CD Odyssey Disc 1952: Moon Tooth

Before we get into today’s review, a quick word of love for the recently departed Dolly Parton. I’ve been a Dolly fan since I measured my years in single digits. I even had a poster of her on my wall growing up.

I have always loved her music, but as years went by I also came to love the person. In addition to being one of country music’s greatest singer-songwriters, Dolly was the personification of grace, acceptance and love. The world will be a colder place in her absence, but I like to think that somewhere out there at some metaphysical version of “Two Doors Down” she’s ‘laughin’ and drinkin’ and havin’ a party.’

Heaven should be so lucky.

Disc 1952 is…Crux

Artist: Moon Tooth

Year of Release: 2019

What’s up with the Cover? It looks like a collapsed temple of some kind, although it has fallen apart in a remarkably symmetrical manner. I ascribe this to the power of the glowing rune etched on that big stone altar.

How I Came To Know It: The usual way – I read a review and decided to check it out. I recall the reviews others did for this record were fairly effusive in their praise. Mine will be less so.

How It Stacks Up: Moon Tooth have at least three studio albums that I know of, but I only have this one, so it can’t stack up.

Ratings: 2 stars

Something can be good and just not good for you. Therein lies the mystery that is Moon Tooth’s “Crux” and the lowly two stars you see assigned above. Could this band be better than two stars? Quite possibly yes, but not for me.

For those of you not familiar with Moon Tooth, they are a progressive metal band with a sound somewhere halfway between late-era Soundgarden and late-era Rush. That’s some solid parentage from a genre perspective, and given the many kind words I’ve expressed for both those bands, you’d expect some of that love to rub off.

Some does. Starting most notably with the drumming of Ray Marte, which for me is hands-down the best part of this record. Marte is a true technician in the Neil Peart style. While he isn’t the godlike talent that Peart is, he is damned fine at his craft, dealing out complicated rhythms that account for the lion’s share of the record’s frenetic energy.

Vocalist John Carbone edges more toward the deep thrum of Chris Cornell rather than the high-pitched peal of Geddy Lee. Like Peart on the drums, any comparison with Chris Cornell on vocals is bound to come up short, and Carbone is no exception. He has good tone, and great phrasing, but he isn’t going to blow any doors off. It’s solid, but not a star on its own.

The songs are proggy, so if you want some simple thumpers in 4/4 time you are going to be disappointed. This stuff jumps around rather unpredictably. Despite all the complexity the songs are surprisingly catchy, which is always the baseline for progressive rock. At the end of the day, it has to be listenable, and “Crux” is all of that.

But despite the thoughtful composition and the solid musicianship (the guitar and bass are also first-rate), I found it all a bit boring and emotionally unengaging. Worse, it tends to have a self-consciousness that makes the songs feel overblown. In this way it had me thinking of Them Crooked Vultures (reviewed way back at Disc 750) who are similarly technically gifted but left me empty. “Crux” has a better separation of sound than TCV, but it wasn’t enough to make up for something that felt more clever than heartfelt.

Is part of the problem that my range of interest in progressive metal a bit narrow? Undoubtedly, yes. This record is well constructed, well played and worth the price of admission for Marte’s drumming alone. If you are a big fan of progressive rock or metal, you should definitely check these guys out.

But at the end of the day I did not feel the feels, which for me is a dealbreaker. The songs have plenty of dynamic range, but I couldn’t really separate one from the other, and it felt like a series of well thought out musical experiments, as likely to have me staring quizzically as drawing me into a fist-pumping moment of triumph.

So I shall bid Moon Tooth a fond farewell; a puzzle I either couldn’t solve or that didn’t inspire me to try very hard, depending on how you want to see it.

Best tracks: Musketeers, Rhythm and Roar

CD Odyssey Disc 1829: Rush

This next album is long – I wouldn’t have been ready to review it this soon except fate intervened when I forgot my access card at home. That extra commute time is just what Dr. Music ordered and…here we are.

Disc 1829 is…Clockwork Angels

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 2012

What’s up with the Cover? What time is it? Why, two tines and quadricross past the tridentulon, as anyone can plainly see!

I could explain how this clock is floating in a red storm of chaos as well, but that would make even less sense than that previous sentence.

Despite the weirdness of it all, Rush fans know exactly what time it is. 9:12. In the evening. Which is…well, if you know, you know.

How I Came To Know It: I was already a Rush fan when this came out, so this was just me buying their latest record.

How It Stacks Up: I have 19 Rush albums, which I acknowledge is a lot of Rush albums. All of them, in fact. “Clockwork Angels” is in the middle of the pack – still awesome, but only able to land at #10 due to heavy competition at the top.

Ratings: 4 stars

“Clockwork Angels” would prove to be Rush’s last studio album. For a lot of bands the last record is the final whisper of talent before the doors of time lock them in and consign them to memories of their former greatness. Not so, Rush. With “Clockwork Angels” the trio demonstrated they still had plenty left in the tank, delivering yet another great record in an already impressive discography.

The first thing I noticed about “Clockwork Angels” was the crunch. Latter-days Rush tend toward a lot of complex explorations of sound, and while it is candy for the ears, it also sometimes loses a bit of the edge that makes rock and roll…rock and roll. I should note that even when Rush isn’t biting as hard, it is still awesome (to wit: the brilliance of the very synthy “Hold Your Fire” reviewed way back at Disc 410).

For all that, the thump of “Clockwork Angels” immediately establishes itself. This record has plenty of hair tossing riffs. This being Rush, don’t expect a song to dwell on any one riff for too long though – the boys are as committed as ever as switching things up multiple times within a single song, and dozens of times across a record. But within all that frenetic brilliance, this record hits harder than most.

As ever we are treated to the expansive mind of lyricist Neil Peart, who never found an intellectual concept he wasn’t willing to dive down to the bottom of, punch through that bottom, and come back up through a bizarro world that reflected whatever he discovered in a new and creative light. Here, Peart embraces a steampunk aesthetic. Many were doing this in 2012 (steampunk was a bit of a thing for a while there) but few did it in as interesting and unique way as Peart.

His drumming is also powerful, and he embraces the low end of this record, hitting hard but as technically brilliant as ever (love it all, but on this listen “Carnies” stood out in particular). There aren’t a lot of bands that you can just sit back and enjoy just the drumming, but Rush is one of them.

