Sylvan - Posthumous Silence. This is one of the most highly acclaimed progressive rock album of 2006, from this German band, so I decided to check it out. Mostly after hearing some samples on their web page, I was very interested. It's the band's fifth album (they actually already have a sixth album out at this date), and it's one of those concept albums, meaning that it's written like a story that unfolds through the album. Most of the time you will also find musical elements that are present in multiple places, depending on what part of the story is being told. This is a very good album. You will find a lot of elements of prog, from mellow to heavy, melodic, emotional and complex. The recording quality is excellent, as is the musicianship. I must admit though that I should probably listen to it a few more times to appreciate it fully, and follow the lyrics to better understand the story, which I did not have the opportunity to do yet.
My rating: ****½
Triumvirat - Illusions on a Double Dimple (remastered)
. I've been planning to fill a whole in my CD collection, that should be filled with my four favorite Triumvirat albums, mostly since these are now remastered, with extra tracks, all this for a fairly good price. This is one of them. Triumvirat is not as widely known as the classic prog rock bands of the 70's, but they are just as good. They are often referred to as the German counterpart of british band ELP (or Emerson, Lake and Palmer), and with reason. Jürgen Fritz is a masterful keyboard player, and I always found that Triumvirat's music was more accessible than ELP's, even though they we not as successful after all, if my information is correct. This album is like two short stories (one per "side" - remember this was originally on vinyl record). It shows that Fritz has a classical background, and the trio does deliver.My rating: ****
Triumvirat - Spartacus (remastered). Hey, there's that rat again! What a fugly cover, that is! and has absolutely nothing to do with the subject of this album either. And the writing is in neon-disco blue, while it talks about and anciant roman-era hero (fictitious, if I recall correctly). But, that's just the cover, and the content is as good as the cover is ugly. This is arguably the best work from the German band. Another concept album, but there is not a single weak track, and all holds well together. Many would say they are ELP copy-cats, but I think they stand on their own. But they do sound similar though. I really enjoyed the extra studio track, which I never heard before, as well as the extra live tracks. I'm really not a big fan of live recordings, but since I had never heard the 'rat live before, I did enjoy it. And it shows how well they played together, and how good musicians they were.
My rating: *****
Shadow Gallery - Tyranny. My first Shadow Gallery album was Room V, which I really liked. But Room V was the follow-up story to one of their previous albums, Tyranny. So I had to get it, as I also read that it was a good album. I must admit I was a little dissapointed, as I was expecting the quality I heard on Room V. But I did not. It's not a bad album though, far from it. The musical style is between metal and prog-metal, as it is not prog all the way. It is probably their second best album after Room V.
My Rating: ***½
Ayreon - Actual Fantasy Revisited (CD + DVD package)
. This is a re-recording of Ayreon's second album, Actual Fantasy. One big improvement for me is that all the drums were re-recorded with a real drummer, while the original recording used a drum machine. Again, an excellent Ayreon album, as A. A. Lucassen only is able to do. The package I bought also contains a bonus DVD with a 5.1 remixe of the entire album, a video for Stranger From Within, and a documentary on the making of the album. Very nice package I must say. Arjen is always generous on what he offers as extras for his fans, and that is very much appreciated.My rating: ****½
Spock's Beard - Beware of Darkness (special edition)
. I put this album amoung the best ones from SB, after The Light, V and Snow. The other albums all have excellent tracks on them as well, but they also have weak ones. Beware of Darkness is very strong, and has two of my all-time Beard favorites: Doorway and Waste Away. This version of the album has been remastered, but I don't know if it makes that big of a difference since I always though their albums sounded pretty good to start with. Maybe if I listened to both side by side, I would heard the difference... The extra tracks don't bring much to the album I think. They are demo versions of two track. To me, demo = unfinished versions, so why bother, mostly when there is nothing noticeably different from the finished version. If the demo was somewhat different, or completely different, it would be more interesting, but they are not. Nevertheless, one of the best SB album, which of course, I did not have on CD already...My rating: ****
