THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

Neal Morse's style is recognizeable among 1000 progressive artists: here again, his typical lead vocals, a male version of Amy Grant's, collaborate with strings mellotron, with organ & Fender Rhodes parts and with elaborated drums & bass to produce dynamic and lively music reminding Gentle Giant circa 1975, Yes, Kansas for the numerous backing vocals, and obviously Transatlantic. The surprisingly omnipresent aggressive hard rock rhythmic guitar avoids the listener to conclude it is another prog album of the 70's. On the other hand, there are neither modern keyboards nor soaring electric guitars, so that the listeners who expect spacy, futuristic or atmospheric sounds will be truly disappointed: people often consider Spock's Beard as neo prog music: nothing is more false! There are many rhythmic piano parts, which give some color to the compositions. The overall music is very progressive. The music is antidepressive and just slightly introspective; it constantly & abruptly alternates between loaded & dynamic parts and mellow ones.