Peart died early in 2020, leaving a big hole in the music world with his passing. To read my tribute to Neil, click here.

Even when singing about nerdy sci fi/alternative reality stuff, Rush always find a way to reveal their sensitive side, and my favourite entry on “Clockwork Angels” is “Wish Them Well”. The older I get, the more inclined I am to pass on pointless conflict with random idiots. Life’s just too short to waste time on altercations. Rush embraces this strategy. Sample lyric:

“People who judge without a measure of mercy
All the victims who will never learn
Even the lost ones, you can only give up on
Even the ones who make you burn

“Thank your stars you're not that way
Turn your back and walk away
Don't even pause and ask them why
Turn around and say goodbye”

I like that they take the time to say ‘goodbye’ as they walk away. Even when giving someone the snub, Rush are polite about it.

I admit that despite my love for this record, it had been a while since I put it on. Rush is a band that infuses a lot of dense musical concepts into their work, and it doesn’t lend itself to a casual listen, or a party anthem. Nevertheless, revisiting “Clockwork Angels” was a joy and an overall reminder to revisit their music more often. There’s always something new to discover and even at their heaviest, this is a band that at its core is about being thoughtful and self-examined. Chicken soup for a complicated multiverse.

Best tracks: Caravan, Carnies, Halo Effect, Seven Cities of Gold, The Wreckers, Wish Them Well

CD Odyssey Disc 1505: Blue Oyster Cult

This next entry is the last unreviewed record of my favourite band, but the first album they ever released. And so, on your feet or on your knees. Here they are, the amazing Blue…Oyster…Cult!

Disc 1505 is….  Self-Titled

Artist: Blue Oyster Cult

Year of Release: 1972

What’s up with the Cover? This cover is trippy as fuck. As a kid I would stare at it and let my mind drift on thoughts of the cosmos. Like, is this one massive expanse of one bedroom studio apartments, or is this just the same one-bedroom apartment, if you could see it connected to all of its fellow iterations across the multiverse?

Did I really contemplate the multiverse as an eight year old? I can’t remember, but it seems likely. I was a weird kid.

How I Came To Know It: I grew up with Blue Oyster Cult and they have been a fixture in my life almost as long as music itself. My older brother Virgil owned the record, and I listened to it with him. As an adult I bought it on various formats over the years, and currently own it on CD and vinyl.

How It Stacks Up: As you might expect, my Blue Oyster Cult collection goes to 11. Competition is fierce, but their self-titled effort still manages to land in 4^th place overall. Since this is my last BOC album to review, here’s the full recap:

1. Secret Treaties: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 866)
2. Fire of Unknown Origin: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 751)
3. Spectres.: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 514)
4. Self-Titled: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
5. Agents of Fortune: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 463)
6. Cultosaurus Erectus: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 206)
7. Tyranny and Mutation: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1273)
8. Mirrors: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 685)
9. Imaginos: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 838)
10. The Revolution by Night: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1159)
11. Club Ninja: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 780)

Ratings: 4 stars but almost 5

I’ve listened to Blue Oyster Cult’s 1972 debut many times, but every time I put it on, I am struck anew with just how weird it is. Weird and wonderful.

While BOC would go on to make many a stadium anthem through their career, in the early years their music was a mix of acid trip rock, prog and bar blues. Unsurprisingly, Wikipedia notes that this record peaked on the charts at #172, with no singles. It is a travesty that people didn’t understand how amazing these guys were until much later, and even then, few would become devotees willing to drill backward to see what they missed.

What they missed was some innovative music, played with precision and passion. A key element of Blue Oyster Cult is that they are first and foremost a band – a cohesive unit, where everyone brought value. Every member also contributed meaningfully to the writing, and four different members take on lead vocals at various points on the record.

In fact the most “radio friendly” (although apparently not played) song, “Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll” isn’t even sung by Eric Bloom, but by drummer Albert Bouchard. Bouchard has that less-than-perfect grimy voice that is perfect for this riff driven tune. Almost fifty years later, it also has one of the most recognizable guitar riffs in rock and roll. It is so awesome, the lyrics even come with a warning:

“Three thousand guitars they seem to cry
My ears will melt, and then my eyes.”

So, you know, listen responsibly.

The song features guitarist Buck Dharma rocking out, but his finest ever moments are captured on the bluesy and dreamlike “Then Came the Last Days of May”. The song is about a drug deal in the desert gone wrong, but the rather straightforward tale is lifted to new heights by Dharma’s incredible playing. If you ever want to know what musicians are talking about when the reverently talk about “great tone” then look no farther than this song, which is easily one of my top 5 favourite songs by BOC of all time. Probably top 3.

These are two of the more accessible tunes, but the record is full of other treasures once your ear adjusts to the weird mixture of sounds I noted earlier. “Transmaniacon MC” has the weirdest mix of groove and prog you’ll hear to start a tune, and while at its core it is bar blues, it is so dressed up with crazy flourishes and musical shifts you’ll start to suspect the bar they’re playing in is not of this world.

They double down on “I’m on the Lamb, But I Ain’t No Sheep” a song I always liked as a kid because it mentions the RCMP (“Canadian mounted, baby!”) but gets progressively weirder from there, and by the third stanza we have lines like:

“Hornswoop me bungo pony on dogsled of ice
Make a dash for freedom baby”

I have never been sure what this song is about. I think it is sex. Also drugs. So sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

Subject wise the record has all kinds of range. Science fiction references on “Stairway to the Stars”, more sex and drugs (“Before the Kiss, a Redcap”), and something between kink and cannibalism (“She’s As Beautiful as a Foot”).

The crazy topics and brilliant musicianship come together on one of the record’s best tracks, “Workshop of the Telescopes.” Dharma’s guitar lays down a complicated mix of blues solos and sixties psychedelia in one of the best sneaky-good guitar bits you’ll hear from a guy who has made a career of being sneaky-good. This one is sung by “main” vocalist Eric Bloom, who’s excessive rock style knows just how to infuse lyrics like:

“By Silverfish imperatrix whose incorrupted eye
Sees through the charms of doctors and their wives
By Salamander Drake and the power that was undone
Rise to claim Saturn, ring and sky.
By those who see with their eyes closed
You’ll know me by my black telescope.”

With import and meaning.

