PICTURE

Picture is the debut album from Kino. Kino isn´t your regular debut band though as the band consists of four more or less known prog rock musicians. According to the band Kino is not just a project for the members but a real band. Kino is made up of John Beck ( It Bites) on keyboards, John Mitchell ( Arena, The Urbane) on vocals and guitar, Chris Maitland ( Ex-Porcupine Tree) on Drums and Pete Trawavas ( Marillion, Transatlantic) on Bass. With a cast like this you would expect some high quality prog rock but even though the quality is definitely very high this is not very progressive. There are progressive tendencies in the music and a few songs that does travel in progressive territory.

The music is very commercial pop/rock with some progressive tendencies. It reminds me a bit about Jem Godfrey´s Frost but it´s not as progressive. The music has a warm sound and lots of layers of guitar and keyboards. The vocals are in focus most of the time though even though there are guitar solos and an occasional keyboard solo. The most progressive song is the first song Losers' Day Parade that with it´s 9 minutes of playing time is also the longest track on Picture. Losers' Day Parade shows what Kino is capable of and IMO it´s pretty impressive. I have always liked pop/ rock with a progressive edge and this is certainly that. The other songs are good too even though they are not as progressive or exciting as Losers' Day Parade. There are a few moments where I think the commercial pop ideas gets to be a little to much for someone like me ( Like the chorus in Leaving A Light On), but I actually enjoy almost every song on Picture. It´s a very pleasant album. In that respect it reminds me a bit about Calling All Stations by Genesis even though there is a bit more punch in Kino´s sound.

The musicianship is very good which isn´t a surprise if you know these musicians. I need to mention Chris Maitland´s drumming as it is really great here on Picture. He has a very exciting playing style and just drives the music forward.

The production is modern and full. A really good sound for this kind of music.

This is a very professional sounding album and even though this might not be my prefered style, I enjoy listening to Picture once in a while. I´ll rate Picture 3 big stars and it could just as easily have been a four had this been a bit more progressive. If you want to encourage someone to listen to prog rock this would be a good way of introducing them to the more commercial side of the genre.