Band:
Andy Tillison - keyboards and vocals
Jonathan Barrett - Bass Guitar and vocals
Luke Machin - Guitar and vocals
*Tony Latham - Drums
*Nick Rickwood played the drums with the band during the Spring of 2011 while Tony Latham was away. This includes the album COMM.
Discography:
The Music That Died Alone 2003
The World That We Drive Through 2004
Pyramids And Stars (Live) 2005
A Place In The Queue 2006
Going Off On One (Live CD/DVD) 2007
Not As Good As The Book 2008
A Place On The Shelf"" 2009
Down And Out In Paris And London 2009
Going Off On Two (Live CD/DVD) 2011
Guests:
Theo Travis - Saxophones and Flute
Info
Ed Unitsky - artwork
Released 26/9-2011
Reviewed 5/9-2011
Links:
thetangent.org
insideout
If you look at the album cover I think you will start to get a pretty good idea what it will be about, you’re right of course it is progressive rock. Immaculately well produced complex rock music which is very rich in nuances and it varies from very complex to quite simple, and of course in countless other ways. The album has five tracks and it will take you nearly one hour to get through it in its entirety, which of course means that there are some really long tracks like the 20 minute opus The Wiki Man that opens the album. The ending track is another track that has a very long playing time, it is sixteen minutes long, the shortest track on the album is called Tech Support Guy and lasts for just under six minutes. In other words it is an album with long tracks, long instrumental adventures and much complexity in song structures, it is progressive rock.
The album opens with a sound many of us are very familiar with even though it is not something we hear often today: the classical dial up modem in action dialling up a connection. This is a great way to start this album, a sound we are familiar with and also maybe the sound many of us connect to this electronic communications revolution we’ve had lately. The track is called is called The Wiki Man and has the modem followed by a great intro melody and then it opens up into a great epic that grabs me and brings me into a musical adventure with nuances that are being discovered and further explored every time I hear the album. The second track The Mind’s Eye is not as good and a bit of a filler for the album I think but from there on with Shoot Them Down, the great and funny Tech Support Guy which tells a great story of how fragile things in the modern communication can be, and the ending epic Titanic Calls Carpathia it is brilliance and the adventure is on.
I think this album despite its complexity is very easy to take to, it feels instantly rewarding but at the same time the many small nuances keeps you interested for a very long time. That is something of an impressive thing to pull off, but I have known The Tangent since their debut 2003 with the album The Music That Died Alone and I knew that this would be something exiting and interesting just as that album was back then. And not only is it a feast for the ears and your adventurous musical mind, the lyrical theme which is a reflection on the world of today is another upside with this album and all of a sudden great albums just seem to be coming thick and fast. It is not as brilliant as the album I reviewed earlier today but neither is it far from it and it is a great musical adventure that has me captivated for the hour it goes on. I also think it will interest many of you who are reading this site as it is a great album that will be an adventure to anyone with the right mindset and it will be a great album for everyone else.
HHHHHHH
