a few energetic vocal lines that effectively serve as an exclamatory punctuation mark of ending to the song.

"The Deal" is a remarkable amalgam of various Pink Floyd influences. The rhythmic foundation of the song appears to have been built upon the guitar riff from Another Brick in the Wall part three, while a few keyboard lines could have been directly lifted from "Wish You Were Here". Despite the obvious stylistic imitation, it is one of the most dramatic, powerful and ultimately memorable songs on the album. The song is so full of compelling musical drama that a casual listener could be forgiven for not even noticing the absence of drums! (My apologies to Cliff if there are indeed drums on this track that I might have missed?)

In the end, the album "Whose Dream" is a product of the era in which it was originally produced. It was an age in which even high-performance, expensive personal computers were less powerful than the average person's cell-phone of today, an age in which studio time was expensive and audio was captured and played back on thick reels of physical recording tape. As such, it woudn't be fair to compare and contrast it directly to the crisp, sterling sound of today's modern prog productions, which enjoy the benefit of virtually unlimited tracks and unlimited Personal Computer studio time in which to re-mix and remaster. Given the budgetary and technologic limitations, however, this album holds up surprisingly well, allowing the vision of the original compositions and the inspiration of the original performances to convincingly emerge intact.

This didn't sound anything like I thought it would. The vocals really remind me of KANSAS which if you know my thoughts on that band you will know that this is a big negative.The music is certainly seventies inspired and well done but it's not clicking with me at all.

"Bun Chakeze" is a short intro track of bombastic instrumental music to warm us up. "Whose Dream ?" opens with strummed guitar, vocals and piano standing out. A calm with piano and atmosphere before 1 1/2 minutes. It then kicks back in with guitar and drums before 3 minutes.Vocals follow. "Walk In Paradise" opens with spacey synths before drums and some ripping guitar arrive.Vocals follow. It's more melodic 2 minutes in and the guitar is lighting it up 4 minutes in. Lots of piano to follow.

"Handful Of Rice" sounds cool with all the intricacies after 2 1/2 minutes. "Flight Of The Phoenix" features more laid back guitar as vocals join in after a minute. It kicks in around 3 1/2 minutes and the tempo picks up 6 minutes in to end it. "Midnight Skies" is fairly laid back with vocals but it does get fuller. "Long Distance Runner" is catchy. Synths lead before 2 1/2 minutes then guitar and piano. Synths are back briefly then again later at 4 minutes. "The Deal" is like a PINK FLOYD tribute song that is well done and the longest track on here as well. "Bun Chakeze (Reprise Instrumental)" is just that.

A good album but the vocals and the fact it's not clicking with me keeps me from giving this 4 stars. I've actually given this more listens that I usually do to a record i'm reviewing thinking it would grow on me but so far no dice. I'll persevere. For now 3 stars.

Bunchakeze? Bunch a' keys? Bunch of cheese? I like cheese!

Odd band name aside, what we have here is something of an interesting album. Although this debut album is just released this year, the material was originally recorded back in the '80s by a band who desperately wanted to make music. The full story, including some information on the recent legalisation of the fabled fourth chord, can be found in the liner notes.

Listening to this album, I think the most unfortunate thing is that the band never did release this album until this day. The record labels weren't interested and so for the last 20+ years, the band members moved on to other pastures, most of them not staying involved with music. Which is a shame, because based on what exists on this disc, those 20+ years could have yielded some great music.

When listening to this album, it's easy to cite the Floyd reference - most obvious in the guitar work - but to me what is most striking about the playing of the band is their more upbeat, staccato sections - the middle of "A Handful of Rice" being the best example and the reason it is my favorite track off the album.

As I mentioned, the band has some obvious Pink Floyd references, that to me exist mostly in the guitar playing. Flight of the Phoenix is a great example of this, as is The Deal (which features guitar that resembles the riff from Run Like Hell of The Wall). And while these tracks don't sound like straight up Floyd, I feel they are the weaker ones off the albums.

The playing on this album is rather light, with a lot of acoustic guitars, which to my mind is a good thing. The drumming is interesting and melodic, the singing able in most tracks and great in a few (Whose Dream? being the best example of this). The line up is pretty standard rock fare but the entire band is very capable of playing their instruments, and their songwriting skills are stronger than expected.

Ultimately, I would describe this as an album that came along too late. On it's own, it has a great sound that I truly enjoy - but the feeling that perhaps these guys could have gone so much farther with more experience just doesn't leave me as I listen to this. Unfortunately, the timing wasn't right in the '80s when this was recorded, but now, with the advent of the internet, bands like this have a chance to release what the record companies won't take. And for this, I am thankful.

