Through and Through

Artist: Underground Railroad
Label: Laser's Edge
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 763232103320
EAN: 0763232103320
ASIN: B00004UEGX

Release Date: 2000-08-15

Through and Through

Related Categories:

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock

| Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

Tracks:

May-Fly
Comprachinos of the Mind
In the Factory
Doorman
Mars
Through and Through

Customer Reviews:

awesome musicians.......2005-06-15

A fool that I know gave this cd to a jazzer. This aint jazz- it's prog and it's wonderful. "Through and through" is a monumental composition. Yes these guys harken back to the glory years of prog but they also have a fresh approach. Those who fail to listen and discard miss out on a wealth of great music. Yes I'm talking about "pebozo" a.k.a. pedroza, daniel- see his foolish misguided reviews if you dare.

Shows Great Potential.......2004-10-11

I had the experience of seeing these songs played live at NEAR Fest in 2001.

Let me say first, these guys are more than capable players/composers who have a refreshing disregard for commercial concerns, staying true to their muse. They also have amazing ears for texture, mood and orchestration.

The Strong Points: Their instrumental ability, especially Kurt Rongey's lush symphonic keyboards and Bill Pohl's Holdsworth-inflected guitar work (with one big difference, he doesn't feel the need to spew out constant streams of 64th notes at Warp 8). They play very tight and really listen to each other. I love the unpredictable and mysterious chord progressions and melodies. How to describe them? Think choice bits of early Genesis, Happy The Man, Gentle Giant, a bit of Allan Holdsworth and Canterbury prog thrown in. A very dense, heady brew

The Weak Points: The lyrics seem pointlessly esoteric just to be esoteric. Kurt Rongey is one fine keyboardist/composer but vocalizing is NOT his forte'. Quite honestly, if the band went completely instrumental altogether it would work in their favor. Another pet peeve is the rather needless proliferation of gratuitous synth bleepings and what not, sometimes the music just needs to breathe and have open space.

If the band just took those last couple criticisms to heart and worked with them they would be one very potent instrumental band with lots of surprises and delights for any listener.

2000 prog-rock album sounds like 1980.......2003-03-20

This is a good-sounding and listenable prog-rock album, but it lacks in originality. While several reviewers have compared the sound to early Genesis, Genesis was always a very melodic band. Other than the opening cut, "May-Fly", the melodic ideas are lacking, and as a result the songs aren't memorable. Keyboardist Kurt Rongey tends to overplay to cover for this. One of the most effective moments is a four-minute stretch in "Comprachinos of the Mind" where the band simplifies and just plays some simple guitar noodling over moody synth chords. My favorite part of the album is guitarist Bill Pohl, who sounds like a cross between Holdsworth and Steve Hackett. The guitar chords add a jazzy touch to the prog sound; the result reminds me of bands circa 1980 like Brand X, Allan Holdsworth's I.O.U., and National Health (the DS Al Coda album). Rongey is also a very capable musician. Unfortunately, the songs veer into many of the standard prog-rock clichés: 1) When in doubt, play very fast for five seconds; 2) If you can't think of a melody, play an angular unison line; 3) Assume any keyboard line will sound good sung as a vocal melody. Except for the guitar, the album sounds very similar to Rongey's solo album "That Was Propaganda". This is a good but not great album--for prog-rock from 2000, I'd go with Echolyn's "Cowboy Poems Free", PFM's "Serendipity" or Glass Hammer's "Chronometree" ahead of this.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

THE NEW STANDARD OF PROG.......2002-11-07

Gentle Giant , early Genesis, King crimson, and melody as strong as Under the Sun is how I would best describe The Underground Railway. This is a class act at the(or beyond) progressive standards of those I just mentioned, and is a must have for those into just about any form of progressive music, prog rock through to prog metal. Buy it and discover the new standard of prog!

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