Reviews March/06

My Land / The Time is over / Self financed

4/5


My Land - A very ambitious Italian project! Tracklisting:Love in Chains; Tears don't say goodbye; Lost in the Rain; Stranger in a lonely Town; F.Baresi (the Captain); Love is something crazy; be mine tonight, Take my Heart (when you go); Pizza Mafia e Mandolino; Under the Sky; Broken Dreams (not included on the promo CD).

The My Land project started way back in 1992 in Milan (My Land, get it?). The core of the band/project is former Brunorock drummer Paolo Morbini and Journey tribute singer Guido Priori, and they are waving their banner very high here,J they are of course influenced a lot by American AOR/Hard Rock like Journey and Toto.
It is a self financed product - but nevertheless a very fine one! Of course there are several thing that only a big-money-product has. But all instruments, vocals and production and mix in general are acceptable. Sometimes the verses are often better than the choruses though and the vocal production doesn't sound like it's finished. But it allows Guido Priori to show his big potential.There are several radio friendly tunes here. "Stranger in a lonely Town" is a great track with a great chorus and a big big guitar solo in the middle - this is great. But also the instrumental tracks like "F. Baresi (The Captain)" and "Pizza mafia e Mandolino" are very good, too.
I hope that these guys will get a "real deal" in the near future - because they have a great potential and the melodies are constructed very nice. Keep playing boys!


The Tangent / A Place in the Queue / IOMCD 237

3/5


The Tangent - Swedish/British prog-project! Tracklisting:In earnest; Lost in London; DIY Surgery; GPS Culture; Follow your Leaders; The Sun in my Eyes; A Place in the Queue.

The Tangent is one of many prog-projects that has relations to Swedish band The Flower Kings - it is my idea of the prog-scene in general that it will show that they ALL are related. The list of solo and side projects by Roine Stolt, Jonas Reingold and Jaime Salazar is still growing and one of these releases is the third album of The Tangent. Guitarist Roine Stolt has left the band due his activities in way to may projects but the new man on guitar Krister Jonsson is a worthy successor. Jonsson plays with Reingold in their band Karmakanic. So now The Tangent consists the talents of Reingold on bass, Jonsson on guitar, Salazar on drums, Sam Baine on vocals/keyboards, Guy Manning on mandolin/guitar/vocals, Andy Tillison on organ/piano/synth/vocals and Theo Travis on saxophon/flute/clarinet - what a line-up!
I'm not an expert in prog - but the style of music is very similar to Flower Kings with a lot of jazzy elements and of course lots of tempo changes and excellent musicianship. But i suppose that there are a lot of "classic" eleemnts from Yes, King Crimson and genesis, too! But i have never been a big fan of those bands - but The Tangent could give me an addiction. Opening track (the 20 minutes long) "In Earnest" gives has all elements of rock, classic and jazz. The use of instruments like saxophone, flute and clarinet offers some special audio joy that fits the style really well. "A place in the Queue" is not really a concept album but each song ddeals with the idea that our place in society is similar to a queue where everybody lines up - and all 7 tracks (of 79 minutes in all) deals with that subject.
A song that stands out the odd "The Sun In My Eyes" which is described as prog-disco! But you haven't heard The Tangent before you have enjoyed all 25+ minutes of the title track, excellent.
I have never been a big fan of prog in general - but The Tangent is excellent, very enjoyable.


UFO / Showtime / SPV 99562 2CD

4/5


UFO - The ole' band back in live action! Tracklisting Disc1:Mother Mary; When Daylight goes to Town; Let it roll; I'm a Loser; This Kids; The wild One; Fighting Man; Only you can rock me; Baby Blue; Mr. Freeze.
Tracklisting Disc2:Love to love; Too hot to handle; Lights out; Rock Bottom; Doctor Doctor; Shoot shoot.

UFO have been operating with their strongest line-up in years since the release of their 2004 studio album, "You Are Here". The three original band members, Phil Mogg (vocals), Pete Way (bass) and Paul Raymond (keyboards), were joined by Jason Bonham just over a year ago and is rounded off by the exceptional American guitarist, Vinnie Moore who gives the music a touch of class with his elements of rock, progressive, blues and fusion.
UFO’s success story began in 1969, when Phil Mogg and Pete Way formed the band in England. They borrowed their name from a legendary London music club, impressed audiences with their unmistakable style even in the early Seventies and proved with their albums "UFO 1", "Flying" and "UFO Live" that they had their finger on the pulse of their rapidly growing fan community. "Phenomenon" (1974), "Force It" (1975) and "No Heavy Pettin’" (1976), which arrived in succession, marked their international breakthrough. 1979 saw the arrival of their live recording, "Strangers In The Night", referred to as one of the best live albums by experts, and one of the best-selling live cuts of all time.
Following years with changing line-ups, the band returned to the top in autumn 1993 with their comeback recording, "Walk On Water", and have been among the strongest live acts world-wide ever since, releasing two more awesome studio offerings in "Covenant" (2000) and "Sharks" (2002). The current line-up consisting of Mogg, Way, Raymond, Bonham & Moore released their most recent cut, "You Are Here", in 2004, voted among the ten best albums ever by the British music magazine, Classic Rock.
And with such a history behind the band - this double package is filled with well-known tunes. I almost forgot how well structured tracks like "Doctor Doctor", "Rock Bottom" and "Only you can rock me" are! So if you are missing a Best of-album with the current line up by UFO - this is definitely the album for you. I know i did!


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