TIMELOCK

Exactly 30 years ago I reviewed Timelock's debut album, 'Louise Brooks', in #17 of Feedback as well as reviewing 'SI Magazine Compilation Disc Too' in the same issue which contained their song "Touchdown", which I actually felt was better than anything on the album. Since then their history has been fairly fractured, and I could not believe it when I was sent their comeback EP 'Stay Awake' which was released in 2021, and then the following year came this their fifth album, the first since 2008. Only one of the four tracks on the EP can be found here, with the title cut now appearing on the album in a much longer and full version. Some 30 years on from the debut and founders Ruud Stoker (lead & backing vocals) and Julian Driessen (keyboards, synthesizers) are still there, but they are the only survivors from the last album, 'Buildings'.

I have always been a fan of Ruud's vocals, and the years have done nothing to deteriorate them as he still has a very clear sound indeed, but the main issue with this album is the quality of the material itself. Some songs, such as "Everlasting", just appear to meander and feel rather pointless with repeated melodies which do not seem to be getting anywhere. Looking at my review of the EP it appears I felt the same about that one and actually said I was not sure if I would be inspired enough to check out the main release, but here I am anyway. Like other Dutch neo bands from the Nineties they often played fast and loose with the prog sound, often coming much closer to melodic rock and AOR and unfortunately some of the blandness which one can get from that style is often prevalent here. There is even a 19- minute epic in "The Great Cover-Up Story" but even that is not enough to generate consistent interest and the overall result is a good album, but certainly not essential, although those into the AOR/prog crossover genre may find this more interesting than I did.

When this four-track 20-minute-long EP appeared in my inbox I did something of a doubletake, as the cogs moved in the music computer inside my head, and I recalled reviewing their debut album back in the depths of time. A quick check of TPU Vol 3 later and I can see I reviewed 'Louise Brooks' back in 1993, and this is a 2021 release. They did release some other albums back in the day but for some reason I never heard them, so this was quite a rediscovery for me. The histories of Timelock and Ywis will of course always be intertwined, and keyboard player Julian Driessen is still there (strange to think the debut Ywis album is now nearly 40 years old), and singer Ruud Stoker has been Timelock's singer throughout, but the rest of the band is new and expanded. This EP is actually a precursor for the new album, 'Sygn Yn', but only the title cut from the EP is also on the album and is here as a 'single version' of roughly half the length of what is on the album.

Timelock were always one of the more melodic Dutch neo prog outfits, and this EP shows they have moved even more in that direction, as the guitars rarely hit hard, and the focus is always on the vocals. There is a thought that this may change with the closing song 'Forgotten Words', which has some strident moments, but they tend to move in more symphonic areas, allowing Ruud to always have centre stage. They have added some backing singers to the band, which has seen them move from being a quartet to an octet with two keyboard players these days. The result is middle of the road prog, which is highly polished and enjoyable, while also being somewhat forgettable in many ways. It is pleasant while it is being played, but whether I can be inspired enough to choose to play it is another matter altogether. I would prefer more edge and pace, and while it is always nice when old proggers come back, I am not sure this has inspired me enough to check out the main release.

The duo of Hollenberg/Driessen, who led Timelock, decided to recruit a normal drummer after ''Louise Brooks''.So Rob Louwers found himself in the line-up during the process of the band's sophomore album ''The dawn''.This was recorded again at the DB Sound Studio in The Hague and eventually came out in 1994 on SI Music.

Musically there was a slight turn on Timelock's sound compared to their debut.While ''Louise Brooks'' was fiery, energetic, in your face Neo Prog with a bunch of magnificent melodies, this one sounds a lot like a blend of Neo Prog aesthetics with modern Heavy Prog stylings, much influenced by RUSH.There is a certain ALEX LIFESON influence on Hollenberg's guitar, the tracks have a typical song format and are mainly based on steady, catchy grooves with plenty of vocals and a fair amount of breaks, as the band sounds a lot like TILES or ENCHANT.Of course Hollenberg also delivers some great solos here and there with this familiar distorted Neo Prog guitar sound, but the fascinating melodies are somewhat sacrified in the sake of atmosphere and groove.Additionally the keyboards of Driessen remain inexcusably on the background, making ''The dawn'' much of a guitar-driven effort.On the other hand the ability of the band to create some memorable tracks as well as Stoker's clean and first-class vocals offer many moments of pure delight.

