ALL RIGHTS REMOVED

I got interested of this Norwegian band after reading a positive review in which Airbag was said to sound a lot like PINK FLOYD (mainly Animals-era). Well, the comparison is very true, Pink Floyd is clearly the main influence. Unfortunately it is also true that PF is the central influence to dozens of modern bands and often those bands turn out to sound quite unoriginal, and on the long run also rather boring, if the songwriting isn't notably strong and varied. Airbag falls somewhere in-between.

So I'm finding it hard to decide whether I enjoy this album worth of four stars or would three stars be more appropriate. The sounds are very enjoyable to any PF fan, lots of lush melodies for electric guitar and keyboards, the addition of acoustic guitar, all played in mostly slow tempo and melancholic, slightly depressed atmosphere. I certainly like that kind of prog, and have liked since the age of fifteen. (BTW, DSotM is one of my albums that have suffered hugely of having heard it too much over the decades.) On the 9-minute title track I sensed some interesting Animals ('Dogs, 'Sheep') resemblance. But perhaps the 17-minute final track 'Homesick' is the clear winner as a composition.

Now the negative sides. The vocals are a bit weak, like a poor Chris Martin copy (COLDPLAY). Musically Airbag resembles not only a lot like Pink Floyd, also a lot like PORCUPINE TREE at their most middle-of-the-road Pink Floydish, ie. not at their heaviest or the most psychedelic. Nor is Pinepple Thief very far. Or even that Coldplay (which I can also listen to without pain, no problem!). The album as a whole is rather predictable, the songs differ from each other much less than on any Pink Floyd album for example. In fact emotionally they are terribly the same. I partly listened also to their third album The Greatest Show On Earth (2013) from YouTube, and judged on this rather thin evidence I believe that it unfortunately doesn't improve things, its songs were duller and less proggy than on this album.

3½ stars. I think I'll settle with three stars this time, but anyway Airbag are easily recommended to those who enjoy the slightly overheard Pink Floyd influence on modern (Neo)Prog. Prog puritans, don't bother.