Steve Thorne is one of the great unsung British prog heroes, a veritable one man band who has released a series of consistently well-crafted and thought-provoking solo albums, Crimes & Reasons being his fourth. One of his unique selling points is his ability to recruit some of the finest prog artistes in the business to play on his albums. Geoff Downes of Yes and Asia and John Mitchell of It Bites, Arena and Kino are just two of the big names from his past releases.

There are some equally star-studded names on this album, but the music is very much of Thorne’s making as is the production. He plays most of the instruments but the cornerstone of his talent is being blessed with an extraordinarily poignant voice which can channel unbridled anger one moment then break your heart the next.

Crimes & Reasons is a collection of his own compositions which not only showcase his fine writing, playing and singing, but is also a window on his view of the world, sometimes warts and all. He says his next album will be his last so catch him while you can. This album will give you several good reasons why.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2012  Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.

This gets it all off to a raucous start with a quiet acoustic guitar and stabbing keyboards suddenly exploding quickly and hypnotically into a slab of pulsating rock. Thorne’s drummer of choice is Nick D’Virgilio (formerly of Spock’s Beard) whose metronome drumming keeps it all grounded and heavy, as Thorne goes overboard in describing the life of a waster. A big chunky guitar solo in the centre keeps it all ticking over nicely.

A mellower, slower and gorgeous tune on which Thorne’s voice continues to stun with its emotion and power brings the album to a close. Again, he has only used D’Virgilio to accompany him and his drums kick in halfway through as the whole tempo and mood shifts up a gear with strong keyboards dominating the landscape.