Sinister
Street is a band from Holland. They started in 1987. When Fish left
Marillion, they did a few gigs with him. Their first CD “The Eve Of
Innocence” was released in 1992. Now, 10 years later, there is a
successor, this new Musea release “Trust”. Only the singer and the
keyboard players are original members, the others are new. This
CD has become a beautiful piece of work, although you would expect a little
bit more after 10 years of waiting. This
album can be labeled as neo-prog. A
name as Jadis, immediately comes to mind, but I like them a little bit more
then Jadis, because they don’t repeat certain riffs that much. Also the
name For Absent Friends is a good reference, but Sinister Street is a bit
more progressive. It’s mostly the voice of Olaf that resembles the voice
of A.T. from For Absent Friends from their “Both Worlds” period. The
problem on this CD is the vocals. The singer has a beautiful voice, but
there are too much vocals on this album. There’s
not enough room for solos. He’s
using the same style in every song, which becomes a bit boring. And yet, the
vocals are the main factor, that lifts the better songs above average. So
it’s no coincidence that especially the longer songs are the best, because
there is more room for a solo. And of course, the instrumental song
“Trust” is one of the highlights, but even then solos are rare. The
CD opens with “Song For A Day”, a magnificent song that lasts more then
8 minutes. Beautiful
intro, splendid melody, superb vocals, catchy chorus, so everything you need
to have a strong progressive song. A pity, the end doesn’t include a solo,
only a tapestry of sounds, even the middle of the song could use some more
solo escapades. The
title song “Trust” is an instrumental number. A beautiful, driving start
with a solid rhythm and a splendid guitarrif. There’s no showing off of
individuals, but they play very good together. “Two
In One” has a beautiful melody and starts off with a good cooperation of
vocals, synth and acoustic guitars. A magnificent song with an outstanding
guitarsolo. “Through
The Looking Glass” is an original song, which needs a few listenings to
get to know and like it. The
other songs are just good neo-prog. There’s nothing more to tell about
them. They
all sound a bit alike. The bonustrack (bonus? Can you buy the CD without
this song?) is a radio-edit of the song “Two In One”, which already is
on the CD in a long version. It’s
a pity the lyrics aren’t included. You find a note that the lyrics are on
the Internet on their site www.sinisterstreet.com.
In fact, you find them there, but without copy and paste, you can’t even
print them. If
you like neo-prog, then this CD is a good purchase. Reviewed by: Danny 'Camil' Focke |
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