A step backwards for the band compared the debut's excellent and inspired material.Still ''The dawn'' is a pretty solid release of Neo/Heavy Prog, typical product of the Dutch school, and anyone after bands like TILES, ENCHANT or US act CATHEDRAL will find plenty to like in ''The dawn''.Recommended.

Timlock needed 8 years to come with a third studio release , Circle of deception from 2002 is another worthy album, but I think this time the bands wants to be more in a safe zone, the album is ok , good one but less intristing then previous one. The Saga aproach, that melodic neo prog is all over the place here, but sometimes is a bit to usual, to same as other bands. Not a track is poor or bad , but aswell not realy highligts here, for such a long time to release an album, you must come with something as solid as before if not better, but this time Timelock manage to come only with a good album , that for sure were cross almost unnoticed by many. Anyway some intristing pieces are to me , the longest one, nearly 13 min of high class neo prog Everything Except The World , with catchy and solid arrangements, if the whole album were like this track then the album was a lot diffrent one, but sadly the rest are usual stuff, not bad, but without to many pretension from the listner. I will go with 3 stars, while is a good one, the magic moments of The dawn are almost gone, living space to a more safe and explored ground by many neo prog bands before. Still pleasent to listen from time to time.

Timelock is an underrated and unfair unknown neo prg band from Holland, releasing so far 4 albums. I had hard times finding this second album named The dawn from 1994 and their third one and next album Circle of deception from 2002. Finaly after many years searching I put my hand on some copies of these albums from a friend of mine . I was very pleasent surprise and really make me think that this second album needs a much better view in prog circles, The dawn is an awesome journey in neo prog world with some fantastic arrangements not far from Saga fame. Musicianship is better and far more intristing then on many well known bands from this field, guitar and specially the keybords are killer on some tracks. A very positive vibe give me the vocalist Ruud Stoker, amazing rage and tonality of his voce keeps changing when needed and without force himself to do that jaw dropping acrobats on almost every tune. I like a lot this kind of voice for this style of music, on pieces like Emotional Target , Between Dusk And Dawn and Napoleon Bonaparte is simply said amazing, I'm realy impressed by his vocal abilities, very melancholic very gothic in tone, brilliant. I said before that Timelock sounds in places like Saga, that neo pomp prog with catchy choruses, awesome musicianship combine with intelligent progressive elements over some grreat lyrics, a thing that must be a plus for this band, because not very often I heared, specialy on a neo prog band lyrics that intrested me so much, usualy are ok and nothing more, but this time thay realy fit with the whole concept and goes hand in hand with the music like aglove, just check out the opening track Emotional target, inspired lyrics for sure. So a big 4 stars for this unknown album, yet a great surprise for me that desearve a better view. Recommended for sure.

Timelock is an interesting band from Holland that I had the opportunity to know sometime in the past two years. Although I found their songs of good quality a certain lack of overall direction on their CDs did not move me enough into writing a review. And I guess I wouldn´t bother to listen to their new stuff if my friend and PA colleague Henk (Progrules) didn´t recommend it. Since he knows my tastes fairly well I decided to take a shot.

Ok, this is not a very original stuff: simple, melodic rock with strong prog influences. What differs this new album from the previous ones is that they seem to find their style, as the CD as a whole has a very convincing sense of direction and appealing sound. And believe me, nowadays you don´t find too many albums that has strong cuts from beginning to end. I find it hard to compare them to other bands, but I guess there´s a kind of Saga feel on Buildings: like that group their tunes seem deceptively simple at the first listening while they are in fact very well craft and arranged. I specially like the guitar work of Ronald Demilt and also the very tasteful keyboards of Julian Driessen.

It´s hard to point a highlight, since most of the tracks are really precious small gems. I only wish the instrumental Ben Mundo could be longer and more well developed. The more experimental side of the group is also present on the two last tracks Moonchild and We Can Not (the Saga connection comes in mind again, but not quite).

Conclusion: very pleasant album and very promising too. If you like melodic rock with a prog twist, go for it! You won´t be disappointed. I´m looking forward to hear their next works. Not really essential on a site like PA (it would be a 5 star rating in a melodic rock one), but more than just good. 3,5 stars overall.

