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5th Season

Live

Review by Gary Hill
These guys are considered a prog band. I can see that. This is more melodic progressive rock, though. It also lands in jam band territory at lot of the time. There are some definite jazz elements, too. Call it what you like, though. All in all the album works quite well. This is a talented act, and they have produced a strong disc.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2026  Volume 1. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2026.
Track by Track Review
On the Dark Side of the Moon, part 1

Piano starts this and holds it for an extended period, working through some intriguing jamming. It eventually this fills out to a rather jazzy sort of jam. The vocals come in over the top, augmenting that vibe. This tune builds outward as it continues. I’d consider it closer to jazzy jam band sound than prog, but it’s all a matter of degrees anyway. This is a classy tune that works really well no matter how you classify it. The talk box on the guitar solo is an interesting touch. That was everywhere for a short time in the 1970s, but you don’t hear it much since then. At least it sure sounds like talk box to me. I guess it could be some other form of processing, but I don’t think so. After that powerhouse jam ends, we get more piano to end the piece.

On the Dark Side of the Moon, part 2

A rather funky arrangement gets us underway here. This feels more purely proggy as it starts out. This works through a number of twists and turns in purely instrumental fashion for the bulk of its extended duration. It also has some killer jamming at its heart. I particularly like the keyboard work on it. The tune drops to a mellower arrangement about three-quarters of the way through for the entrance of the vocals. It carries on in that vein from there.

I Am the Waves

Fairly mellow melodic prog stylings are at the heart of this track as it gets underway. It has cool keyboard work and a very effective vocal arrangement. The instrumental break beyond that vocal section features some soaring guitar work. Then we get a keyboard focused part. It works back into the vocal movement from there. The fairly short closing instrumental movement focuses on some great melodic guitar work.

In Memoriam

This starts intricate and fairly mellow and works forward with classical and jazz elements both at play. As the guitar rises upward there are some meaty elements at play in the soloing. The tune continues to build in tempo and intensity as the guitar keeps on soloing like crazy. Keyboard jamming gets involved as this continues, too. Fusion, jam-band, jazz and prog all seems to merge as this continues. It drops back to a rather spacey bit of weirdness further down the road. After that section it comes out into more of a mainstream rock movement. It still has some twists and turns built into it, though. At close to 12-minutes of music, this instrumental is the epic of the set. It’s also one of the highlights.

Desperate Measures

Piano starts things, feeling a little like Procol Harum to me. This grows out to a full melodic prog arrangement that holds it for the duration. The closing instrumental section features some smoking hot guitar soloing. It’s a great tune that creates a satisfying end to the album.

 
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