FINNEUS GAUGE - MORE ONCE MORE - 1999

Ecletic band which counts with the participation of Chris BUZBY, Keyboardist of ECHOLYN. They sound pretty much like that band, although more improvisation is found here. Powerful groves, and multi layered heavy passages are constant characteristcs on their music.



It's nearly impossible you don't like this album if you think you have strong passion in jazz-rock or Canterbury music with a bit of open mind in accepting any kind of music that flows into your ears and your mind. By design, this is absolutely a masterpiece album. This is a good example of combination between complexity (relatively high, in my opinion) and weak of melody which results in excellent harmony. Got confused? Hope you are not! My thesis is pretty simple. If you need a prog album must be complex, this album delivers it through interactions of Scott McGill stunning guitar work (sometimes in the style of Holdsworth) and inventive keyboard work of Chris Buzby. So, this album is yours. On melody line, I don't think this is the right choice for you (if you expect too) cause I think most tracks featured here do not provide what so called "melodic" or "touchy" segments of the music offered. However, these two components interact wonderfully in excellent harmony. That's the beauty of this album. You got complexity without touchy melody line but the combination of the two gives you excellent harmony. Such a simple thesis, right? Let's see how the music flows.

The album kicks off with "More Wants More" (7:34) in upbeat tempo and relatively complex arrangement plus many syncopated chords. If you get used to Bill Bruford's "Feels Good To Me" album, it'll be okay for you to enjoy this track. Next is wonderful composition "King Of The Chord Change" (5:40). As the title implies this song features some acrobatic chord changes even though the song sounds easy listening during lyrical verses. Laura Martin's voice is quite fit with the song style. Again, McGill's guitar solo is awesome. I especially like the music interlude. "Press The Flesh" (7:43) is beat-wise quite strange to my ears because it sounds like having syncopated chords. This is not the case when vocal enters the music. The music brings to a break with mellow track "Desire "(4:45).

"Doogins (The Evil Spawn)" (5:16) and "Customer Service" (5:32) are typical in nature and both have upbeat style. "Customer Service" is quite strange for my ears but I really enjoy the rhythm section. Oh man .. I really put my two thumbs up for McGill's crazy guitar solo! It's pondering into my head! I love it especially when it is interjected with Laura's singing. "Calling Card" intro reminds me to the use of Synthaxe in Holdsworth albums. It sounds alike. The music follows previous style with excellent Laura voice. If you want to feel and experience how the band delivers complex chords, sacrificing the melody line, but result in great harmony - you should listen to "Salvation". Oh it's unbelievable that the harmony can be achieved like this song.

Overall, this is an excellent album with very tight composition, complex (and it sacrifices melody line) structure, and excellent musicianship. It's not recommended for those of you who do not appreciate complexity. Neo prog lovers (me included) is note recommended to have this album unless they can tolerate songs with weak melody. The beauty of this album is in its excellent harmony. If you can accept ECHOLYN, Bill Bruford "Feels Good To Me", or Allan Holdsworth, you might be able to enjoy this album.Keep on proggin' ..!
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