![]() There’s a sort of guitar solo a bit more than halfway through with synth as well that sounds pretty cool, and then Susu and the drums come in and it turns into what I think is the best movement of the song. This song is a bit heavier than the previous track, but I don’t think the tune is as good, and it certainly doesn’t even touch the first song on the album. I don’t know if it’s just me, but Susu’s voice is pretty quiet in this. The keyboardist, or whatever the word is, is very good anyways, so it stays relatively enjoyable.Īnother song that’s about 13 minutes long. ![]() However, it doesn’t linger on these spots too long, which is great. It also has a few blank spots with nothing but a softly-playing keyboard, which is nice, but as you will see later in the reviews I am a bit impatient for slow songs. Also, being a classic Prog song, free up a little time to listen to it. Anyways, he tries to sing like that with this band, and it sounds alright but pretty strange. Susumu’s guitar work and songwriting are great as usual, but his voice isn’t really suited to that typical Progressive Rock voice that you hear Jon Anderson, Geddy Lee and such singing in that he tries to imitate, and that I will now call The Shriek for short. Longer and less action-packed and memorable than the first track, but still absolutely lovely. ![]() I don’t do it often, but this amazing and sadly obscure song deserves it. I’m not going to pretend that my word is God, but I think this is one of the few songs where I have a right to gush about it. Now, I know some people dislike Prog Rock, I know it’s pretentious, I know it’s outdated, but as usual for me I don’t think that really matters. Classic Progressive Rock by one of my most beloved artists, not too long, not too short, never devolving into random instrument wankery like so many other Prog songs, incredibly beautiful… It’s great, no doubt about it. Not just my favorite song in Susumu Hirasawa’s entire discography, but I mean my favorite song ever. If the last song didn’t exist, and if the remaining songs had more memorable melodies, this would have gotten a 10. This album certainly has its dull moments, but most of it consists of some of the best things I’ve heard. ![]() This and its sister album were actually released in the 90’s, but the material was recorded in the 70’s. Although, I guess it’s for the same reasons why Susu is popular enough in Japan but nearly unknown anywhere else. Why the heck is Mandrake not considered a classic band? It’s just as good as Yes or King Crimson ever was, I think. Finding out that Susumu Hirasawa, a man I love so very much, was in a Prog Rock band in the 70’s was a great moment for me. First off, you must know that I am a huge Progressive Rock fan. ![]()
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