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██▌ Artist...: The Tangent ░▐██▌
░▐██ Album....: Auto Reconnaissance ░██▌░
▓▐██ Year.....: 2020 ▓▐██▓
▓▐██ Rel.Date.: 2020-10-25 ░▐██▓
▐██ Genre....: Progressive Rock ██▌░
░ ██▌ Label....: Inside Out Music / Sony Music ██▌
▐██ Source...: CD ▐██
░▐██▌ Type.....: Album ▐██▌░
▓▄████ Quality..: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo ████▌░
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1. Life on Hold 5:31
2. Jinxed in Jersey 15:57
3. Under Your Spell 5:44
4. The Tower of Babel 4:35
5. Lie Back and Think of England 28:16
6. The Midas Touch 5:55
7. Proxima 12:26
------
78:24
The Tangent is one of the best prog creators of the new millenium, but
for my second most expected album of the year, I'm a little
disappointed. Don't get me wrong: the new album is very good but I think
my expectations were too high (5 stars maybe ?!?). I love all the jazzy
touches of the record, I love all the short songs, but the epic ones
feels underwhelming. "Jinxed in Jersey" is funny but kind of cheesy.
"Lie back & Think of England" had to be the masterpiece of the album.
And it's a very good epic but not a great one. The song tries to be "In
Earnest" Part II, but only partially succeeds. There is a good start and
a touching second-half part but overall is 5-8 minutes longer than it
should be. From the band who created epics like "In Earnest", "Where Are
They Now?", "Slow Rust", or "Le Sacre Du Travail" I was hoping for more
cohesion. And now the good news: the second-half part of LB&ToE is pure
gold. A good 4 stars album & I definitely can say that The Tangent is
not capable to create weak or mediocre albums. See you on the next ones.
---
Another excellent release from Andy Tillison and company. On first
listen, I was blown away by Jinxed in Jersey which has many different
influences from lounge, jazz, and electronica as well as a HUGE COOL
FACTOR with a sprinkle of Zappaesque. That is the most unique track on
this album, and the rest has a very strong jazz influence. The bonus
track Proxima is an instrumental that could have been an extra track on
Andy's Kalman Filter project. The rest of the album contains his usual
witty lyrics and spin on the things that apply to everyday life. He
likes to tell stories and shape them to the music in epic proportions.
Musically, the compositions are fantastic with great, and I mean great,
sax playing by Theo Travis. The keyboards are always fantastic, and Auto
Reconnaissance has the feel of another Tangent release full of energy
and passion for music. The remaining members of the band provide some of
the best musicianship on a modern prog release, and it is never
surprising that they remain a consistently great band. The Tangent
really earns it's "Eclectic" moniker with Auto Reconnaissance, and it
should not disappoint anyone that enjoys previous releases or modern
progressive rock.
---
Another strong candidate for the album of the year. I really think this
is one of the best albums composed by this band. However, I am a little
dissapointed because while i love the shorter tracks, I feel that the
two longer ones are overlong and some of the ideas could have been left
out, especially in "Lie Back & Think of England". Don't get me wrong,
both are very good songs, but I have always found these problems with
the epics from this band. To me an epic must be the perfect song and
usually have higher expectations than with the rest of the album. Now
the rating:
Life on Hold - 9/10
Jinxed in Jersey - 8.5/10
Under Your Spell - 9.5/10
The Tower of Babel - 8/10
Lie Back & Think of England - 7.5/10
The Midas Touch - 9/10
Proxima - 6.5/10
Overall, a 4-star album that surely will please fans of modern
progressive rock.
---
My two favourite albums for this pandemic year which appears to have
reduced the available new music in the year so far, are Pendragon's Love
Over Fear and The Tangent's Auto Reconnaissance. The two albums couldn't
be more different but great melodies are what they both share. The music
of The Tangent is always more complex in structure, requiring more
listens for full appreciation, but both are enjoyable from first listen.
Lyrically they are poles apart. Nick Barrett's are simpler and on Love
Over Fear are even na∩ve at times whereas Andy Tillison's are sometimes
controversial but always intelligent, almost poetic and an essential
part of the overall package.
Auto Reconnaissance is the latest in a long line of very high-quality
prog albums. It is too early for me to say whether it is their finest,
but it is certainly up there. Prog Archives categorises the music of The
Tangent as eclectic and the range of musical styles on this album
illustrates this. The Tangent's brilliant guitarist, Luke Machin,
recently released an album showcasing the different musical styles that
can be played on a guitar and, on Auto Reconnaissance, he skilfully
supports the musical styles. The overall musicianship is highly
accomplished with Theo Travis' contribution on a variety of wind
instruments being particularly notable.
Every album by The Tangent has an epic track of considerable length
which is complex in structure and always features an exquisite melody
which is returned to as the track progresses but is otherwise used
sparingly. Auto Reconnaissance is no exception with Lie Back and Think
Of England running for over 28 minutes. This is the track I have
listened to most despite its length. I've seen others state that the
track is too long and certainly, when you first listen to it, the first
half appears less coherent than the second but, as get to know the
track, you wouldn't want it any other way. The track returns to seeing
the world through the eyes of a World War II pilot called Earnest who
feels that it is only on Armistice Day that anyone notices him. Earnest
first appeared on In Earnest, a wonderful track from the great album A
Place In The Queue. He made a further short appearance on Where Are They
Now from Down And Out In Paris. On Auto Reconnaissance Earnest comments
further on the state of the world and delivers a powerful message.
I believe this is a truly great album and for me is certainly worthy of
5 stars.
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