This band is essentially a spin off of the group Man. It includes George Jones who is the son of Man's Micky Jones. There are former Man members in the group, too. The music here is similar to the sound of that band, classic rock sounds with a healthy dosage of prog. Some of this calls to mind things like Spock's Beard, while other parts are more pure bluesy rock. However you slice it, though, this should please fans of Man and mainstream proggy rock in general.
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Track by Track Review
Son of Man
Drums start this. Then the music works out from there into some killer, high energy prog. In a lot of ways this reminds me of early Spock's Beard. This is really quite a compelling AOR prog based piece. It has some great hooks and building processes. Yet there are some intriguing shifts and turns in place, too.
Death of the Ego I like this song a lot. It has a cool bluesy rock riff guiding it. It's another that makes me think of the Beard, but the more modern era of the band.
The Circle This rocks out harder than the previous couple tunes. It's no less proggy and compelling. It also has some of the mellower moments as the hard rock is contrasted with more balladic stuff.
Guiding Hand
Now, this really makes good usage of the old school bluesy rock sound. The riffing is great. The cut feels like something that would have been at home in the 1970s. There isn't a ton of prog in the mix here, but this is a strong tune even without it.
Otherside Balladic sounds are at the heart of this as it starts. The cut has powered up movements that bring the prog to the fore, but it's essentially a power ballad type of number.
A Glimpse of You This is more of a mainstream rocker. There are proggy changes here, though. This is more of an AOR prog number. It's classy stuff that's pretty accessible, really.
Pale Rider Another bluesy rocker, this has some harmonica in the mix. It makes me think of a proggier version of The Eagles merged with the Allman Brothers.
Crazy Here's another rather bluesy rocker. Yes, it has some prog built into it, too.
Soul to the Road I dig the cool instrumental movement mid-track on this. It has some great keyboard stuff. Beyond that, this is another smoking hot hard rocker with prog built into it.
My Only Friend More of a folk rocking tune, I dig this one a lot. The keyboard solo section is pretty meaty.
Short Sharp Shock
This one leans toward metal. Overall, it's another killer blues rocker without a lot of prog in the mix. The instrumental section later, though, really does bring some prog back into the equation. The closing movement has more of that prog thing on display.