The record ends with the relatively straightforward jangle tune “Redeemed.” The words are fanciful in ways that would take too long to explain, but after all the psychedelic prog, the band finds one last way to surprise you, playing something with a very traditional sixties hippy sound that they twist into something delightfully grotesque.

When I am trying to get someone into Blue Oyster Cult, I do not start them with this album. It is wild and wonderful, but your first reaction may well be, “what the hell?” I implore you to keep listening, because this is some of the most innovative, thought-provoking and – yes – enjoyable music made in the past half-century. It is the redcap after the kiss – take it and see just how deep the rabbit-hole of this amazing band can go.

Best tracks: Transmaniacon MC, I’m on the Lamb But I Ain’t no Sheep, Then Came the Last Days of May, Stairway to the Stars, Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll, Workshop of the Telescopes, Redeemed

CD Odyssey Disc 1440: Rush

It’s been over three years since I last rolled an album by this next band. It was a long time to wait. Why did this happen? Because it happens – roll the bones.

Disc 1440 is…. Roll the Bones

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 1991

What’s up with the Cover?  A kid kicks a skull. This kid looks like quite the little punk, and when that skull gets reunited with his skeleton, I hope it comes looking for some payback. Or maybe they two of them will become friends and play a friendly game of Yahtzee. The wall behind them provides plenty of dice for it.

How I Came To Know It: I like Rush a lot - enough to buy all their studio albums, and this album is proof positive of my commitment. Keep that love I hold for the band in mind at those times when I say unkind things.

How It Stacks Up: I have 19 Rush albums. I had reserved a spot for “Roll the Bones” at #16 but it just couldn’t live up to its initial seeding. Instead I am going to bump “Presto” up one spot and drop “Roll the Bones” in at #18, second from the basement and barely holding off “Power Windows”.

Ratings: 3 stars but only barely

Rush made some amazing records over their career. “Roll the Bones” is not one of them. The musicianship is still there, but it is often wasted on songs that feel like incomplete notions at times, and at other times try way to hard.

The album starts out strong, with “Dreamline.” It features some solid guitar work from Alex Lifeson (no doubt happy at this stage to be emerging from the band’s deep dive into synthesizer in the eighties). Sure, the way Geddy Lee sings, “We are young” at the beginning of each chorus always makes me think of Pat Benatar singing the same line on “Love is a Battlefield.” But that’s OK; he moves on quickly and besides, I like “Love is a Battlefield.”

Geddy Lee’s voice sounds great on this record, catching him in that later career when artists know exactly how to sing a tune to showcase their strengths, but where they haven’t yet started flailing to reach hard notes. Lee doesn’t hit the stratosphere with his high notes anymore here, but he sings with an easy grace that matches the record well.

When this album came out, I really loved the title track, but I think the reason for this was in large part to the message. Lyricist Neil Peart examines why good and bad things happen. His answer? Stop looking so hard for a reason; the universe is filled with a lot of random shit, and you’re gonna get caught up in it. If his classic “Freewill” is a call to take responsibility for your actions, “Roll the Bones” is the reminder that not everything is a matter of will in life, and sometimes things are just going to happen. Roll the dice and take your best shot.

I still like half the song, but with every listen it is hard to overlook the absolutely terrible section featuring Geddy Lee rapping. Hearing middle aged prog rockers attempt a rap in the middle of a rock song is about as jarring as you can imagine it would be. It is hard to pick a “worst line” from this monstrosity. I think it is a tie between “Jack, relax/Get busy with the facts”, and “Stop throwing stones/The night has a thousand saxophones.” Thankfully the second option does not make good on its threat.

This song is immediately followed by “Face Up” which feels like something Andy Samberg would write if he were making fun of Rush. As an actual Rush song? Gentlemen, you can do so much better.

“Face Up” has some very forced lyrics, a problem on several tracks on the album. The worst of these may be “Neurotica” where Peart seems obsessed with rhyming the song title with various other words (“erotica”, “exotica”), and almost-words, (“chaotica”, “psychotica”). The fact that half the words are real, doesn’t make the exercise any less pointless.

He is still Neil Peart, though, and also delivers some thoughtful messages. One favourite is “Heresy,” a song about the end (at that time) of the Cold War, and the realization that we had lived for decades in fear, with precious little to show for it. Peart does a solid vocal delivery of the message, capturing the right tone somewhere between anger, relief, and weariness.

On “Ghost of a Chance” Peart further explores the epistemological themes of the record, musing about the incredible number of random events that pull us in different directions, and yet despite all that he believes…

“There’s a ghost of a chance?
We can find someone
And make it last.”

It’s an idea that appeals to me. The universe is a big chaotic place, but love could still be just around the corner. Roll the bones and find out. Just don’t rap really badly while you are rolling those bones, guys. Because it sounds bad new, and gets even worse with age.

Best tracks: Dreamline, Bravado, Heresy, Ghost of a Chance

CD Odyssey Disc 1273: Blue Oyster Cult

Whenever I’m feeling a little down (which I am) this next band always seems to come along like an old friend to give me comfort. Ladies and gentlemen, the Odyssey’s house band returns.

Disc 1273 is… Tyranny and Mutation

Artist: Blue Oyster Cult

Year of Release: 1973

What’s up with the Cover? Bow down before the Ziggurat of Tyranny and Mutation! This is one of rock and roll’s great album covers. Stark, trippy and cosmic. I don’t know what dimension the guys who built this thing are from, but I bet they have good music there.

How I Came to Know It: I grew up with Blue Oyster Cult. My brother had all their records and I played them whenever I got the chance (or he allowed).

How It Stacks Up:  I have 11 of Blue Oyster Cult’s albums. I love them all, and with competition as fierce as it is, “Tyranny and Mutation” could only manage #7.

Ratings: 4 stars

“Tyranny and Mutation” may be the weakest of Blue Oyster Cult’s classic three first records, but that doesn’t make it any less a classic.

In their early career, BOC was heavily experimental, moving across genres with the carefree inspiration of a band that clearly didn’t care what people might think. They were out to make art and push the boundaries of what rock and roll should be. The record is loaded with urgent rock riffs, guitar and bass solos and general Lovecraftian weirdness. It has no business working, but it does, as the band navigates into the land of the strange without losing the churning edge that makes rock and roll what it is.

