Sparklands - Tomocyclus

[Stefan]

 

 

Released through Avenue Of Allies on the 20th of September.

 

Described as the missing link betweeen Bad English and Def Leppard, you judge for yourself...

 

'The Game': http://sparklands.bandcamp.com/album/tomocyclus

 

 

[The Rocker]

Not bad.

[heavyharmonies]

Listening to this one today. Not bad; lighter than I think many will be expecting.

 

I hope to have samples of all tracks up this weekend.

 

-Dan

[Jez]

Sounds excellent..right up my street.

[Dead Planet]

That isn't bad but I would need to hear more....

[Stefan]

[Stefan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26UJnlIn-pg

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIG6Lh_tcnw

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr6QUNk7TsA

[Glen]

Still trying to make my mind up on this one......its certainly interesting.

 

Not sure if this is gonna pan out as a great AOR album or a second rate WoA ????

 

Got a feelin its gonna be a grower.

[Jez]

Really a very strong disc, especially the first half, 'The Game' and 'Skyline' especially are good enough to grace ANY AOR album. It maybe a little over long in 14 tracks, but it is definitely a very good album

[Geoff]

I like 'The game,' 'State of mind' and 'Let sparks fly,' but after a promising start, this kind of lost me a little. Like Jez says, too many songs. I'd have cut out 5 tracks and made it instantly a lot better. It's good in patches but overall I'm not wild about this one.

[melodicrockoz]

This has got to be the best new lot of music out of Holland in a very long time

[Nightrain]

'The Game' is simply beautiful, an amazing 10/10 track, definitely the best thing they did here, but despite that 'Skyline' is also a great mid-paced track, I'm in love with 'Shattered Dreams', don't know why but this peaceful acoustic thing chills me to the bone, a winner really! 'Joanne' is also a wonderul Toto-ish track, i gave it a 9, and the seventh track, 'State of Mind' also steals my attention. This one is such a perfect slow ballad, maybe even better than 'Shattered Dreams'. I love 'Sparklands' too, a westcoast-ish instrumental track, this track strangely manage to calm and comfort me.

 

'Let Sparks Fly' and 'Lost In Space and Time' also has big potential but suffered with patchy verses, still both are great tracks. The song compositions from uptempo, mid, to slow ballad is varied enough to make me want to listen again. I'm convinced this is the best Avenue of Allies release this year, followed by Theander Expression and then Laneslide. I agree with Jez, this one is a strong album. Didn't expect this to be great but in fact it is. With about 14 tracks, I found around 5 weaker tracks but I can still live with that, counting out the 2 weakest tracks ('The Feeling Has Gone' and 'Open Your Eyes', added with solid production and good musicianship, this one's a great buy. Recommended!

 

85%.