MEDITERRANEAN TALES (ACROSS THE WATERS)

Triumvirat might not quite clone the sound of ELP on this album - they're less prone to classical covers, emotional ballads and novelty songs, for one thing, and on top of that the band's pockets weren't deep enough to afford the array of cutting-edge, you-can't-really-tour- with-this-thing synthesisers that Keith Emerson was so fond of. Still, the line-up does undeniably bear a strong similarity to their musical heroes - you've got a percussionist, a bassist-vocalist (who appears to be trying to sound a bit like Greg Lake, except his vocal style is just a bit less powerful and a bit more pedestrian), and a showboating keyboard player who plays a mean Hammond.

Whilst I wouldn't say any of the tracks on Mediterranean Tales really matches the better ELP output, at the same time the album is certainly more consistent than many ELP discs - in particular, there's no comedy songs, Greg Lake love songs, or breezy light jazz numbers - and as a result it might appeal to those who want proggy workouts influenced by the title track from Tarkus and nothing but.