A total surprise this fourth release by Dutch neo band Timelock, one of my favourite underdogs through the years. Looks like I'm about the only one who reviews this band. Well, I must admit their albums are not really everywhere around in the stores, certainly not abroad. When I saw this one I bought it immediately because you never know if you get another chance. I didn't expect a fourth album actually because of the long time between their albums. You just don't know if they are using a lot of time for their next or whether they are eventually disbanded.

They're not obviously and listening to the first three songs one might say, they are still alive indeed ! Three good songs to open the album and getting me in the right mood. On the other hand I detect a lack of the energetic style of their previous album, Circle of Deception. That album was going in the direction of heavy prog almost but this album shows the softer side of Timelock. And when the album goes on it even becomes more and more obvious.

I don't know if it was a deliberate choice of Timelock to do Buildings this way or if it just turned out this way after composing each individual song. Whichever it was, it has become an almost mellow sounding album, the quality is still there and if I'm in the mood for music like this, no problem but if I would have wanted anything like Circle .. forget it, this is totally different. Because I absolutely loved the predecessor and it's style and sound, gave that one 4 stars because of that and regard this as somewhat less in those respects I will give this 3 stars. Recommended for lovers of the easier side of IQ.

Of...what a boring album.

I love a lot of prog bands of netherlands as Ayreon, No Name and Mangrove.

I bought this album after reading some reviews(¿Saga style? Maybe their worst albums)

Like For Absent Friends or Egdon Heath both neo prog bands of the netherlands this band and specially in this album tries to perform a music limited, i think ,for the intention to reach to more massive people (there is an important pop prog incorporation).

Too similar to FAF and EH with keyboards sounding as last Genesis albums.

Listening to this album i can feel that the band has good musicians and the music could have been better. But i miss originality.This could have been(and it was) another boring album of the dutch bands i referred to in the lasts paragraphs.

I knew they took to life another album this year and i hope they do in this one something different or by the other hand i think they are destined to disappear.

Sorry but only two stars

This is the third review I give on a Timelock album, in fact I have the privilege to possess all three albums, they are all jewels. The first two weren't too easy to lay hold of because the SI lable was not in operation for too long so if you didn't get certain albums in time, it was difficult in a later stage to get them. In fact this was one of the later albums distributed by SI music.

It's a very nice album but less than the debut and that's mainly because that one is really very good. This one opens with Emotional Target, a powerfull track making you want more. Next one is to quiet things down a little, but not bad at all. The third is the highlight of the album, almost an epic with a strong instrumental part at the end. Hold on is a ballad with emotional lyrics. Really beautiful. Then a couple of lesser songs come along before Hungry Eyes treats you with highly original typical neo progressive keyboards. Very good track this. Touchdown is a fast track, nice but no more than that. Comets rising is a little bit better in my opinion. And the album finishes off with a short instrumental track, nice but not too spectacular. This album is a good successor of the debut but if I compare it to the first and last of this band it's somewhat less. 3 stars (3,25).

In my review on the debut album by Ywis I described the relation with that band to this one so I will not go into that again. More important about this album is the fact that it was released at all. Because it was so many years ago before the previous one (The Dawn) did. So I was very pleased because I love this band, this band produces quality neo prog so I was hoping they had been able to do this again. I was a little bit anxious becuase The Dawn was somewhat less in my opinion than Louise Brooks (debut) but that had also to do with the fact that their debut was a very good one.

Well, this third one didn't disappoint me at all. It has in common with the debut that all songs are really worthwhile and I always appreciate this very much because it means that when you play the cd you have an all the way great listen without having to skip some poor tracks. It's the case with this album but it's hard to describe each song individually, not that they are all alike or undefinable or something but because they don't have special features to talk about. It's simply very good neo prog. The songs I can say something about are the last two. Everything except the world is a great epic, fantastic build up, starting with a vocal part and ending with great instrumental grand finale, I like those tracks. The last one is the ballad of the album, in fact Timelock hasn't made many of those in their 3 albums. It's not a real soft or quiet kind of neo prog they play, it's quite energetic by the way. It's hard to compare them with other, well known bands. Maybe with early Pendragon, but then only with some resemblance. It's actually melodic neo prog with strong song structure. This one is recommended for sure.