Because of this, this isn’t the first record I put people on to when I am trying to get them excited about BOC, but I know that given time its impressive musicianship and gargoyle-like beauty will win them over. In pop music, the anticipation of an expected hook or rhythm is what makes multiple listens increasingly enjoyable. With “Tyranny and Mutation” it is the anticipation of the strange turn of musical phrasing that draws you in.

As befits a record like this, there were no hits and nor do fans care about their absence. The single was “Hot Rails to Hell” which is a feverish energy-laden garage rock song, before garage rock was a thing. It is great fun, and the band still plays it in concert to this day, but it isn’t even close to my favourite track.

That would be “Wings Wetted Down,” a song I first remember hearing around the age of 6 or 7 when my brother put it on, partly to freak out his younger brother, but mostly because he wanted to share the magic of a brilliant deep cut he had discovered.

The song begins with a discordant guitar riff bouncing around in a minor key, a drum flourish and then the vocals of bassist Joe Bouchard. Blue Oyster Cult is one of the few bands that legitimately has multiple vocalists, and while Eric Bloom sings the majority of the songs, both Joe Bouchard and guitarist Buck Dharma frequently take a turn.

Bouchard and his brother (drummer Albert) also do plenty of writing, and they are often the strangest songs in Blue Oyster Cult’s catalogue. “Wings Wetted Down” is no exception, starting with the aforementioned disturbia of rock and roll repurposed, an ominous like a beast slouching toward Bethlehem as Joe’s vocals cut in with:

“Flights of black horsemen

Soar o’er churches

Pursued by an army of birds in the rain”

As a kid I wasn’t sure what was going on, but the song’s rhythms and ominous tune told me it was portentous. Years later, I still love it like its my first time hearing it.

There are also bluesy bar riffs, such as on the laid back “O.D.’ed on Life Itself” which has a bar-band swing and a clever arrangement reminding you that producer Sandy Pearlman (who cowrote this and three other tracks) may not have played an instrument but was very much a part of the band.

“7 Screaming Diz-Busters” brings in all the elements. Jazz progressions, funky bass lines and proggy shifts of tempo and (I think) time signatures. The song is seven minutes of excess but all it does is leave you wanting more.

All this and I haven’t even mentioned one of rock and roll’s great guitar players, Buck Dharma. Dharma is solid as ever, and once again selflessly letting his brilliance sit evenly in the mix with his band mates. This record has his style sounding rougher around the edges as the band explores a more organic approach to the music, but he still manages to drop some ridiculous solo work, subtly woven into the broader architecture of each song.

I don’t have anything bad to say about “Tyranny and Mutation.” It is very weird, so brace yourself for that, but if you open yourself up to that weirdness, you are in for a fantastic journey through the beautiful, misshapen heart of rock and roll.

Best tracks: The Red & the Black, O.D.’ed on Life Itself, 7 Screaming Diz-Busters, Wings Wetted Down

CD Odyssey Disc 1268: 10cc

My apologies for my long absence, gentle readers. I’ve been on vacation and haven’t found the listening time to keep the Odyssey sailing. I did listen to plenty of music, but it was often in the context of doing other activities at the same time, and thus excluded from Odyssey time based on Rule #4.

I did manage to sneak a few Rule-adhering listens to this next record however, the most recent one today while doing a little painting.

Disc 1268 is… How Dare You!

Artist: 10cc

Year of Release: 1976

What’s up with the Cover? Various characters from gritty B-movie dramas put on their best “how dare you!” faces and then make angry phone calls to one another. On the front cover we have a business executive and his alcoholic housewife. Her: “I found her underwear under our bed, Howard. Who is she? Who is she?!?” Him: “Drunk at 10 am again, Margaret? How pathetic.” Her: “You sorry sonofabitch – I’m gonna take you for every penny you own. Every penny!”

In the second picture (which I assume was on the back of the original vinyl, but for me was on the back of the CD booklet) we have some scurrilous looking dirtbag and an airline stewardess. Him: “Is that you Howard? I’ve done it – the cops’ll just think she was drunk and fell down the stairs. Now you and that airline stewardess can run off together like you planned.” Her: speechless, as she realizes that the guy thinks it is Howard on the other end of the line. Howard did keep his promise to end it with Margaret – only not in the way she was expecting.

When Howard comes out of the shower, she’ll have to decide just how far she’ll go for love. The move to Spain seemed pretty far, but accomplice to murder? That is a very foreign shore indeed.

Let’s leave her to consider this little moral conundrum and return to the music review, shall we?

How I Came to Know It: Sheila’s friend Ally introduced me to 10cc by sending along a track from their 1975 record “The Original Soundtrack”. I liked the sound of that so dug through their collection. Three records stood out and “How Dare You!” was one of them.

How It Stacks Up:  I have three 10cc albums. “How Dare You!” comes in at #3 because someone has to be last.

Ratings: 2 stars but almost 3

I’d be curious to know what the reaction would be of a modern Soulless Record Exec if 10cc were to walk into their office and say they’d like to record a mix seventies a.m. radio pop, prog and a few Broadway numbers. Something along the lines of “how dare you!” I expect.

Fortunately, the mid-seventies were a different time, when rock and roll was in full bloom and nothing was so far out there to not try at least once. It helped that by 1976, 10cc had three records under their belt already, many of which just as strange as “How Dare You!” It puts those Soulless Record Execs at ease if they think they can also earn a little money.

“How Dare You!” is a bit of a smoother, schmaltzier sound than their previous record, and not quite as radio friendly as the follow up, “Deceptive Bends”. It falls uncomfortably between the two styles – lacking the edge of the record that preceded it, but with less seductive groove of the one that followed.

It is the last record with all four original songwriters (Godley, Creme, Stewart and Gouldman) with Godley and Creme soon to head off on their own and I wonder if the creative differences leading to the breakup contributed to the record straddling two sounds.

Despite this disconnect, 10cc have four talented songwriters and this shines through on every track, even those that weren’t my cup of tea. They create a layer of sound, sound effects and post-production cleverness that is a feast for the ears. “Lazy Ways” is hippy dream pop, the perfect soundtrack for laying on a grassy hill and watching clouds float by. The beginning of “I’m Mandy Fly Me” has an organ and guitar dueling over what can sound more psychedelic. The song meanders a bit later on, but 10cc’s talent at writing compelling melodies is on full display throughout.

This is a common challenge on the record, that tends to set up amazing melodic structures and then bore of them too quickly and move on to something completely different.

