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Pros: stellar musicianship. Lots of guitar-keys-bass interplay, catchy rhythms, stops and starts, and lots of plain old rocking out to a wacky riff. Roine is really kicking ass on this one, more so than on the Flower Kings songs I've heard, and on a par with his work in Transatlantic. Hans is not afraid to use all sorts of different keyboard sounds, including a lead synth sound that makes me think of Derek Sherinian or Jens Johanssen. Morgan is tearing up the drumset as usual. Jonas is alternating between powerful but reserved bass parts, and a few moments of lead parts. Patrik is singing like he means it (as opposed to Notes from the Past, in which his vocals were just to clean and *nice*), and Aleena is great again, and this time I think the material is a bit better suited to her voice.

Cons: If you listen to too much prog (as I do), you'll start to hear echoes of other bands in this album. At times you'll hear bits that may make you think of Yes, Queen, Jethro Tull, and Dream Theater. Not even a tip of the hat is given, but just a keyboard tone here or two notes there, which will sorta remind you of these bands. This is not a bad thing, but it was a bit distracting for me to say "hmm that sounds kinda like Gates of Delirium", "hmm that sounds like Images and Words". A lot of this for me is coming from Jonas's tone & style, which are just too reminiscent of Chris Squire.

All that said, this is an excellent album and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes prog or The Flower Kings or liked Notes from the Past.

BTW, high quality MP3 samples from this album can be found on their web site at http://www.kaipa.info/.

According to the credits, Roine Stolt is a co-writer on three album tracks. Personally, I can hear little or no difference in the material as compared to last years release. It seems as though the band could have taken another year to rejuvenate. The best song, the only real reason to own the album, is "A Complex Work of Art", with beautiful lead vocals by Aleena (She was on the last album, but has a greater presence here). The song moves through various speeding bits, a gentle vocal, and the last half being very 'prog'.

"Lifetime of a Journey" (track 1) has been favorably compared to the music of Queen. It is very pompous, with dual guitars and harmony vocals. Although written by Lundin, this song has a strong Flower Kings vibe. "Weed of all Mankind" is fairly lengthy and somewhat agressive and also gentle. "Sonic Pearls" is decent, typical Kaipa, nothing quite remarkable. "End of the Rope" is the album's longest track, at almost 14 minutes. Shades of light and dark, angry vocals. Big stretches of interlocking bass/guitar/keyboard lines.

"Across the Big Uncertain" has a very pastoral sense to it; gentle, soft, flowing, peaceful. "Distant Voices" is another typical, very long tune. Mostly instrumental, with varying elements of timbre and dynamic range. The final track, "Otherwordly Brights" is another unremarkable tune, although very positive and melodic. It could have been anywhere on the album.

In comparison to the last release, this album is much more agressive, more song-driven. Although the 'lead guitar' synth sound that Mr. Lundin employes becomes very annoying at times, you will hear more organ, mellotron, and even harpsichord pop up in the songs than the last album. Roine Stolt is arguably in a period of greatest production, and his guitar-ing is top notch. I would have prefferred his singing to the sometimes bombastic vocals of Lundin and Patrik Lundstrom. Drummer Morgan Agren is quite skilled and competent, and bassist Reingold is in fine form, if providing more of an accompaning role as opposed to his often virtuoso and skillful performances in Karmakanic and Flower Kings.

Not an entirely unique album, too similar to last years album, but worth a listen regardless. Mr. Stolt recommends that the listener hear the album at least 5 times. My opinion stands firm: this is good, although not different enough.