The Watch - Timeless

(CD 2010, 44.59, Independent: Just for Kicks 11935)

The tracks:
  1- The Watch(1:47)
  2- Thunder Has Spoken(4:48)
  3- One Day(4:09)
  4- In The Wilderness(4:05)
  5- Soaring On(4:23)
  6- Let Us Now Make Love(4:39)
  7- Scene Of The Crime(5:13)
  8- End Of The Road(6:21)
  9- Exit(0:57)
10- Stagnation(8:34)

The Watch Website        samples       


The Watch is a five-piece from Milan, Italy. In 1997, they started as The Nightwatch and recorded the excellent debut album Twilight. After Twilight they released another five albums like Ghost (2001), Vacuum (2004), Primitive (2007), The Watch Live (2008, see review) and Planet Earth? (2010, see review), so Timeless is their seventh album. In general, the music of The Watch is inspired by the classic progressive and symphonic rock style of the seventies and in particular by the music of early Genesis. From the beginning their singer is founder member and main composer Simone Rossetti. His voice and intonation almost seems a perfect copy of the voice of Genesis' lead singer Peter Gabriel, one of the most distinctive voices ever in progressive rock. Besides Rossetti, the other members of The Watch are Giorgio Gabriel (guitars), Guglielmo Mariotti (bass), Valerio De Vittorio (keyboards) and Marco Fabbri (drums).  

Listening to Timeless is certainly not a difficult activity for the songs aren't complicated or tiring. In a way it all sounds a bit too perfect this time and sadly I miss the sparks in a number of compositions. Most of the songs have a slow pace and several of them have an abrupt end. It all sounds a bit uninspired to me. The best songs are the two old Genesis-covers Stagnation and In The Wilderness. Just to remain positive: it's a great album to play near the open fire place. Ah, I almost forgot something. Steve's brother John Hackett plays the flute for thirty seconds on Let Us Now Make Love.

I hope The Watch and particularly Simone Rossetti will find new inspiration otherwise they will forever be regarded as a Genesis-clone. No more, no less...

** Cor Smeets (edited by Peter Willemsen)

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