Member:
progladyte
(Profile)
(All Album Reviews by progladyte)
Date:
2/14/2003
Format:
CD (Album)
Hailing from Canada, Visible Wind is a new band to me and whose CD I scored from Tower Records, based on several other favourable reviews which suggested this band would be right up my alley. Similarities are a bit trickier to pick but if you like anything by Genesis, Saga, IQ, Echolyn, Cairo, Solaris, Ad Infinitum, etc., you could find this release fits the bill quite well. Having said that, however, Visible Wind still have their own sound which is neither derivative or plagiaristic.
After a brief introduction that seems to go nowhere, we enter a realm of smooth and accomplished keyboard and guitar work that just keeps inviting you to tag along with this odyssey. Vocals are certainly well handled and only the slightest hint of an accent would reveal these guys are French Canadians. The strongest track, “Soleil d’Aube” has very catchy hooks all the way through and has an all too short piece of searing guitar work with an infectiously great hook that really worked for me. We are treated to a great variety of guitar and keyboard interplay on “Chasing The Skyline” and enough time changes to whet most progster’s “apper titties”. The title track has a great beginning and moves along with plenty of variety and time shifts and features the all-important ‘tron section.
Although the album contains nothing totally memorable in the way of sheer brilliance or star status, all songs are totally in the right place and invoke the right impression upon the listener. This album is typical of those releases whereby no one individual or instrument dominates the proceedings and the cohesiveness of the song writing and playing is evident throughout. This is not quite a winner but a worthy addition to your collection. Although the liner notes tell me this was released in 1991, I look forward to hearing further attempts from these guys as I believe they have more of a chance than most aspiring bands doing the rounds today.
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