THE SUM OF NO EVIL

I guess i'm in the minority her but of their 10 studio albums this wouldn't make the top 5 for me. That's not such a bad thing considering all the great music they've made over the years I suppose. According to the band the music on this album was a going back to their roots, it would be more Symphonic with less Rock and Jazz sections.That may be the reason I can't get into this like I can "Adam & Eve" or "Unfold The Future", it just seems like it's lacking something that my favourite top five from them have.

"One More Time" opens with piano that is promptly blown away by a full sound. It settles quickly as vocals arrive. We get a variety of keyboards on this track from Bodin including mellotron. Of course that growly bass from Reingold is always a treat. The tempo and mood shifts throughout this 13 minute opening track.This one drags a lot for me. "Love Is The Only Answer" is the 24 1/2 minute epic. Reserved vocals and a pastoral into before it kicks in around 2 1/2 minutes. Some intricate guitar before 6 minutes as it calms down. It picks up with piano and guitar leading the way. Check out the drumming 10 minutes in with synths and chunky bass in tow. I like the guitar after 21 1/2 minutes with the organ runs. Sax ends it.

"Trading My Soul" kicks in after a minute as contrasts continue. Some mellotron and a tasteful guitar solo after 4 1/2 minutes. "The Sum Of No Reason" is my favourite. It's laid back to start until after 1 1/2 minutes.This is the heaviest section so far and it's contrasted with the lighter sections throughout this song. "Flight 999 Brimstone Air" is kind of cool after the rooster crows as we get a very GENESIS-like section, then it changes to an uptempo passage. A calm 2 minutes in then it builds, I like the drumming. "Life In Motion" has a nice heavy rhythm before 2 minutes. It's much lighter before 6 minutes then we get a dead calm 8 minutes in. Some bluesy guitar follows.

So another good album but one that seems to drag a lot for me.