My review of the new album from The Tangent has been published as part of a Round Table Review on DPRP.net:-
The Tangent - Le Sacre Du Travail
...Andy Tillison is a huge talent and I appreciate the skill, time and effort that have gone into this album and, Lord knows, I really wanted it to work. From the early gestation I was excited at what was being talked about but became slightly concerned by developments as time went on. I deliberately didn't listen to soundclips during the recording process preferring to wait to hear the whole completed album and early reports of this increased the excitement but when reports started to come in from those who had actually heard it I again grew worried. Upon listening to the album I'm sorry to say that many of these fears have been realised. I've stuck with it and played it a good number of times. I've read the lyrics and played it again but, although it has improved as my ears got used to the constructs and themes, it isn't an album that I can immerse myself in and my hand is likely to move past it on the CD shelf to other Tangent albums as a first port of call.
Quantity over Quality is a frequent prog failing and unfortunately, having often promised the ultimate prog epic and hoping here to produce his meisterwork, Andy has fallen short at that particular hurdle. This album just does not work for me. It is grandiose and it is ambitious but it doesn't fit in with the exaggerated expectations. This is not Andy's fault but it may lead to a problem for at least some of his audience. I'm sure that the next album will be a sea change on this one and I still love Andy Tillison's music but there is not enough on here for me to be absorbed into. Until next time...
