NOW - EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT NOW - 1986

NOW were one of the premier Colorado prog bands of the 80's. They were formed in 1981 by keyboardist Eric Kampman who got together with Gary Morrell and his friend Jon Ernst, both contributing guitar, bass and vocals. It took them a while (and a stolen drum kit!) to get it all together but they eventually discovered drummer Barbara Crawford who appears on their first album ("Everything Is Different Now"), released in 1986. Soon after, however, Crawford decided she wanted to persue her education and quit. With new drummer Rich Dibennidetto on board, the band then had a couple more releases ("Now What" in 1989 and "kNow Reason" in 1991) and then things started to slowly fall apart, the inevitable musical differences and personality conflicts taking their toll. In 1992, they were to perform for the first ever Progfest but ticket sales were slow, the show was scaled back and the band was dropped from the list. The night they heard the news was the last night they played together. NOW officially disbanded in 1993. Kampman, Morell and Crawford have since been collaborating on various projects, including one with EPISODE keyboardist Nick Peck.

Their most progressive album, "Everything Is Different Now", is something of a mixture of KING CRIMSON, YES and GENESIS with vocals slightly reminiscent of Derek Shulman's (GENTLE GIANT). The lyrics are light and humourous and the music lush but complex and rhythmically tight, with lots of guitar, many twists and turns and odd-time signatures. Actually, three different songwriters have contributed to the album so there is quite a variety of styles on it, ranging from symphonic prog to straight-ahead rock. Technically speaking, everyone is competent enough but a special mention must go to Crawford who puts in quite a performance on drums. Although by no means mainstream radio material, the band's other two albums are of somewhat less interest to progheads.

NOW's sound, both busy and melodic, should appeal to fans of ECHOLYN and EASTER ISLAND.
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