If you like your Prog melancholic and thoughtful, and of the Peter Gabriel variety, then this is an album well worthy of your attention.

Lovers of Peter Gabriel's solo work will instantly be all over this like a rash, and with a line-up that boasts the likes of Jerry Marotta (drums/vocals) who played on Gabriel's first five solo outings and Trey Gunn (touch guitar/vocals) who's had a stint in Prog Giants King Crimson, you can immediately see that there is real pedigree here. Completing the line-up is David Jameson (keyboards/eigenharp) who's been part of a Pink Floyd tribute act, vocalist Happy Rhodes (great name by the way!) and guitarist Michael Cozzi, the latter two both possessing a résumé that would have any self-respecting Prog fan purring with delight.

The band have, for a number of years, been on the live circuit and have been slowly building up a reputation and following while also releasing live albums sporadically. This new offering is once again a live recording which sees the band "re-imagining" the work of Peter Gabriel with a Kate Bush track thrown in for good measure, all with quite stunning results.

Recorded on the band's recent US and Japanese tours, this disc is a rather beautiful and thoughtful homage to Gabriel's early work. Pretty much made up of "deep cuts" from Gabriel's catalogue, the band really do it all perfect justice, tracks such as 'San Jacinto', 'Rhythm Of The Heat' and 'I Have The Touch' are refined, elegant pieces, and in the hands of people who know and understand the great man's work, they are nothing short of perfection.

It's easy to say that these guys are simply a tribute act, but there's more to them than that. The musicianship is of the highest quality, and in Happy Rhodes they have a singer that can breathe new life into these songs, if that's possible of course, and on the sole Kate Bush song 'Mother Stands For Comfort' she sounds quite eerily just like her.
Albums such as this will only have limited appeal which ultimately is a shame as this release is a real classy affair and it's all beautifully played and recorded. If you like your Prog melancholic and thoughtful, and of the Peter Gabriel variety, then this is an album well worthy of your attention.

Malcolm Smith