Record Reviews

CHANDELIER ~ FACING GRAVITY CHICKADISC 006 (Barcode: 5903068120107) ~ GERMANY ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1992 - 1993 Released: 2018 This is a reissue of the second album by the German Neo-Prog ensemble ChandelierFind albums by this artist, which consisted of vocalist Martin EdenFind albums by this artist, guitarist Udo LangFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Tobias BudnowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Christoph TiberFind albums by this artist and drummer Heribert RubarthFind albums by this artist. The album presents nine original songs with lyrics (In English) by Eden and music co-credited to all five ensemble members. This remastered and expanded edition adds a whole second CD which presents a concert recording of the group captured at a Paris club. The music continues the classic Neo-Prog direction established on the debut, but with a much tighter playing, radically improved sound and stronger compositions, which altogether shift the band into the top of the genre´s acts. In retrospect this album is considered as one of the top German Neo-Prog albums ever recorded and easily matches the best albums recorded by the parallel British Neo-Prog bands of the period. Although the Neo-Prog genre was a priori limited by the concept that it had to continue the direction set by the original Prog genre initiated decades earlier with as little deviation from the original formulae as possible, it did produce some excellent music over time, of which this is a good example. Solid melodies, complex instrumentation and operatic vocals generate epic symphonic sound which at its best is overwhelming, but at its worst can be ridiculous and boring. The album maintains a superb level of musicianship for its entire duration and is certainly an epitome of the Prog idiom, avoiding successfully the traps of repetition and duplication which many albums within the genre suffer from. Progheads should find this remastered and expanded reissue a feast to their ears and considering the fact that the original release is impossible to find these days, this is a great opportunity to discover this excellent band. As usual the remastered music and excellent liner notes make this reissue a must have. The ChickadiscFind albums on this label label is a subsidiary of the excellent Polish GADFind albums on this label Records, which by now is a trademark of quality.

Updated: 21/09/2021Posted: 30/06/2019

CD 2 Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend

CHANDELIER ~ PURE CHICKADISC 005 (Barcode: 5903068120091) ~ GERMANY ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1988 - 1990 Released: 2018 This is a reissue of the debut album by the German Neo-Prog ensemble ChandelierFind albums by this artist, which consisted of vocalist Martin EdenFind albums by this artist, guitarist Udo LangFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Tobias BudnowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Christoph TiberFind albums by this artist and drummer Heribert RubarthFind albums by this artist. The album presents ten original songs with lyrics (In English) by Eden and music co-credited to all five ensemble members. This remastered and expanded edition adds a whole second CD which presents the cassette only early album by the band with one previously unreleased outtake. The music is obviously strongly influenced by the classic British Prog bands of the late 1960s / early 1970s as well as the early British Neo-Prog bands which exploded in the early 1980s like MarillionFind albums by this artist, IQFind albums by this artist, PallasFind albums by this artist, PendragonFind albums by this artist and many others. The songs on this album as every bit as good as the material these bands managed to produce, and offer great melodies, excellent instrumental parts and falsetto (as appropriate for the genre) vocals. Neo-Prog sadly had a limited musical impact as it basically offered nothing new that was not already done in the past and refused to break beyond the self imposed limits of the genre. Nevertheless this album is quite strong as far as this genre has to offer and in the thirty years retrospective sounds really entertaining. Progheads should find this remastered and expanded reissue a feast to their ears and considering the fact that the original release is impossible to find these days, this is a great opportunity to discover this excellent band. As usual the remastered music and excellent liner notes make this reissue a must have. The ChickadiscFind albums on this label label is a subsidiary of the excellent Polish GADFind albums on this label Records, which by now is a trademark of quality.

Updated: 21/09/2021Posted: 29/06/2019

CD 2 Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend

CHANDELIER ~ TIMECODE CHICKADISC 008 (Barcode: 5903068120343) ~ GERMANY ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1986 - 2018 Released: 2019 This is a reissue of the third (and last) album by the German Neo-Prog ensemble ChandelierFind albums by this artist, which consisted of vocalist Martin EdenFind albums by this artist, guitarist Udo LangFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Tobias BudnowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Stephan ScholzFind albums by this artist and drummer Tom JarzinaFind albums by this artist. The album presents nine original songs with lyrics (In English) by Eden and music co-credited to all five ensemble members. This remastered and expanded edition adds a whole second CD of bonus material, called "Lost & Found", which presents previously unreleased demo, outtakes, rehearsal take, a cover of a GenesisFind albums by this artist song and new (2018) re-recordings, all recorded by the original lineup of the group with bassist Christoph TiberFind albums by this artist and drummer Heribert RubarthFind albums by this artist, which recorded the first two albums. Recorded and released five years after its predecessor, the album continues the classic Neo-Prog direction established on the two earlier albums. The playing is still very tight, slick and polished, the vocals are excellent and so are the tunes, but sadly by the end of the 1990s Neo-Prog was running completely out of steam and the band finally called it quits a few months after the album was released. Although the Neo-Prog genre was a priori limited by the concept that it had to continue the direction set by the original Prog genre initiated decades earlier with as little deviation from the original formulae as possible, it did produce some excellent music over time, of which this is a good example. Solid melodies, complex instrumentation and operatic vocals generate epic symphonic sound which at its best is overwhelming, but at its worst can be ridiculous and boring. Although this album maintains a superb level of musicianship for its entire duration and is certainly an epitome of the Neo-Prog idiom, it did not manage to avoid the traps of repetition and duplication which many albums within the genre suffer from, especially towards the end of the Century. Progheads (well Neo-Progheads) should find this remastered and expanded reissue a feast to their ears and considering the fact that the original release is impossible to find these days, this is a great opportunity to discover this excellent band. As usual the remastered music and excellent liner notes make this reissue a must have. The ChickadiscFind albums on this label label is a subsidiary of the excellent Polish GADFind albums on this label Records, which by now is a trademark of quality.

Updated: 21/09/2021Posted: 14/03/2020

CD 2 Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend