Oddly enough, a band's sound is determined by its vocalist, particularly whether it is a male or female singer. History has already proven this. There are plenty of examples where a band produced a different musical sound when switching from a male to a female vocalist, or vice versa. I will give you a few examples so you have a better idea of what I ultimately mean. The best example in the progressive rock scene is perhaps the British band Landmarq. They went from a female singer to a male singer, then back to a female singer, only to continue with a male singer. The band with Tracy Hitchings behind the microphone sounds distinctly different than when Damian Wilson handled the vocals. Another good example is perhaps the Dutch band Flamborough Head. When singer Sieberein Schaaf was replaced by singer Margriet Boomsma, they sounded like almost a different band. Another good example is the Scottish band Long Earth. They recently replaced their male singer Martin Haggarty with the Dutch singer Maaike Siegerist. The result is a new album that musically deviates somewhat from their previous 3 albums. This review is, of course, not about how a band sounds with a male or female singer. However, the above beautifully illustrates how important a band's voice is. This is clearly audible on Towards The Sky, the fourth studio album by the Glasgow-based progressive rock band Long Earth. On the three previous albums, the band primarily followed the musical path of bands like early Marillion, Pallas, Pendragon, and IQ. They produced a sound that can mainly be labelled as Neo-Prog. However, when Haggarty was unexpectedly unavailable as vocalist for a few concerts, Maaike Siegerist was asked to temporarily replace him. This clearly proved to be a stroke of genius, because when Haggarty indicated he wanted to leave the band, she was suddenly taken on as the band's new frontwoman, tasked with handling the vocal parts. Something she does excellently, as becomes apparent after listening to the new album. Her crystal-clear voice proves to have a major influence on the overall sound the band is now presenting. The neo-prog is still present, but the band is suddenly also showcasing a musical sound reminiscent of bands like Magenta, Mostly Autumn, and especially Karnataka. This, however, has mainly to do with Maaike's vocal sound. That leans mainly towards Christina Booth (Magenta), Olivia Sparnenn (Mostly Autumn), and especially Hayley Griffiths (ex Karnataka) and Sertari (Karnataka). Sometimes I also hear a bit from her compatriot Anneke van Giersbergen, who is known as the singer of The Gathering. So once again, it proves how important it is for a band's sound to have a male or female vocalist performing the vocal parts, even though the music remains somewhat the same. Listening to the album Towards The Sky, I was particularly struck by the musical similarity to Karnataka's Requiem For A Dream (2023, see review).Their latest album, on which singer Serati steals the show with her wondrous vocal parts, but also where beautiful solos on the guitars and synthesizers go hand in hand with catchy, sing-along vocals without resorting to musical compromise. I hear all of this reflected again on Towards The Sky, without any sense of copying. Requiem For A Dream is a world-class record in the progressive rock genre. And what Long Earth presents here on their latest album comes very close to what Karnataka musically demonstrates on their last record. The songs on Towards The Sky are of exceptional musical class, just as on Requiem For A Dream. Here too, singer Maaike Siegerist steals the show with her accentless vocal parts. And here on this album, it is Renaldo McKim on guitars and Mike Baxter on keyboards who provide the musical fireworks with beautiful solos on their instruments. They are expertly supported by a tightly rehearsed rhythm section consisting of David McLachlan on bass and Kenny McCabe on drums. It is difficult to name musical highlights because, as already noted, every track is of exceptional musical class. So I'm not going to do that either! The musicians have collectively ensured that what is offered is the best of the best. They probably did not want to make an album that also features weaker tracks. After all, no one wants that, of course. Therefore, there is absolutely no room for musical fillers on simple pieces that lack musical substance. Quality comes first, and furthermore, everything is recorded perfectly so that every instrument and every voice can be heard beautifully in the overall mix, which has been done excellently by Matt Harvey at Maybank Studios. Also important is the good balance between faster and slower tracks. Something that always benefits the offering. So, there is really nothing to complain about regarding this album, and the people responsible for it can be very proud of this beautifully released fourth studio album by Long Earth. Finally, I can report that Towards The Sky, like most albums released by progressive rock acts, is also a kind of concept album. Featuring themes centred around astronomy, space exploration, and human fragility. Without any doubt, I can state that with Towards The Sky, Long Earth has released their best album to date, without doing their earlier albums a disservice. The picture is simply perfect this time, and as noted earlier, there is absolutely nothing to complain about. Musically, it is of an exceptionally high class. This is perhaps the dream album that every band would love to release, just as Karnataka did with Requiem For A Dream. That is why it is not surprising that I can recommend Towards The Sky to anyone who ranked Requiem For A Dream highly on their 2023 year-end lists. Because Karnataka delivers the best of the best here as well. But this album is certainly also highly recommended for anyone who also found the aforementioned neo-prog bands and Magenta and Mostly Autumn worth listening to. One thing has become truly clear after the release of Towards The Sky, appointing Maaike as the band's vocalist has proven to be a bullseye. Hopefully, we can enjoy this special musical combination for a long time to come, and they will release more class albums like this one Because that is exactly what Towards The Sky is. For sure! ****+ Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
