Label: Cyclops Records
Category: Music
Average customer rating:
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
UPC: 054421318923
EAN: 0054421318923
ASIN: B000069KHB
Release Date: 2002-05-14
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Artist: Landmarq
Label: Cyclops Records Category: Music Average customer rating:
Format: Import Media: Audio CD Number Of Discs: 1 UPC: 054421318923 EAN: 0054421318923 ASIN: B000069KHB Release Date: 2002-05-14 |
Science of Coincidence
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Above average neoprog with a standout singing voice.......2003-08-25
SCIENCE OF COINCIDENCE vividly illustrates how much a strong vocalist can benefit a progressive rock band. During the previous decade, Landmarq released three prior albums, but this is the first to feature singer Tracy Hitchings, who had already established herself as the reigning diva of British neoprogressive rock in such projects as Quasar and Strangers on a Train. Ms. Hitchings has been favorably compared to such luminaries as Mariah Carey and Melissa Etheridge. There's no denying she possesses a beautiful, expressive voice and the skillful control to vary it from a breathy schoolgirl pout (as on the track "Heritage") to a soaring soprano with piercing vibrato (like on the title track). Considering she's also quite a babe, prog fans should be grateful she hasn't sold out and chosen a career in mainstream pop where her voice and her looks could be more profitably exploited.
Even without Hitchings on board, there would be no shortage of talent in Landmarq's lineup. Guitarist Uwe D'Rose delivers some intense guitar solos in the tradition of David Gilmour and keyboardist Steve Leigh displays a knack for rich, dramatic arrangements while tastefully avoiding bombastic overkill. More impressive still, the rhythm section of drummer Dave Wagstaffe and bassist Steve Gee negotiate the unusual and frequently changing meters with effortless fluidity. The music features memorable, catchy melodies and though the compositions rarely wander far from basic verse / chorus song structure, the band injects lengthy instrumental sections to provide plenty of dynamic variety. Like most of their British neoprog contemporaries, Landmarq sometimes wears its influences rather prominently on its sleeve. Prog afficionados will find an abundance of not-so-subtle references to better known acts like Marillion ("Science of Coincidence" and "Summer Madness"), Genesis ("Heritage" and the choruses of "More Flames for the Dancer"), and Pink Floyd ("The Vision Pit"). Even the more derivative sections are performed with real panache, however, and in this era of overtly mainstream, dance-oriented junk, a few sincere homages to classic '70s acts should do nobody any harm. The band occasionally shines with genuine originality, as on "Between Sleeping and Dreaming," a sublimely enchanting, piano-led ballad, or the closing track "The Overlook," which builds from a drifting, wistful opening to a stunning symphonic finale. During the moments when the instrumental work gels perfectly with Hitching's voice, the music is nothing short of breathtaking. It's almost worth the price of the whole album just to hear her voice triumphantly rise out of the last echos of the searing instrumental section in "Lighthouse."
Music Album:
Music CD
El Juicio (The Judgement) (Limited Edition) ~ Keith Jarrett
Best of The Atlantic Years (Deluxe 14 CD Box Set) ~ Herbie Mann
The Best of Mrs. Fun ~ Mrs. Fun
Histoire du Tango: Accordion and Violin
Mega Rai V.2 ~ Various Artists