UNDERSTAND

Competently playing and arranging in an almost unflinching "power ballad" style, JADIS forgot about the hooks. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, except that sometimes a catchy chorus is the only aspect that endures in such a conservative genre and I'm not sure JADIS has a clue in spite of their song oriented approach. The other major issue is that the songwriting is below par. As a result even Gary Chandler's skilled guitar work is cheapened by the transparency with which it is inserted in otherwise mundane tracks to keep them on life support well beyond their useful life.

The tracks that are more consistent and integrated are the more emotionally charged "Alive Inside"; the spacey title cut, in spite of not quite live up to its ELOY-ish beginning; and the closer "Counting All the Seconds", which does succeed in amplifying a decent track with Chandler's best solo.

"Understand" is much leaner than most neo prog but lacks the oomf one might hope for under the circumstances. This is a case where a little more panache might have vaulted the album into the guilty pleasures category but, as is, it's hard to understand the appeal.