ENDGAME

Like Wendy is one of my cherished prog bands and I treasure all there past albums , even Summer in Eden , which didn't bowl me over immediatly mainly due to the obvious fact that Bert Heinen was moving away from overt prog to poppier prog. This more accessible approach was well put together with Homeland, the previous album which I proudly reviewed here, with a number of songs having real admirable traits. It's with dread that I have resigned myself to dislike this recording. The criticism is levelled not at his new musical partner Mark-Jeroen Heek , not at the structure of the tunes themselves or the instrumentation (mellotron drenches everything) but rather at the somewhat dissonant over-aching histrionics of Bert 's vocals. He always had a passionate, moody delivery but it was somehow more impressive without the overt melancholy. Worst examples are "Subs" where the word "suberbia" is repetively annoying. Same with "Seventeen", which balances strained vocals with a lovely instrumental part that ends way too soon. My favorite and most redeeming track is "Moria" which just makes the following title track so much more appealing. Bert, I love your discography and admire your dedication but Bono or Simon Lebon you are not. So please stop trying. I guess even the great prog artists had their "Tormato" or "And then They Were Three...", so 5 great albums out of six is a worthy achievement. I await your next opus with faith. For now, only 2 ruptured dams