Lithuania's top prog band has now been going for the best part of 20 years and Journey Through The Skies is The Skys fifth studio album. The band has assembled a veritable star cast, including three fifths of Lifesigns (John Young, Martin “Frosty” Beedle and engineer Steve Rispin), Rob Townsend from Steve Hackett's Band, Anne-Marie Helder and guitar maestros Dave Kilminster and Snowy White. Despite this who's who guest list, Journey Through The Skies, is a curious album, which never seems to take flight musically as its title would suggest. Despite its leanings towards psychedelia, it's middle of the road prog whose engine appears to be idling most of the time. In fact, some tracks seem to end all too abruptly without reaching their logical conclusion, while at 38 seconds in length, Take A Look Inside barely gets started at all. Band mainman Jonas Čiurlionis has something of a “Marmite” voice - either you love it or you hate it, but it works best when paired with female vocalist Božena Buinicka. There are shades of Pink Floyd in some of their songs, and an interesting Eastern vibe runs through The Ancient Indian's Song. Should Stop Now is perhaps the strongest and most out there of all the tracks with part spoken, part sung vocals and a wonderful saxophone solo from Townsend which elevates it to another level. There's a lovely guitar solo to lift The Wings Of The Night, while Broken Sounds Of Truth has an altogether rockier rhythm. However, overall, it is far too mellow and lacking depth of character for this reviewer's taste. It's a journey which seems to going around in circles rather than reaching its final destination. ** Alison Reijman Where to buy? |