BunChakeze "Whose Dream?" is a strange release. Debut album,released 25 years after it was recorded. Release of the band which never had any other releases during all these 25 years. Album,containing demo-level compositions,still sounding very on the level of time they were recorded...

Nowadays ,on the wave of prog rock popularity, many of old bands just searching on their vaults for materials to be released as "legacy", many live bootlegs got their new life as official re-releases,etc. But even in that situation "Whose Dream" looks a bit strange: two versions of the same song,plus some openly raw compositions show there were not enough quality material even for only album on band's (?) shelves.

One of the reason I noticed this release at all was his brief rising up in PA Top list. Non- existing (and in fact almost never existed) band, released its old demos 25 years after they were recorded, their self-released album has not enough quality material to be completed, sound and mix quality both are on the level of 80-s,....., and so on, and so on.

It should be a serious reason, why this album was noticed and became so popular there on PA! I spent some hours searching in internet and realised that in fact there are no serious sources of information on this band/release at all. Wiki and serious blogs say us nothing, some small blogs are filled with some reviews, taken from Progarchives. At the same time there on PA bigger part of reviews are written possibly by band's friends and relatives and contains mostly advertising and 4-5* ratings. Still before I found this music for listening I was sure project manager(s) are very active business person(s).

Only now, when I got this release to listen, I was even pleasantly surprised. Usually when one see musicians hyperactivity trying to push their release (at any price), it often looks the product should be far not of the best quality. With this album I expected all possible worst variants. But in reality, even with all above mentioned problems, this album is not so bad! Music is really prog rock (ok, from the time it was recorded), there are some interesting tunes and compositions' ideas. For sure all this material sound more like demo and is hardly actual today, but at least almost all album is listen-able.

It's not easy to evaluate such release (with all that pushing up activities around it). I could hardly recommend this release even speaking purely about music because of semi-pro recording level and absolutely dated sound and material. But possibly there could be some fans searching for something ... vintage.

UK band BUNCHAKEZE was formed of the remnants of London-based outfit Odin back in the early 80's, and is one of numerous examples of bands active at that time which never got to release any material prior to folding. But as luck would have it, these guys actually recorded material, as they got free studio time in return for helping to build the studio in question. The record labels didn't find the material interesting though, and the band soon came to an end. But in 2010 their debut album appeared, some 25 years after it was made.

A few weak aspects aside this is a good album that should appeal to a wide audience. Prog purists will most likely sniff at this creation, but those merely looking for good music made in a progressive vein and who generally enjoy the gentler parts of the art rock universe should find plenty to enjoy here.

1985 and a young band Bunchakeze can't get a record deal for an album of Kansas-inspired Prog rock. 2010 and times and tastes have changed, and with the internet as the ideal promotion tool these guys made quite a buzz for these demos that were not deemed fit for release in 1985.

The recording quality and playing are quite good generally, for demos at least. Most people will enjoy there's little 80s sounds here. Everything sounds clear and natural. The music resembles Kansas quite a bit but it's less AOR. Especially the vocals will sound familiar. The songwriting quality is rather average, certainly not measuring up to Kansas, with lots of half-finished ideas and few memorable tunes. Some tracks (Flight of the Phoenix, The Deal) betray a Wall-era Floyd influence, but they are of minor importance.

I could give a flattering 3 stars for the instrumental parts but the Kansas-y balladry style of the vocals are a turn-off for me. I can imagine Kansas fans read a lot more into this. Quite frankly, I wouldn't have given them a record deal neither.

'Whose Dream?' - BunChakeze (8/10)

Here is an album with quite a unique story behind it. From the ashes of an early '80s rock group Odin of London, a handful of aspiring Brits decided to take their music in a new direction, akin to that of the classic prog rock scene that had since died down years before. Through ample determination and perseverance, the band that would call themselves BunChakeze finally started making sense of their ideas and music, finally finding an American singer by the name of Joey Lugassy to sing for them. Due to the lack of interest and energy in the prog scene during the 1980s, what transpired during those BunChakeze sessions in 1985 were kept under tight wraps- that is, until 2010. Having finally seen a revival of prog rock in more recent times, guitarist Colin Tench and company have seen fit to release their album to the public. An album that would no doubt be a cult classic to spark heated discussions among many prog afficionados now had it been released at the time of recording, BunChakeze's 'Whose Dream?' feels very much like a product of its time, but as fresh to public listeners as any other album released during the year, the album proves that such music of uncompromising integrity is indeed timeless.

