INTO THE NIGHT

The third of a trilogy of albums originally intended as a solo outlet for former COLLAGE drummer Wojtek Szadkowski, SATELLITE has taken on a life of its own--and a valid place in the pantheon of Neo Prog artists. Hearing the powerful performances of former COLLAGE vocalist Robert Amirian, former COLLAGE keyboardist, Krzysiek Palczewski are always worth giving a COLLAGE/SATELLITE album a chance. This one is no exception. Interesting that it's the work of Satellite mastermind, drummer Wojtek Szadkowski, that is really the weak spot of this music. No matter, still a pretty decent album of Heavy or maybe even somewhat Neo prog.

1. "Into The Night" (6:54) (13.5/15) 2. "Dreams" (13:48) too sprawling and loosely threaded together to warrant high marks. Even the highly touted final four minutes is flawed in its drawn out simplicity. (24.5/30) 3. "Downtown Skyline" (6:16) (8.5/10) 4. "Lights" (2:15) 5. "Don't Go Away In Silence" (7:36) great melodic guitar soloing. (13.5/15) 6. "Heaven Can Wait" (9:04) a metallic opening that I'm captivated by turns into something disappointing in its simplicity and predictability. One of the poorer vocal arrangements and integrations I've ever heard from the Satellite world. Nice guitar shredding before the strummed acoustic guitar- and electric piano-based middle passage. (17/20) 7. "Forgiven And Forgotten" (6:07)

Total time 42:00

The opener, title song, "Into the Night" shows us right off the bat that this is going to be an enjoyable listen to some beautiful, powerful music. The excellent bass playing of Jarek Michalski is well worth noting, as is the guitar work of Sarhan Kubeiski (though he is no MIREK GIL). The sound production is quite a step up from the band's 2003 debut.

Album highlights: 1. "Into the Night (6:34) (9/10);" 3. "Downtown Skyline" (6:15) (8.5/10), and; 5. "Don't Walk Away In Silence" (7:40) (13.5/15).

4 stars; a good, solid album but nothing Earth-shattering to write home about.