Despite all the artistic envelope-pushing, the band doesn’t take themselves too seriously and the lyrics are often whimsical and light-hearted. The theatricality of the delivery is deliberately over the top and I picture the album being turned into a Broadway show full of dancers jitterbugging about in brightly coloured costumes. This isn’t a record for shoegazing and gravitas.

Overall, these songs were easy to listen to and inoffensive. I also admired the musicianship, but when I think about putting on 10cc I can’t honestly say I’d ever want to pick “How Dare You!” over the other two records in my collection. For this reason, I’m going to send this record off to a better home.

Best tracks: Lazy Ways, I Wanna Rule the World, Don’t Hang Up

CD Odyssey Disc 1255: Jethro Tull

I’m nearing the end of a very relaxed weekend and will shortly be meeting up with some wonderful people. I’ll be walking there, so I’m squeezing this review in now so I can listen to something new on the way over.

Disc 1255 is… Stand Up

Artist: Jethro Tull

Year of Release: 1969

What’s up with the Cover? The band, re-imagined as leprechauns. No wait - after looking at a photo of the band in the liner notes I can confirm…this is what these guys look like.

How I Came to Know It: I think my friend Chris introduced me to this album. I can’t remember if he also bought me the CD as a gift or if I picked it up independently. I think the latter (Chris did get me two other Jethro Tull albums as a gift, so you can understand my confusion).

How It Stacks Up:  I have five Jethro Tull albums. Of the five, I must reluctantly place “Stand Up” in last place.

Ratings:  3 stars

I really like Jethro Tull’s eighties synthesizer-heavy period, but my relationship with their earlier stuff is…complicated. “Stand Up” is very early Tull, and while I admire the talent, I can’t always go where this album wants to take me.

First the good stuff. This record has some exceptional musicianship. The songs are complex, but the talent is so high everything remains crisp. Also, guitarist Martin Barre delivers some killer rock guitar throughout the record.

The album is of its time and has that late sixties hippy vibe which works well with Ian Anderson’s vibrato vocals. The mix of folk and rock elements works well in places, particularly on “Back to the Family” that blends pastoral imagery with stoner guitar in ways that shouldn’t work but does. Even the jazz flute works here.

The record is also funny in places. “Fat Man” is the whimsical consideration of a slender Ian Anderson of what sort of challenges he’d face if he were fat. Among them, “People would think I was just good fun.” I guess being considered jolly and nothing else would grate over time.

However, even on the songs I liked on “Stand Up” it just felt like too much was going on. I don’t mind some progressive rock, but I would have preferred a little bit more focus. And as for those cool Barre guitar licks, there just aren’t enough of them. I had a hard time concentrating and when I did concentrate it often felt like work.

Also, despite this being rock music there is a lot of jazz going on with this record, and I’m not just talking about all that flute business either. There is jazz in the drums, jazz in the bass, jazz in the melodic structures. This record has jazz lurking around every corner.

“Bouree” sounds like Dave Brubeck was kidnapped by faeries. Brubeck is one of my favourite jazz musicians, but I don’t want him mucking about with my folk music like this. At least “Nothing Is Easy” provides a warning the title that the song is going to feature all manner of crazy arrangements that are both brilliant and annoying. You know, like jazz.

My copy of the record has four bonus tracks which are OK but pushes the album to 51 minutes but felt even longer. By the end, I was just feeling fatigued from the busyness of it all.

“Stand Up” is music for music nerds, which means I should like it. I definitely want to like it, and I’m even a little ashamed that I don’t, but there it is. I’m going to acknowledge I’m objectively wrong about how good this record is and give it 3 stars. That said, I’m not going to keep it.

Best tracks: Back to the Family, Fat Man, Look Into the Sun

CD Odyssey Disc 1228: Jethro Tull

After a long day at the office I spent the first part of my evening shoveling snow. I love the feel of a winter wonderland when it snows, but after a few days of it, I could do without the shoveling.

Disc 1228 is… Crest of a Knave

Artist: Jethro Tull

Year of Release: 1987

What’s up with the Cover? It’s…the crest of a knave. This particular crest is a fraidy-cat sable on a field of azure and argent. I assume this particular noble is a cousin to brave brave Sir Robin.

How I Came To Know It: My friend Chris played some tracks off of this album at a recent music night and I liked what I heard. Then he went one step further and gave me his copy of the CD (he is now a vinyl devotee so CDs are either too old school or too new school, depending on your perspective).

How It Stacks Up:  I have five Jethro Tull albums. I’m not sure how that happened, but for the most part I blame Chris. I like “Crest of a Knave” a lot, but I’m going to put it in at #2 and leave a little space at the top.

Ratings:  4 stars

It is not every day that a record could best Metallica in its heyday to win music’s most prestigious honour – a Grammy – but that’s exactly what Jethro Tull’s “Crest of a Knave” did, beating out “…and Justice For All” for best hard rock album.

Just kidding! The Grammys aren’t music’s most prestigious honour; they’re shite and have been for years. Also, “Crest of a Knave” is not a hard rock album. It’s more of a cross between synth-rock and prog-rock. The beating Metallica part is true, though. The Grammys may have a hundred different categories but that doesn’t mean they can’t consistently fail to nominate albums in the right ones.

But enough about how much the Grammys suck!* Let’s talk about “Crest of a Knave” which despite winning an award in the wrong category is still a fine record.

While for most of the sixties and seventies Jethro Tull was a mix of progressive rock with a dash of traditional English folk, in the eighties they discovered a more synth-driven sound and their music took a different turn. By 1987, Jethro Tull had balanced out all that synthesizer with more traditional instrumentation the sensibility remained. This was made easier by the ever-present flute in all their music, which is the synthiest of the woodwinds.

Balancing those ethereal sounds is guitarist Martin Barre, who shows off some inspired playing. His tone is reminiscent of Mark Knopfler and if you are going to sound too much like someone else on the guitar, you couldn’t pick any better than Knopfler. Barre has some fine solos on the record, particularly the bluesy meanderings he displays on “Said She Was a Dancer”.

 “Said She Was a Dancer” is the star of the record, a song about a chance encounter with a Russian woman that is less romantic than the narrator would have hoped for. The song walks a fine line between mystery, romance and some self-effacing humour from a man who is getting played by a lady out of his league but enjoying every minute of it.

