Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Circus - Movin' On CD (album) cover

MOVIN' ON

Circus

 

Eclectic Prog

4.23 | 160 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Sagichim
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars No synths, no guitars...no problem!!

Coming from a place with not so much interest in progressive music, circus managed to release three albums, this being their second one and regarded as their best moment, but still is quite unknown to prog lovers.Like a lot of prog albums that time, the album consists with 4 short songs on the first side and an epic on the other. Instrumentation is not ordinary but incorporate acoustic guitars and some clean electric ones too, saxophone, flute, vibraphone, drums and bass which is the one you will notice right away, the sound is deep and crispy using some distortion, reminding you of john wetton. The music is eclectic, sophisticated with some jazzy touches reminicent of van der graaf and gentle giant at times, all are done with great sensitivity, the band go from quiet calm moments to rocking parts but without using the help of keys or distorted guitars.

The first side is good overall include two very good tracks and two nice tracks, the sound is mainly acoustic fusing together all those great instruments, but has also those more aggressive parts with that huge bass. Just check out 'dawn' starting out quietly and builds up serving a great mood absolutely delicious. This is one of those albums you should check out mainly for the epic track on side two. And what a good surprise it is, the song has a very good built up and some transitions, going into psychedelic territories as well. From the start you know you're in for a treat, hearing that acoustic guitar breaks into a rocking distorted bass which breaks again, what a wonderful sound. It than keeps on going with that driving bass until it hits that first line of melody, than continuing to evolve further on into a quiet psychedelic part, with beautiful flutes and other sounds, this track maybe include some keys which are not credited or this guys can really create some noises out of what they have. Also to good mention is drummer Fritz Hauser which has that jazzy touch and doing an outstanding work, also playing the vibes. Recording is also fantastic capturing everything so clear and giving this work the treatment it should.

The band certainly knows how to write good melodies and knows how to arrange their ideas with some improvised moments, making this 22 minute epic sounding like a whole piece. In conclusion this is one of those albums you should definitely try, and has a good spot on each prog collector's shelf. Dont miss it.

Sagichim | 4/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this CIRCUS review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.