Much like a fine wine, it feels as if 'Whose Dream?' has gently fermented with time. While many albums released during the earlier decades of progressive rock have now been subject to following decades of listening and critique, BunChakeze gets the charm of the 70's/80's symphonic prog scene without the familiarity, making the album a very unique case even simply based on that. Musically, we are granted a meticulous and warm stream of music that is short of an hour, delicately performed and composed. While the album and band have certainly crafted a successful possible classic out of this one however, BunChakeze's influences wear down heavily upon them.

A general criticism concerning prog is that the majority of it tends to emulate a few great artists who got their kicks out during the early '70s; Genesis, Yes, and Pink Floyd being chief among them. 'Whose Dream?' seems to take elements from these three bands (and others) and cut-and-paste different stylistic innovations of these bands into their own tapestry of music. Here, we can hear Joey Lugassy's strong (yet sometimes inconsistent) voice often sounding very close to that of Peter Gabriel's, Colin Tench's multiple guitar tones either taking a note from Hackett of Genesis, or David Gilmour of Floyd, for the lead solo sections. All of these is done very tastefully and skillfully by the band, but the fact that this sound would already be very familiar even as the 80's came about adds little to BunChakeze's credit.

Criticism of an original sound aside, the album is musically very strong; very close in structure and sound to Genesis' 'Foxtrot', and generally on par in terms of quality as well. Beginning and ending with a Spanish-tinged instrumental named after the band itself, these added parts gives the album a feeling of being a complete work, although they do feel like add-ons to the body of the work, as opposed to being an integral part of the album. Next is the title track 'Whose Dream', which is a beautiful and warm way to kick off the more complete songs, and capped off with a rocking solo from Tench.

Among the others, one of my two favourites from 'Whose Dream?' is the somewhat melancholy 'Handful Of Rice', which while taking a while to grow on me as a song, does tend to be one of the most complicated and effective compositions on the album. The other personal highlight is 'Long Distance Runner' which gets a surprisingly upbeat feeling going for it. Other tracks include 'Midnight Skies' where the bands tries their hand at storytelling through music, and 'The Deal,' which begs the Pink Floyd comparison, especially to that of 'The Wall' album.

Put simply, the album is generally very strong in its performance and writing. The production is organic, although flawed in sections as an inevitable result; at times, it feels as if the vocals are mixed too loudly over the rest of the music. Technical issues aside, 'Whose Dream?' seems to be an album that begs to be heard. After being a locked in a vault for many an unfulfilled year, 'Whose Dream?' is sure to appeal to the broader prog scene the new millennium enjoys as opposed to the '80s, and while one can certainly not expect a would-be revolution in the style, if it's solid, emotive, warm and organic symphonic progressive rock you're looking for; you'll find it here.

This album resembles a story, circling within a cycle between "Whose Dream?" theme, and flowing passionately forward as a logical musical concept. As the band started to create this material in the eighties, I think it is logical that flavors of that time are present in the sound philosophies on some level, maybe most strongly in compositional structures, delicate arrangement complexities and powerful feeling of the melodic forms, associating with some symphonic neo prog bands. However the instrumental sound style relates very strongly to older vintage analogue tones of heyday of progressive rock and psychedelic music, Thus the music has personal and interesting appearance, and fusions good elements from the past to more modern day concepts, doing something both innovative and familiar. Also the compositions are well considered, not focusing to only evident playing skills, but creation of solid album entity which is pleasant for the listener. Overall feeling is very emotional and delivering honest human presence forth, and long production time has ensured there are no filler tracks included, sonar tales flowing according fine quality line.

The album's intro carrying the group's name has loads of happy positive energies, and introduces quickly but in definite spectrum the stylistic palette and musical abilities of this group. The theme cycle and album title theme "Whose Dream?" has dreamy hopeful acoustic guitar and piano, painting really pretty and calm nocturnal ambiences. "Walk in Paradise" uses some vintage electronics, leading to waiting feeling, which are relieved by strong guitar maneuvers leading to more vividly altering compositional parts. The magical anticipation continues in "Handful of Rice", now with more concerned emotions prevailing. "Flight of The Phoenix" is one of my own favorites here, as I'm quite open to calm acoustic tunes, this one opening later with the driving of drums. "Midnight Skies" is a ballad with mighty guitar solo reminding bit Pink Floyd mid-70's days, and "Long-Distance Runner" returns to more emotional levels. "The Deal" creates tension dramatically to the conclusion of the album, where the "Whose Dream?" theme is treated in a more powerful instrumental manner.

