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A.C.T - Today's Report CD (album) cover

TODAY'S REPORT

A.C.T

 

Eclectic Prog

3.92 | 155 ratings

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progrules
Prog Reviewer
4 stars About a year ago I launched a topic in our forum about this special Swedish progband and asked our community if they considered A.C.T. an eclectic band. I will not go into detail about the discussion but apparently it was the right subgenre. The reason I asked it was that A.C.T. sounds a bit too common to me for this category that is known for the more complex and darker side of the prog spectrum.

This debut album by the band is a good example of what I mean. Even though the songs are interesting and at least a bit complex it also has pop features and could just as well be placed in crossover as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, I will go through the individual songs now because there are things to say about them.

The album starts with The Abandoned World, one of my very favourite tracks of all time by this band. Very catchy with great energetic drive flowing extremely well from start to finish. 4*.

Next is The Wandering and is one of their most interesting songs ever. It starts with a downright R&B part (!!??) for almost three minutes followed by a sudden switch halfway in more typical A.C.T. rocking style till the end. When I first heard this one on my mp3 player, I couldn't believe it was one and the same prog song. 3,75*.

(Strange enough on my version the 3rd song Grandpa Phone Home is absent !?)

And next, believe it or not, is exactly the same story ! Waltz with Mother Nature has the exact same build up as if the band wants to prove they could do the same thing just as easy one more time. This time the R&B part lasts for some 100 seconds again followed by the rock part. I wonder what the band is trying to prove here but at least it's original. 3,75*.

Why Bother is another very catchy song in the same style as the opening track A.C.T. is very good at these I can tell you. 4*

The title track is a bit different again with an often returning chorus and several pieces of some talking news reporter. Besides this it's another very accessible song but also with enough variation to keep it interesting. 3,75*.

Welcome is another straightforward rocking song. A.C.T. plays in a pretty heavy style but somehow it doesn't really strike me as such. Some people even call it metal but that can only make me smile. This is really many miles away from anything like metal. If it is at all, it's extremely "friendly for the ears" metal. Nice quiet part after 3:30 minutes followed by a very fine guitar solo. 4*.

Cat Eyes is more friendly poppy sounding track which is nice for the alternation. 3,5*.

The Chase gets right away back to the heavier style. Interesting to realize A.C.T. plays many songs in more or less the same style without getting boring. At least that's how I experience it. Another very good song but not outstanding which goes for almost all songs to me. Also here a great guitar solo after 4 minutes. 4*.

Personalities is a multi layered epic lasting appr. 14 minutes in total. A nice construction all in all but not really adding a new style compared to previous songs. My favourite part of this epic is Lord of Lies with funny lyrics. 4,25*.

I can only conclude here Today's Report is an excellent debut and it put the band on the music map for sure. Maybe even my very favourite A.C.T. album of all four. Four stars without hesitation.

progrules | 4/5 |

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