ATRIA - BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS - 1992

ATRIA is a French Neo band, that released two critically acclaimed albums for Musea. The lineup consisted of vocalist Jean Michel Paci, keyboardist Martial Urbanc, guitarist Gerard Larue, guitarist Vincent De Toffoli, drummer Stephane Pacini, and David Juvan on Bass. The two albums, 1992's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," and 1996's "Hide," managed to be recorded with absolutely no change in lineup. This may not seem like a big deal, but when you have researched as many short lived bands as I have, this is more of the exception than the rule. Keeping the band together also seems to be especially difficult when there are large gaps of time (like four years) between albums.

Now, ATRIA may be from France, but it isn't exactly easy to tell. The vocals are in English, and they aren't really indicative of the French school. It is a powerful style of Neo, with an emphasis on symphonic. The complexities are almost reminiscent of Brazilian symphonic. As if that is not confusing enough, comparisons to Clepsydra have also been made. Anyway, this is expertly executed prog, and should be of interest to any Neo, or Symphonic fan.
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