The theme is explored further with “Hot Night in Budapest” which is twice and long and sees the narrator twice as successful as well. Again, the song is heavily reminiscent of Dire Straits in its base groove, before departing down more proggy side paths of jazz flue and creative syncopation.

Lyrically the record is sneaky good, with Anderson delivering many a clever turn of phrase. “Said She Was a Dancer” ends with:

“So I stole one kiss, it was a near miss. She looked at me like I was Jack the Ripper.

She leaned in close. “Goodnight” was all she said

So I took myself off to bed.”

Missed it by that much!

“Mountain Men” is a love song from Anderson to his native Scotland, starting the song with:

“The poacher and his daughter throw soft shadows on the water in the night

A thin moon slips behind them as they pull the net with no betraying light.”

Instantly you can feel yourself grounded in the scene and as the song unfolds Anderson’s love for his homeland becomes more and more clear. The song feels heartfelt throughout without ever feeling contrived or emotionally manipulative.

Anderson is a natural story teller, although I sometimes found myself wishing his elfin vibrato vocal had a bit more gravitas. While this is part of what makes Jethro Tull’s sound, on an album designed with such a lush soundscape he sometimes sounds a bit thin by comparison.

This is a minor quibble though, and overall “Crest of a Knave” was an enjoyable listen, melodically interesting, lyrically engaging and featuring some fine work on both the guitar and the flute.

*while I maintain the Grammys suck, a big shout out to two of my favourite artists who overcame the usual bad decisions made there to win one this year – Brandi Carlile and St. Vincent!

Best tracks: Said She Was a Dancer, Budapest, Mountain Men, The Waking Edge

CD Odyssey Disc 1159: Blue Oyster Cult

I’m back a bit late from a delightful night playing board games, but determined to get in another music review before I hit the hay. Here it is!

Disc 1159 is… The Revolution by Night

Artist: Blue Oyster Cult

Year of Release: 1983

What’s up with the Cover? A lonely stretch of highway is lit by futuristic lampposts…and by frickin’ lightning bolts! As ever the game with a Blue Oyster Cult album cover is to find their symbol hidden somewhere in the art.

How I Came To Know It: I knew this album since my brother bought it back in 1983.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 11 of Blue Oyster Cult’s studio albums. In a very strong field, “The Revolution by Night” comes in at #10.

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

The year before “The Revolution by Night” came out Blue Oyster Cult’s lead guitarist Buck Dharma had taken a short hiatus and recorded a solo project. That record (reviewed back at Disc 1123) had a lot of eighties influences and Buck took those back to the band upon his return.

While “The Revolution by Night” still showcases some solid songwriting, this eighties production takes some of the punch out of the songs. Heavy synth sound and fuzz drown down Dharma’s guitar solos and everything feels a little distant. Distant is not what you want in progressive hard rock but even turning the volume up 20% higher I still found  it hard to draw much thump out of these songs.

Fortunately, there are songs so glorious that no amount of fuzz can hold them back, including the opening track. “Take Me Away” features a killer guitar riff, and a chugging powerful rhythm. Also, it features a plea to be abducted by aliens so, you know, standard Blue Oyster Cult fare.

“Shadow of California” has a majestic dread, including some solid drumming from newcomer Rick Downey (the song was co-written by ex-Alice Cooper drummer Neal Smith so drumming is it is no surprise drumming is a big part of the song). Downey plays well but the record is definitely missing a bit of magic without Albert Bouchard on the kit. BOC’s original lineup had a special alchemy, and any missing member affects the whole.

Still, with its hell-choir backing vocals and haunted-abbey organ playing, “Shadow of California” is the personification of foreboding.  You just know something frightening is coming. It isn’t clear what – just some buried evil at the cloverleaf junction. I suspect vampires. With a BOC song, vampires are always a good bet. But I digress…

“Feel the Thunder” is another haunted motorcycle song akin to “Golden Age of Leather” (off 1977’s “Spectres”) but it isn’t as good and again, the production cuts into the heaviness of the song.

Every now and then the eighties production is put to good use. “Shooting Shark” has an eighties drum sound, mixed well with organ and Buck Dharma’s high and airy vocals. It is all a bit light, but it works up there in the wispy cirrus. This song is co-written by Dharma and Patti Smith, and their talents mesh well. Dharma is the hopeless romantic, and Smith lends an element of carnival excess, but both believe in magic and it shows. Amid its seven-plus minutes of excess and atmosphere even the saxophone solo is passable, although I think I would have preferred Dharma’s guitar at that moment.

This record also sees BOC following on their (relative) commercial success of “Fire of Unknown Origin.” All that stadium rock may have gone a little to their heads on “Let Go”. As a kid, I thought “Let Go” was the most awesome anthem ever, as I pumped my fist to:

“B…O…C

You can be whatever you wanna be

You got the power, we got the key

Yeah, B…O…C”

OK, it’s silly but back in the day those lyrics seemed infused with sorcerous power, like I could summon the band into the living room just by singing along. Now the whole thing seems rather silly. I won’t say it is a good song, but it is a good memory and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that under all that silliness a kernel of that old magic remains every time I hear it. For 3:25 I felt like I was part of the band.

The album ends with a Joe Bouchard vocal on “Light Years of Love.” Bouchard is the weakest singer, but he does a good job here. In fact, until I looked it up I just assumed it was Buck Dharma. The song has some crazy flamenco guitar playing inexplicably mixed in with Bowie-like space opera effects and lyrics full of astronomical imagery. It is wild and wacky and more than a little cheesy, but it’s done well if you give it a chance.

Even though “The Revolution By Night” is the beginning of BOC’s fracturing as a band, it is fascinating to hear their sound still evolving. The production notes are mostly off, but the songs are still vibrant and ambitious. There were plenty of ghosts, vampires and space aliens to keep the 13-year old me happy when I first heard it, and years later I still find magic in this record.

Best tracks: Take Me Away, Shooting Shark, Shadow of California, Light Years of Love

CD Odyssey Disc 1100: Heart

After a very fun night out with friends at the Victoria Film Festival gala, I awoke this morning to a mild hangover but a sunny disposition fueled, in part, by the revelry of the night before. If you’re going to have a hangover, make sure the event was memorable.

I’m now off to CD shop and (hopefully) get as many as I can by my new obsession: Minnesota rapper/singer Dessa. This stuff is great and I MUST have all of it. Such is my sickness.

I don’t feel that way about this next band, although I do have a few so obviously I like them.

Disc 1100 is… Dreamboat Annie

Artist: Heart

Year of Release: 1976

What’s up with the Cover? A double Giant Head cover featuring Ann and Nancy Wilson looking dreamy. Ordinarily I’d think a cover like this rather boring but for some reason it appeals to me…

How I Came To Know It: A while back my buddy Chris was playing Heart’s 1977 album “Little Queen” and it appealed to me. Remembering all the Heart songs I liked when I was a kid I decided to dig into their back catalogue. Debut record “Dreamboat Annie” came out as one of the highlights.

How It Stacks Up:  I have three Heart albums. I used to have four but I got rid of “Bad Animals” after reviewing it. Since this is my last Heart review, here is a full recap, including the one I sold:

1. Little Queen: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 970)
2. Heart (Self-Titled): 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 960)
3. Dreamboat Annie: 3 stars (reviewed right here)
4. Bad Animals: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 827)

Ratings: 3 stars

Heart gets thrown into the category of Hard Rock with dismissive regularity, but Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson are a lot more than just two more Zeppelin disciples. On “Dreamboat Annie” they demonstrate a lot of influences, not so much blending them as artfully pinning them together.

For all that the album’s opener (and best known song) “Magic Man” is more of a Zeppelin fueled guitar riff, with a chunky sound and Ann Wilson’s vocals climbing into the stratosphere before dropping back down to a bluesy resolution of the melody. Nancy’s guitar is blues-rock excess in all the good ways and on an atmospheric solo in the middle of the song she shines like a bright star.

Fun fact – there is a crazy guitar lick at the 3:53 mark of “Magic Man” which is sampled by Ice T on the song “Personal”. On “Personal” that little riff is core to the song’s awesomeness but on “Magic Man” Nancy throws it out there, then immediately moves on never to return. She’s got other musical fish to fry.

However, this album is about more than just “Magic Man” (and its other classic rock song, “Crazy On You”). Heart incorporates dreamy pop elements and a proto-disco sexy groove that gives the album balance and depth. “(Love Me Like Music) I’ll Be Your Song” has a smooth almost yacht rock quality, but also could be played as a slow dance at Studio 54. It feels slick and silky but never artificial, grounded as it is in exceptional and honest musicianship.

It can be taken too far, mind you. The title track is a meandering bit of treacle that predictably became the song that got overplayed on AM radio to the detriment of the record’s better songs. “Dreamboat Annie” is not even that good of a song, and it doesn’t help that there are three versions of it (the second and last track on Side One, the last track on Side Two).

There are a lot of prog elements on “Dreamboat Annie”, something I don’t think Heart gets enough credit for. Everyone is obsessed with the fact that two beautiful women are rocking out, and tend to overlook how cleverly they are doing it. “Magic Man” has early synthesizer sounds in that would be equally at home on a Rush album. “Soul of the Sea” is six and half minutes of constant shifts that feels like it could be the soundtrack for a contemporary dance number. “Sing Child” drops some Jethro Tull style jazz flute into the middle of its rock groove.

“Dreamboat Annie” is at its best when Heart feels like they are trying to be two totally different bands at the same time, fusing styles and production choices from multiple influences into an amalgam that is something new. It is hard to pull off, but for the most part, they totally get away with it.

In fact, songs like “White Lightning & Wine” which are just straight up blues tracks suffer by comparison, coming off as derivative. It can’t even be saved by cowbell, which is usually a sure fire musical cure for what ails you.

Despite a couple of these misses, overall, “Dreamboat Annie” is a solid record that for a debut shows incredible maturity and complexity.

Best tracks: Magic Man, Crazy On You, (Love Me Like Music) I’ll Be Your Song, Sing Child

CD Odyssey Disc 1090: Rush

I’ve gone with a couple obvious New Year’s resolutions this year: work out more and read more books. I read 33 books last year, so that’s on track but I seriously need to hit the gym more often than I did in 2017.

Disc 1090 is…Moving Pictures

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 1981

What’s up with the Cover? A bunch of guys move pictures – get it? Here we have the very emotional scenes of Joan of Arc being burned at the stake and some dogs playing poker. You decide which one moves you more. I would be a lot more moved by cats playing poker but that would never happen, because any cat whose stack got low would throw the rules to the wind and shiv the chip leader. Cats are like that.

How I Came To Know It: This is one of those seminal albums that has always been a part of my life. I’ve known this album so long I can’t remember where I first heard it, although it’s likely my brother bought it first back when it came out.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 19 Rush albums. Of those I put “Moving Pictures” in at the hallowed spot of #1. Gold! Sorry, 2112 apologists!

Ratings: 5 stars

On “Moving Pictures” Rush hits on all cylinders, coalescing rock riffs from their early albums, add in the progressive complexity of their mid to late seventies stuff, and hinting at the synth sounds that would shortly follow. Not only do they successful pull it off, they make one of rock and roll’s finest albums in the process.

The record starts with “Tom Sawyer” a churning rock anthem blended with an almost New Wave synth undercurrent. It would become arguably their biggest hit – this is Rush’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper”, their “Werewolves of London” – the song that would catapult them full force into the mainstream consciousness and enrage purists who want radio stations to play something else once in a while. According to Wikipedia “Limelight” was a bigger hit (more on that song later) but for me, when you ask a casual Rush fan to name a song they tend to go with “Tom Sawyer.” There is a lot to like about it, too, but on an album like “Moving Pictures” it is just one of many great songs.

Every song on this album speaks to me in a different way, sometimes musically, sometimes through the lyrics and usually a lot of both. Rush are masters at crafting music to evoke complex emotions and concepts, and drummer/lyricist Neal Peart is equally masterful at providing words that match that level of excellence.

“Red Barchetta” is a near-future song about the thrill of driving a muscle car in an era where they are outlawed. It tells the story of a young man visiting his uncle, taking the “red barchetta” out for a spin (basically a two-seater open performance car) and leading local authorities on a merry car chase (cars being outlawed since the “motor laws”). The song lifts you through every emotion – the pastoral beauty of the uncle’s rural property, the wild exhilaration of the race, and the eventual return of the car back to its hidden lair.

Every time I take “Moving Pictures” for a drive, “Red Barchetta” has a new set of memories for me. Ten years ago I did a CD Odyssey (which was a lot quicker, because I had a lot fewer albums and didn’t review them). I called my friend and Rush-devotee Kelly from my car to share the moment “Red Barchetta” came on. Last year I had an engaging discussion with indie rocker Trapper Schoepp after a concert about this song and a similarly-themed song that he wrote called "Run, Engine Run". I’ve also been on the look for a dream classic car for about 18 months now. Walking home listening to “Red Barchetta” made me want the search completed so bad it hurt.

The next song, “YYZ” is a lyric-free musical homage to Toronto International Airport. I challenge you to listen to the frenetic, triumphant stop-and-go excitement of this song and not think about a busy airport.

The best song on the record is “Limelight.” I cannot hear this song and not exclaim to someone nearby that it is the “most honest song ever written about the relationship between a band and their fans.” Peart is famously introverted and routinely shies away from the trappings of fame. “Limelight” is his opus to the complex relationship he has with the fans, the music, himself and how it all interacts. He admits that he “can’t pretend a stranger is a long awaited friend” and that “one must put up barriers to keep himself intact” but even amid the hell that Sartre called “other people”, Peart digs deeper and finds a fundamental connection that he can call real. In his words:

“Those who wish to be

Must put aside the alienation

Get on with the fascination

The real relation

The underlying theme.”

There in the music – and nowhere else – there is a real connection. The melody alternates between triumph, wistfulness and a hint of otherworldly guitar solo that borders on the mystical. It also features some of the greatest drum work in the history of rock and roll by a clearly inspired Neal Peart.

The album ends with “Vital Signs,” a song full of complex musical concepts and big words used correctly, mixed with explorations of psychology, philosophy and the complexities of human interaction. This is Rush demonstrating their proggy-brilliance. Best line:

“Everybody got mixed feelings

About the function and the form

Everybody got to elevate

From the norm.”

On “Moving Pictures” Rush doesn’t just elevate us from the norm, they lift their listeners along with them in a complex compelling way that is respectful, thoughtful and powerful as hell.

Best tracks: All tracks, but particularly Red Barchetta, Limelight, Witch Hunt and Vital Signs

CD Odyssey Disc 1083: Opeth

I’m feeling a bit groggy tonight, but that’s to be expected. I’m still fighting a cold and I spent four hours getting a new tattoo. It’ll be a couple more sessions before it is done, and I’m pretty excited about the finished product.

Disc 1083 is…Ghost Reveries

Artist: Opeth

Year of Release: 2005

What’s up with the Cover? Creepy candles and the requisite shadowy figure in the distance that seems to be a mainstay of Opeth album covers. In this case it might just be a stained glass window depicting a king or something, or maybe it is just a trick of the light. Since it is the Christmas season let’s assume it is Good King Wenceslas, but since it is an Opeth album let’s assume when you bring the candles closer you discover King Wency is all covered in swamp muck and wielding a bloody hatchet.

How I Came To Know It: I read an article where someone picked a top metal album for every year from 1970 to 2017. This was the 2005 entry.

How It Stacks Up:  Opeth has released 12 studio albums but I only have four. Of those four “Ghost Reveries” comes in second, only narrowly falling short of my favourite, “Still Life” (reviewed back at Disc 1040).

Ratings: 4 stars

Opeth is a Swedish metal band that blends progressive rock, blues, jazz and a host of other sounds into a more nuanced exploration of the dark and dreary places Swedish metal bands tend to wander.

That wandering often leads those Swedish metal bands to go on at length about Satan. I don’t think most of them actually dig Satan, but the lyrics are intended to leave that impression. Opeth tends to branch out into a lot of other themes, exploring intolerance, depression and a host of other topics.

So what’s the main topic of discussion on “Ghost Reveries”? Turns out it’s…Satan, or at least part of it. The record explores the dark thoughts of a character that is being pulled, inexorably toward horrible decisions by some tempter. Sometimes the character seems in anguish over it, and sometimes he seems to revel in the power that is being offered to him.

The overall effect is to create a sense of foreboding, as the songs make you feel like you are being pursued by some relentless force, sometimes external and sometimes in your mind. Often the line between the two is blurry.

On “Ghost Reveries” Opeth’s penchant for musical discovery is at its height. “Hours of Wealth” is almost a classical guitar piece, noodling around in slow blues progressions that reminded me of Eric Clapton. On “Atonement” the guitar riff sounded more like George Harrison sitar music, which is then paired with a high tinkling jazz piano. It shouldn’t work, but it does. The guitar work on “Ghost Reveries” is top-notch throughout. Often I am drawn to bass and drums with this band, but here the guitar melodies were just too compelling to ignore.

In terms of lyrics, I find Opeth can overstuffed their songs with big words. When you read it in the liner notes it seems silly but once it is paired with their musical genius all that rich and horrific imagery just makes sense. They really like the words “mire” and “fog” and while those are pretty great words to go with all the foreboding and damp imagery, once I noticed their overuse I couldn’t stop noticing it. Or maybe it is like when you buy a new car and then it seems like you see the same make every time you go driving. There aren’t more of them, you’re just noticing them more now. But I digress…

Anyway, there is a fair bit of that throat-singing style but not so much of it that it became overpowering, and when Mikael Akerfeldt sings more traditionally his vocals have an otherworldly ghostly quality that juxtaposes nicely. Also, despite a lot of heaviness in places, the band is tight as hell and lets the thread of the melody pull you through the song. I wouldn’t dance to this stuff, but it makes for a pretty solid rhythmic head bob.

This album is a long one, over 66 minutes and with an average song length of 8:15 (four of them exceed 10 minutes) yet it never drags or has you wishing it would end. The songs take their time unfolding internally, and blend nicely into one another as well, even when they are transitioning from a slow bluesy number into a double-bass driven metal assault. A couple of those transitions gave me a wicked jolt when they happened but it was delightfully wicked.

“Ghost Reveries” is definitely thinking-man’s metal, but it never feels pretentious or forced and when they get their groove on they can rock with the best of them. That they can mix a whole lot of other elements into that groove and never lose the plot is an impressive accomplishment. If you like metal and you have an adventurous ear, this album is for you.

Best tracks: The Baying of the Hounds, Reverie/Harlequin Forest, Hours of Wealth, The Grand Conjuration