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The more you listen to some albums, the better
they become. Alas, this is not the case for “More than Meets the
Eye”, the reworked reissue of Jadis’ debut album. The music doesn’t
succeed in making you forget that it was made 13 years ago. It
certainly isn’t a bad album, but there are to few elements that make
you stop doing what you were doing just to sit and listen.
The opening reminds a bit of the guitars and
keyboards of Van Halen in ‘Jump’ and Europe. “Sleepwalk’ is an
uptempo song with a melodic guitar solo as can be found in many
hardrock and AOR albums. The song is very alternated, but sounds a
bit outdated.
“Hiding in the Corner” brings an instrumental
part with a heavy beat and a lot of guitars.
In “Wonderful World” Jadis really seems to have
chosen for the more symphonic rock. It’s a good song containing all
the necessary elements of the genre.
The title track tries to create a peaceful
atmosphere using acoustic guitar and flute, but doesn’t convince at
all and even gets boring.
Fortunately there is “The Beginning and the End”,
a symphonic rock song with a great guitar solo in the intro. The
organ is a bit stereotype, but the song keeps standing.
Also in the instrumental “Holding your Breath”
it’s especially the guitar that convinces with great solo work.
The bonus cd contains 13 rare or previously
unreleased tracks. Some of them are very good. “This Changing Face”
for instance is a nice song, but again it carries the signs of its
age. The same can be said of “Taking Your Time”, a slow song with a
nice melody, but never really convincing. This goes for most of the
album. It is good, but I always kept waiting for more.
The edition itself is great: slipcase, jewel case and a 14page
booklet with beautiful pictures. There are no lyrics of the bonus cd,
however. |
