SPLENDOR SOLIS

A lot of rock and a dusting of prog, THE TEA PARTY are a perfect fit for Crossover Prog. This, their second album (but first widely available release), showcases their sound. Blues-based rock tinged with acoustic tendencies a la LED ZEPPELIN III or any number of folky '70s bands is your starting point, but I would point out that you can hear grunge influences, particularly in some of the guitar and vocal phrasing. The Middle Eastern references people associate with THE TEA PARTY are almost absent here. If this is your cup of tea, read on.

Splendor Solis is organised around a solid centre of excellent material: the first five songs are well crafted, powerful and fit together very satisfyingly. 'The River' is a snappy opener, while 'Midsummer Day' is an improvement on the version recorded for their debut. The drama peaks on 'A Certain Slant of Light', which is carried by an outstanding vocal performance laid on a strong rhythm section and an excellent guitar riff. 'Save Me' is a fan favourite and about as proggy as it gets on this album.

Sadly, the second half of the album tapers off, starting with the cringeworthy and thoroughly derivative 'In My Time Of Dying' - I mean 'Sun Going Down', sorry. 'Dreams Of Reason' needed more work to make it worth over six minutes of your time. The rest of the tracks are at best inoffensive.