I admit I have not listened extremely much to this kind of post-1970's symphonic-oriented progressive rock music, but one association I got from the overall sound as a Finnish listener was the group Ageness, maybe due the strong presence of feeling in the singing and also richness of musical content in slightly similar stylistic frames. From fine performers most memorable for me are the personal singer and skillful guitarist, and sympathetic keyboards reminding slightly Camel. Diversity of musical elements are merged as compact and smooth well working entity, and it is difficult to find reasons not for recommending this album for the fans of classic progressive rock music.

Imagine an album being recorded in 1985, and being released only 25 years later, in 2010. Sounds crazy? Well, this is exactly what happened with BunChakeze album Whose Dream?. The four people involved were Odin of London members Colin Tench (guitar, synthesizer and vocals), Gary Derrick (bass), Cliff Deighton (drums) and Joey Lugassy (vocals). The former three founded the band, helped build a studio in exchange for recording time and then hired the Lugassy to fill in the role of the until then missing vocalist. Studio owner Alex Foulcer fulfilled a guest role on piano.

After recording the album, the four disbanded. In 1992, they the album was remixed, but only in 2010, Colin Tench took the lead in releasing the album on CD, encouraged by Pasi Koivu, with whom he later founded Corvus Stone.

The album contains 9 tracks, which clearly show how these four men were influenced by late 1960s and early 1970s progressive rock . Music that was wanting air play and certainly of no commercial interest at the time of recording. However, times have changed again in the mean time, and this album is no misfit in the 21st century revival of progressive rock.

The opening track BunChakeze is an energetic, short instrumental with 'swirling' keyboards and matching guitar, to warm up for the rest of the album. Once this is done, the band slows down for the first part of title track Whose Dream? Keyboard and piano guide the fitting rock voice of Lugassy, in what sounds like a melancholic ballad until the guitar and drums come in to make it into a more powerful, almost marching track. The circle closes when we go back to the first line of the intro, which is also the last of the song, once again only accompanied by the piano: Whose dream are you dreaming?

Walk on Paradise then is a more guitar oriented track, although the synthesizer is quite present in the opening. Initially, this doesn't feel like paradise music at all - but when the rhythm becomes more stable and prominent, the feel becomes more positive. Briefly only though, the instrumental midsection removes the happiness again - in line with the lyrics ('I am a prisoner who lives alone, chains hanging from the walls'). After a quite heavy guitar solo the song takes a more melodramatic turn, in music as well as lyrics, as the main character is looking for a way out.

After this, the album gets to what I think are its four best tracks, starting with Handful of Rice. The music is carried by a staccato guitar riff (by some referred to as latin or hispanic, but I don't fully see that reference). This is haunting in a way, especially in the mid section where it is accompanied by a droning synth and metallic sounding drums. Near the end the track speeds up a bit, maybe signifying new hope? New hope that certainly belongs in the next track, Flight of the Phoenix, after all, a phoenix always rises from the ashes in which it perishes. This is a track that opens with wonderfully played acoustic guitar, accompanying a well performed vocal melody. It's not a happy tune, matching the darkness of the lyrics. Halfway, the electric guitar comes in and the song becomes melancholic. After a nice, melodic guitar solo, the music speeds up and when the phoenix rises, the 'Clock stops!' and so does the music.

After this, the band takes us to 19th century North America, with Midnight Skies, telling us about how the young United States dealt with the natives. On this track, which starts out with almost jazzy guitar and bass, the 1970s influences of the band really show. While the bass and guitar build a rhythm, the keyboards go into Genesis like patterns, and a Pink Floyd resembling guitar solo follows. All of this build up to the request to let the native Americans take back the prairies and run free under midnight skies....

With Long Distance Runner, the direction changes once again. With two vocals (both by Lugassy as far as I can tell), singing a sort of dialog, this track starts with a musical like feel. After this it speeds up gradually and a slightly staccato guitar seems to imply the runner is really running. The drums on this track are not continuous, in various places only fills and breaks are played, which really gives an unusual effect to the music. At the end, the piano comes in for an the music becomes a bit more. What keeps me wondering about this one is the question whether the line in the lyrics 'A Cinderella Boy becomes a Marathon Man' is a reference to Rush: they have Cinderella Man and released Power Windows including Marathon while BunChakeze were recording.

