PUT IN PERSPECTIVE

PRIME MOVER from Finland changed into their mother tongue Swedish after this debut which is sung in English. The group doesn't exist anymore, but their keyboardist Sebastian Teir has released (as KEBU) synthesizer music influenced by Jarre and Vangelis. That said, the keyboards are not stealing the show here. The opener, and partially the album in general, is slightly more emphasized on guitars. Considering the 8-minute length, it fails to be very progressive. But the weakest link is without a doubt the vocals that sound stuffy and colourless like with someone just recovering from influenza. 'The Agenda for Instant Truth' succeeds better as a faster and catchier song. Rather thin synths resemble Marillion's early rockers such as 'Market Square Heroes', maybe the guitar work too, occasionally. A decent prog rocker, but quite outdated (80's-sounding) to be released in 2001.

'Pitiful' could have been a fine power ballad with different arrangement, but the "keyboard triggered drums" more or less ruin it. Surely a producer outside the band itself would have been useful. Definitely there's a lot of potential peeking through amateurish production, both in playing and in songwriting. 'Sunrise, Again' is a good, atmospheric song that manages in shorter length to feel proggier than the opener for instance.

The last three tracks are composed by bassist Roger Nyman (1 to 5 are by guitarist Michael Karlsson). Perhaps Nyman's songwriting is a bit more emotional and thus better. The nearly 12- minute final track 'The Experience' is clearly the strongest. It includes also great keyboard parts - and to a lesser degree nice guitar work too - and much better sound/production than the rest of the album, as well as epic excitement.

So, with a good vocalist and better overall production this promising debut could have turned out to be even a four-star album to me. My real rate is 2½ stars and I had a hard time deciding which direction to round it. Definitely this is better than mere two stars would indicate! Considering that prog as a genre was still very scarce in Finland at that time, let's round it up for all the good things in it.

Their third and final album Imperfekt (2007) is clearly the best. And by the way, KEBU's album To Jupiter and Back (2012) is warmly recommended to those who enjoy the sounds of Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis.