Depending on your point of view, you are either going to categorise this CD as either "A musical tour de force" or "A load of self indulgent tosh." Whatever, Cairo have unreservedly and irrevocably nailed their colours to the Progressive Rock mast. From the classic combination of Hammond C3 organ and Moog synthesiser to the bewildering changes of key and time signatures this album bears all the hallmarks of classic prog. Cairo's keyboard player is a real revelation. If you like Keith Emerson, then you will love what this guy does with a HammondIt kicks off with Angels and Rage, which to my mind is the least accessible track on the album with style and virtuosity taking centre stage, and tunefulness taking a bit of a back seat. Then things start to kick into gear with Corridors. Western Desert is a prog masterpiece, over 17 minutes long with one of the best keyboard solos I've heard in a long while. Imagine is a lovely piano and guitar interlude before the high energy stuff is back with Then you were Gone. The final track Valley of the Shadow is everything prog. A song that tells a story, over 15 minutes long, full of key and time signature changes, virtuoso solos. Phew!OK so as you can probably tell I'm in the "musical tour de force" camp on this one. It's not a perfect album. The vocals are OK (But not world class, like Anderson, Lake or Gabriel) The instrumentation is fabulous, the performances range from great to brilliant, but I found the production lacked real sparkle. However that said it's an excellent addition to the Prog Rock cannon.Other bands worth a listen: Spocks Beard, Transatlantic, Dream Theatre, Liquid Tension Experiment, Arena.
Only LOSSY here 4 your deaf ears!
Showing posts with label Cairo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cairo. Show all posts
Cairo - Conflict and Dreams 1998
Depending on your point of view, you are either going to categorise this CD as either "A musical tour de force" or "A load of self indulgent tosh." Whatever, Cairo have unreservedly and irrevocably nailed their colours to the Progressive Rock mast. From the classic combination of Hammond C3 organ and Moog synthesiser to the bewildering changes of key and time signatures this album bears all the hallmarks of classic prog. Cairo's keyboard player is a real revelation. If you like Keith Emerson, then you will love what this guy does with a HammondIt kicks off with Angels and Rage, which to my mind is the least accessible track on the album with style and virtuosity taking centre stage, and tunefulness taking a bit of a back seat. Then things start to kick into gear with Corridors. Western Desert is a prog masterpiece, over 17 minutes long with one of the best keyboard solos I've heard in a long while. Imagine is a lovely piano and guitar interlude before the high energy stuff is back with Then you were Gone. The final track Valley of the Shadow is everything prog. A song that tells a story, over 15 minutes long, full of key and time signature changes, virtuoso solos. Phew!OK so as you can probably tell I'm in the "musical tour de force" camp on this one. It's not a perfect album. The vocals are OK (But not world class, like Anderson, Lake or Gabriel) The instrumentation is fabulous, the performances range from great to brilliant, but I found the production lacked real sparkle. However that said it's an excellent addition to the Prog Rock cannon.Other bands worth a listen: Spocks Beard, Transatlantic, Dream Theatre, Liquid Tension Experiment, Arena.
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