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░ ██ ██ Artist: Eyesberg ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: Masquerade █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 2016 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2017-04-16 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Progressive Rock ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: Progressive Promotion Records ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Album ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ Eyesberg took 34 years to cook up their debut, █
█ Blue, but didn't need nearly so long to churn out █
█ this successor to the album. It's neo-prog in a █
█ style which I'd be inclined to compare to recent █
█ Galahad - in that it's got the sort of mild █
█ Genesis influences you expect of neo-prog groups █
█ of a certain vintage, but greatly updated in terms █
█ of the electronic influences they allow to █
█ percolate into the music. █
█ It's competently done, but it does rather feel a █
█ bit neo-prog-by-numbers at points, and in terms of █
█ the lyrical themes they explore the band indulge █
█ in the sort of what I think of as "grumpy divorced █
█ dad nostalgia" that can plague the neo-prog scene █
█ a bit. You know the kind of thing - the sort of █
█ sub-Big Big Train griping about how Things Ain't █
█ Like They Used To Be (though there's plenty of █
█ music from the good old days that reminds us that █
█ things weren't so great back then either!). Where █
█ I look to neo-prog music for something emotionally █
█ engaging - whether that's IQ-style psychedelic █
█ excitement, Marillion-esque emotional gravitas, or █
█ whatever - Eyesberg instead deliver a lot of █
█ rather clueless griping. █
█ Take a case in point: one of the songs starts off █
█ with vocalist Malcolm Shuttleworth singing about █
█ how social media's terrible and nobody talks █
█ anymore. Now, this is a position without █
█ credibility (I could go off on a long rant about █
█ it, but suffice to say that if you believe people █
█ are using social media to the extent of cutting █
█ out seeing people in person entirely, I would say █
█ that you are either projecting your own boring █
█ social isolation onto others or fundamentally █
█ misunderstanding how people use it - it's a useful █
█ accessory to and facilitator of other █
█ interactions, not a replacement for them), but █
█ let's set that aside: Facebook launched in 2004, █
█ and Twitter launched in 2006. We are dealing here █
█ with a social phenomenon which is a decade old; █
█ the time when you could pretend to be "with it" █
█ and in tune with current issues simply by saying █
█ something uninformed and unsupported about social █
█ media is well and truly past. █
█ I take issue with this not because I think songs █
█ about social media are inherently bad, but I would █
█ say that they've been *done already*, and if a █
█ band feels the need to do a song about the subject █
█ and then entirely fails to say anything new about █
█ it beyond some dull platitudes - and, even worse, █
█ doesn't even manage to dress up the platitudes in █
█ a way I haven't heard a dozen times before - that █
█ suggests that they are rather short of ideas. And █
█ that's how I'd characterise Eyesberg: they churn █
█ out pleasant enough material, I wouldn't rate the █
█ album below three stars, but until they start █
█ doing something I haven't heard before too many █
█ times already they're not going to get beyond █
█ three stars. █
█ █
█ --- █
█ █
█ Towards the end of 2016 Eyesberg came back with █
█ their second album, this time comprising all new █
█ songs. There was no use of a drum machine this █
█ time, as they managed to secure the talents of █
█ Spock's Beard drummer Jimmy Keegan, and this has █
█ had a major impact on the music. No longer are the █
█ drums just there to keep the beat and provide █
█ backbone, this time they have become very much an █
█ essential part of the overall sound as Jimmy █
█ drives the guys along ? he never has been one to █
█ be content with just playing the beat, he knows █
█ when not to play, and when to force proceedings. █
█ No longer are the band performing as if they were █
█ around more than thirty- five years ago (although █
█ they were), now it is more of that time being an █
█ influence on what they are doing, which is far █
█ harder and heavier than last time around. █
█ The debut album would probably be best described █
█ as retro prog, but this one is much further into █
█ neo prog territory, with a far more abrasive edge, █
█ as if they have lost the innocence of the debut █
█ and are far angrier. The two albums are quite █
█ different in some respects, and very similar in █
█ others, with Malcolm's vocals playing a key part █
█ in bringing them together, along with Hackett █
█ Genesis influences still obvious in this one, █
█ although more diluted than in the debut. Of the █
█ two I think I prefer the debut, just, but they are █
█ both worthy of discovery to any prog lover. █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ 1. Joke on You 5:18 ░
░ 2. Come and Take a Look at My Life 6:33 ░
░ 3. Faceless 5:12 ░
░ 4. Here and Now 4:36 ░
░ 5. Storm Flood 6:02 ░
░ 6. Steal Your Thunder 5:19 ░
░ 7. Wait and See 18:01 ░
░ 51:01 ░
░ ▒ ▒
▓ █ ░ ▓ ░
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