Dead Earnest, Feb 2008

A 55 minute album with a few vocals along the way, excellently produced, played and arranged by main man Steven McCabe on all guitars and keyboards, aided by drummer and vocalist. But whereas most of his previous output fell firmly into the realm - and an overcrowded one, at that - of prog-rock, this is more out of that league and into a much bigger realm. However, despite being recorded in 2007, they've managed to give it the sound and feel of a seventies album, so much so that the person in the same room in which I was playing it, extolled the amazement that I was playing something thirty years old!

With a total of 7 tracks, of which 5 average around 6 minutes each and two at 12 minutes, the first three are pure late seventies/early eighties Santana without any of the Latin touches, with, in particular on the third track, a distinct Pink Floyd flavour thrown in. The fourth track is weighted more heavily in the vein of late seventies instrumental Mike Oldfield, here with the Santana influences more in the background. The fifth track is a ballad with more of a sedate appeal to it, more something you might expect to find on a Mike and The Mechanics album.

The first of the two 12 minute pieces starts with what sounds like a mellotron but probably isn't, as the slowly chugging rhythm section begins, only to fall back to the strains of strings and piano, all very lush and heart-warming. Above this, the Oldfield-esque guitar chimes away, as the vocal enters and another ballad ensues. The vocal eventually ends as the instrumental section fires up and things get altogether livelier with initially an organ run then this soaring Gilmour-like guitar lead, only with the pace of a racing Santana, lights it up, only then, to my great surprise, for it all to drop back abruptly to ballad mode as the song continues and sees the album out in this vein.

Finally the album ends on a 12 minute instrumental that is the only track to revisit its real prog-rock roots as this synth lead wails away over a lurching backing of guitars and rhythm section, only then to fire up with guitar riffs, then drop down to smoulder with synth lead and guitars surging ahead, in this fast-slow-fast manner, and overall, a solid way to see out the album.

Overall, for anyone into any of the artists and eras of this style of music to which I've alluded, this will come as a welcome relief from anything contemporary.

Reviewed by: Andy Garibaldi, Dead Earnest, 02-2008

Here we have a high quality Neo-Progressive Rock album in the shape of the new album of UK band ELEGANT SIMPLICITY. The band sounds like a mix between the old PINK FLOYD, IQ, FROST and classic MARILLION, basically really pure Neo-Prog like the British can only make it. The band has already released quite a lot albums in the past, of which most have also by reviewed here. Without a doubt, also the new CD is a very impressive album. Maybe no surprises, as the music is similar to their earlier records, but you get a high quality record for sure here.

Any Neo-Progfan can blindly buy a copy of this CD definitely, which has it’s highlights in the closing 2 tracks “Kiss away the pain” and “Fragments”, 2 very lengthy songs. Although the band is mainly driven on instrumental passages, in which a melodic guitar solo is mixed with laid-back keyboards (both by bandleader STEVEN MCCABE, who basically did almost everything except singing and drumming) and a rather relaxing rhythm section, the vocals of singer Ken Senior are also quite nice to hear every now and then (on 4 out of 7 included songs). Anyway, Neo-Progfans should check out this new ELEGANT SIMPLICITY album and more info on the band at: www.elegantsimplicity.com

• Reviewed by: Gabor Kleinbloesem
• Reviewed in: Strutter Magazine, the Netherlands
• Reviewed date: January 2008
• Website: http://www.strutter.co.nr/