And then - it is time for The Deal, yet again a track in which the 1970s influences return. There is a guitar riff underneath this whole track that is so close to something (go hear for yourself) on Pink Floyd's The Wall that coincidence is impossible. It's not a rip off though, the track works perfectly by itself, and it may be the easiest one to get into on first listen. After this, all that's left is dessert, a short instrumental reprise of Whose Dream, which is mainly a slightly folky electric guitar tune.

I got this album almost 5 years after it was released, after missing it completely in 201o - and I'm happy to have it now. It's by no means perfect, certainly production wise a few things could be improved (hollow vocals here and there, slightly sharp drums), but given its history that is something I can live with. I really like the last four tracks (not including the far from bad Whose Dream reprise), even if they are not as original in style in 2010 or 2015 than they were in 1985 I guess. Recommended for checking out for sure - and added to the regular plays a while ago over here.

(also published on my blog - www.hulshout.nl/rfm)

Sometimes you read about a lost gem from a past decade. This album would indeed be a lost gem but as I understand it, it was never released until 2010. So if it was never taken out into public, I guess it was never lost. Just carefully stowed away until the time was right to let it flash in the sunlight.

BunChakeze formed out of the ashes of Odin of London (recorded material from the early eighties also released a few years ago and available for download). Featuring Colin Tench (guitars, keyboards), who is known more now for his work in Corvus Stone, Gary Derrick (bass), and Cliff Deighton (drums), BunChakeze (Bunch a Keys) decided to record a progressively flavoured album in a time when "prog" was considered a dirty word in older circles and not even known as a word in younger ones. With no money, the three lads managed to snag a deal with a studio that wasn't built yet: essentially, help build the studio and you get to record in it. The entire story of the band's progress is recorded most humorously in the CD booklet. With vocalist Joey Lugassy safely locked inside the studio, the band laid down its tracks.

The opening instrumental, named after the band, is a quick-paced, busy number that reminds me a little of Yezda Urfa, an American band whose music suffered a similar fate (recorded in 1976, released in 1989). A brilliant number and one that truly stands out for 1985, it is complete in its compactness but nevertheless it seems unfortunate that it wraps up in under two minutes.

Except for the final track, the rest are all songs with Lugassy's vocals. Much of the music reminds me of Genesis or Pink Floyd in parts without sounding exactly like either. I expected that there would be an eighties feel to the album but there is only just. That horrendous snare echo that can be heard on so many mid-eighties albums is not present here. It feels more like the band knew that they wanted to capture that prog sound from around '76 to '78 and stop just shy of an eighties' production sound.

Lugassy's vocals are warm and hit the notes just right. But sometimes it seems like he's holding back. Perhaps it was the studio, or perhaps because he wasn't an official member of the band but was asked to be the vocalist, I don't know. I get the impression that if the moment called for it, he could really let rip. Perhaps it's to his credit as a professional that he restrained himself in order to suit the music of BunChakeze.

A couple of my favourite songs are "Phoenix" and "Long-distance Runner". Both stretch out a little more and one can infer some of the Genesis / Pink Floyd influences with the latter also having a strong Yes-sounding opening. I can almost hear Jon Anderson's voice come in. The music gets a little close to metal near the end of "Phoenix" but basically sticks to "A Trick of the Tail" Genesis range sensibility without the theatrical and classical inclinations of early seventies Genesis. Perhaps there's more of an early Marillion feel here and there. Tench makes use of a wide range of guitar sounds and playing techniques and there are some tasteful synthesizer and pretty piano passages as well. One is surely to make the Pink Floyd connection with that "Brick in the Wall" guitar playing on "The Deal", which ends with a synthesizer part reminiscent of "Welcome to the Machine".

If there is a weaker point on the album then for me it is the track "Midnight Skies", which is about the white man's takeover of the Americas, or more precisely what is now the United States of America. I feel the message in the lyrics takes precedence over the song itself and as such I don't find the music or melody very captivating. However, the rest of the album is so well done that I feel it deserves a strong rating.

The final track, "Whose Dream? (reprise)", doesn't bear much resemblance to the original track. It's a short, upbeat instrumental with a classic prog feel that has me thinking of Gryphon or Yezda Urfa once again. The ending has almost a hint of Deep Purple or Ritchie Blackmore, a suggestion of things to come with Corvus Stone?

If there's anything missing from this album it's a full-on 5-6 minute instrumental. These guys proved that they could make exciting and engaging music in a time when it was considered passé. Record company interest, the lack of it, proved that BunChakeze were out of date for the general public. Thankfully, we can now listen to this audio gem that was never lost, but rather just never properly shared until 2010.