Well it had to happen in a year when I have reviewed more albums than ever before, well over 160 now I would have to get to an album I actively can't stand. Now this doesn't mean it's a bad record just I don't like it. This album comes from a young band from Padua who can clearly play there instruments really well and it's well produced, I just don't connect to it or want to hear over wrought prog albums, that are sadly influenced by all the worst Prog bands I could imagine, the top of the list being Pink Floyd obviously. I'm yet to make it through in one listen, as the first time I heard the album it took me three attempts to hear it all and while writing this review I needed an hours break between sides one and two.
This opens with Crystallized a song that begins quietly while promising to go all Muse over wrought Prog indie on us and on that front it builds until that's pretty much what it explodes out to do, then it just goes on and on for over 5 minutes.
In The Spotlight has more the feel of a bruised rocker to start with before adding some space rock elements that clash with vocals that are more like My Life Story so it ends up feeling a bit confused, or I'm simply the wrong audience for this sort of landfill, while being only one of two songs on the album really worth hearing.
Song Of The Sea sounds like Neptune wants to bludgeon us over the head with mopey indie vocals that have been auto-tuned and guitars that build and don't go anywhere, like they want to be in an eighties AOR band.
The Storm begins it's 6 minutes plus running time with rain pattering down and gentle thunder before it starts to sound like all the worst Pink Floyd tracks I can imagine, having spent the best part of the last 40 years trying to avoid listening to this sort of music, I've never taken enough Valium or Mogadon for this to grab me in anyway. If you like Floydian slow burning epic's pop a couple of Codeines and you may well like this a lot more than I do.
Leave opens like they are going to go all Dream Theatre on us at any time while reveling in the sort of torpor Roger The Yawn Water's specializes in, this sounds so much like late 70's music, in need of destroying by punk, it's almost tragic, please I want to turn it off three and a half minutes feels like thirty.
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Autumn Trees, that features special guest Durga McBroom, sounds like an 80's power ballad at the start, I almost expect bad electronic drums to come in and complete the dreadful effect, I think it sounds like they want to be the new Richard Marx or Extreme it's overblown, over wrought and I wish I had taken longer than an hours break before resuming listening to this album.
The Road I Will Cross sounds like a successful Christian rock crossover tune, at least they reign themselves in and it doesn’t go to far off the path to being a decent pop rock song at least this doesn't get me wanting to switch it off.
Resurrection is the second track to feature Durga McBroom and well as Britney might say, that don't excite me much if at all, as this slow dirge starts to crawl towards it's widescreen overblown epic crescendo of why one earth would you be making this now, just why please make it stop, or at least just let me hear the gospel bit in the middle and dump everything else, especially the widdly guitar solo that would like to think it's all Gary Moore but really isn't.
Festive Air sounds more like a wake than a festival, it quickly gets monstrously over wrought trying to make it into a monumental wide screen sound, it's episodic and seems to be about four or five songs in one.
The album closes with by far the best thing on the album Moving Tangle that feels a bit more focused as they try to be Bon Jovi making a catchy poppy prog song, yeah I'm still not buying it, but this is about the only song on here I wouldn't mind hearing again once this review is done. Sorry to the band it really is just not my sort of thing.
If you think this might be your sort of thing find out more at https://www.facebook.com/Outwaveband/ https://music.apple.com/us/artist/outwave/266775214
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