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Last Updated Wednesday, December 15, 1999

Reviews - at a glance

BAUMANN, PETER - Romance 76
CAMEL - Rajaz
PARSONS, ALAN - The Time Machine

PETER BAUMANN - Romance '76
(Virgin, 1976)

Unlike the title suggests, the music is hardly romantic - the opening track, "Bicentennial Presentation" sounds like Stratosfear-era TD and is quite addictive. The 6 min title track is rather minimalist, as is most the album, but if you like TD for their loops and layered synths, liking the album should be no problem. "Phase By Phase" continues the minimalist trend but blossoms into more epic proportions thanks to a little bell tolling. The first part of "Meadow of Infinity" dawns on more classical influences and involves the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra playing some rather staccato strings, fusing into "The Glass Bridge" with some pounding Atem-like drums.

The album's a good listen for those that like Baumann era TD, but I do stress the fact that it's rather minimalist and doesn't hold the beauties of a Froese solo.

Rating: 7/10
Sumbitted By: Simon Slator (simon.slator@zoom.co.uk)

CAMEL - Rajaz
(Camel Productions, 1999)

I feel that I must share what this album has done for me!
It's a true masterpiece and all who are familiar with this band will love it.
It has some classic Camel-sound on it, some of the recent Camel and some brand new! My favourite
tracks are....all of them! It's hard to explain the album, you must experience this one!
This is music for the soul!

Rating: 12/10 (!!!)
Sumbitted By: John West

ALAN PARSONS - The Time Machine
(Artful, 1999)

Yes, after a long wait, I have actually got around to buying a copy of "The Time Machine". Browsing through the inlay on the way back home, I noticed Alan's minimal contribution on the performance side - 1 writing credit, 2 as a keyboardist. However, it was good to see Bairnson and Elliott in the writer's chair and between them, they created some of the album's highlights. Elliott's 2-part "The Time Machine" ventures into more trance/techno territory but still retaining the Project's sense of musicianship. I wasn't exactly too happy with the slow, Ferry-esque "Out of the Blue" (note: I've never rated Tony Hadley) but found satisfaction in the jazz-funk of "Call Up". "Ignorance is Bliss" was another highlight featuring the haunting vocals of Colin Blunstone, followed almost seamlessly into Bairnson's quirky instrumental "Rubber Universe". The second half of the album opens with a real beauty - "The Call of the Wild", featuring Clannad's Maire Brennan on vocals. The song bears similarity to Vangelis' "Tales of the Future" with Demis Roussos providing warbling Brennan-like vocals. A lull in inventiveness was present on "Press Rewind" and the rather boring ballad "The Very Last Time", but Bairnson's avant-garde instrumental mastery returned on "Far Ago and Long Away", and concluded with a reprise of Elliott's "The Time Machine". For owners of the UK CD, "Dr. Evil" is merely a remix of "The Time Machine" with Mike Myers' narration layered ontop, with quotes like "The Alan Parsons Project will destroy Washington".

Parsons has done better, but "The Time Machine" is neither poor nor legendary. Still, it's quite entertaining.

Rating: 7/10
Sumbitted By: Simon Slator (simon.slator@zoom.co.uk)