Customer Reviews

Conflict And Dreams

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cairo hit the mark on this one. Their sound and compositions reminds me of ELP's Tarkus or Yes Close to the Edge. I have been a fan of progressive rock since the seventies. It is nice to hear that the genre has not gone out of style but is being re-energized by new, fresh, competent groups. Magna Carta, you have given me a reason to buy music again. Thank you, and Cairo, keep releasing quality material like Conflict and Dreams. Absolutely outstanding.

Angels & Rage set the pace right from the first note. Lots of energy, this cd won't let you breathe until the very last note, with the exception of Images, a short piano/guitar duet.

Beautiful sounds, complex arrangements and great musicianship from these guys.

The best introduction to Cairo's music for me. Western Desert and Valley of the Shadows are pure gems!

I tried very hard to enjoy this 1998 album by California based neo-prog outfit Cairo but could not get past the contrived approach. Indeed, the keyboardist seems to take an almost school-boyish delight in trying to sound just like Keith Emerson and has copied his style right down to the dirty "clicky" tone on the Hammond organ. Unfortunately, no matter how accurately his style is copied by others (be it Cairo or Triumvirat), I would much rather listen to Keith Emerson.

The tracks range in length from 1:25 to 17:08 and reflect stadium rock influences (especially Styx) along with the Emerson, Lake & Powell album (1986) and some classic progressive rock influences. While tuneful enough, the tracks are overly busy, which is exacerbated by an (admittedly) average rock drummer that overplays to the point of distraction. It seems to me that Cairo tries far too hard to sound "progressive" and the guys treat technique as an end in of itself. Unfortunately, this has resulted in the music being very forced sounding and good ideas either being buried or not being developed enough. The lead singer sounds like Dennis DeYoung (of Styx). While a good vocalist, he did strain a bit to reach the upper registers and at times got obscured by an overly zealous guitarist and keyboardist.

Credit really must be given to keyboardist Mark Robertson however; although not quite as adventurous as Keith was (I do not hear any bitonality for example), Mark can really play well. I just wish that he had channeled his talents and those of his bandmates into creating something original. Speaking of original however, there is one shining moment (albeit brief at 1:25) where the "real" Cairo shines through. The excellent instrumental "Image", which features a duet on acoustic piano and acoustic guitar, is a wonderful track and remains the real highlight of the record for me.

Overall, while I can not deny the excellent technique of the players, the tunefulness of the material, and the hard work they put into each piece, I could not get past the contrived approach and the forced over-playing. Following the release of Conflict and Dreams, the group put out Time of Legends (2001). To the best of my knowledge, Cairo has not released a new studio album since 2001.

It's very strong album. The influences of this this group are evident. Robertson's briliant syntesizer - hammond - piano work reminds me maestros K.Emerson or R.Wakeman, he is the most important person of this music. Brockman's druming technique is influenced by rock drummers little such Mr. Neil Peart. Choruses of powerful singer sounds like Yes or Boston with Brad Delp - his voice is quite similiar. Fuhrman's almost only electric guitar (too much reminds me Michael Romeo) is very fast and powerful too, but it lacks something and it's overshadowed by Robertson. In added very solid bass line of Jamie Browne, the complex music of retro-sound (mainly of early ELP) with modern aspects is great. „Angels and Rage" has great chorus, orgasmic solos in the middle (Fuhrman at his best) and grandiose ending - cutted hammond with great drums. „Corridors" is great romantic colourful epic, „Western Desert" has lot of duels of keys and guitars, it little bit lacks an idea, the 17 min is so much, but it has also the greatest moments (why no more singing?).„Image" is short beautiful instrumental, „Then You Were Gone" has Dream Theaterish riffs like Under The Glass Moon. Maybe the most exellent is „Valley Of The Shadow", perfect tense vocal choruses and interplay, the soft melodic final passage. Highly recommended to prog rock fans who can take a few listenings.

This is an amazing album that brings back the sounds of Yes and ELP with stronger melodies and a metal 'edge.' Each song is quite long and takes time to develop, but none of them reach the point of pretentiousness. A must for Dream Theater fans.

The second of Cairo's three releases, this album easily stands out as the strongest. One of the top progressive rock albums of all time. Intricate interplay between keys and guitars, incredible melodic bass work and drumming, and songs that are very well composed. Not a bad moment on the CD.

If you have one of the other Cairo albums and were wondering if this one was worth it, stop wondering and grab your wallet. If you're new to Cairo, get this one first! You won't be disappointed.

Cairo really plays progressive rock! They combine all the best from good old classical-oriented prog guys with modern approach. And the result is great! It's a shame Cairo don't have as much attention from prog rock funs as some other groups do ( without serious reasons, I guess)! I'm saying this because I was disappointed a few times buying modern prog CDs after reading 5 starts reviews. However, in case of Cairo you won't disappointed! Don't miss this group!

This album is characterized by a classic prog mood with a modern touch and some typical melodic prog metal colors too...nevertheless such imprinting is based upon a compact sound all over its duration... well you don't find here particular surprises and perhaps these considerations let me change a bit my opinion and rate too: that is probably the right rate should be 3 stars and 1/2. Besides the keyboardplayer maintains his vivid reference to the bombastic style of Emerson, both on his Hammond and the analogic synths as well and this style becomes soon very interesting for the fanatics of Emerson.
Usually the production of Magna Carta is taken for granted (regarding several bands in the vein of Dream Theater and Fates Warning)but -unlike such those bands- Cairo has got a certain care for improving the epic atmosphere, by enriching it by means of some growing dynamic sounds and varied interplays between the guitars and the keyboards as well. The unique reproach is about the lack of a diverse and more original direction... nevermind, their best tracks,"Angels and Rage" and "Western Desert", are characterized by a strong impact, which is always melodic prog-metal oriented, and according to the characteristics I have explained to you above;for this reason their 2nd album is well worth checking out (also from the point of view of its quality production)... instead the melodic romantic "Corridors" and the closing track "Valley of the Shadow", combining such melodic structure with tight vocal harmonies, make this one their best l.p. Moreover the costant presence of the Hammond organ, characterized by an "old retro" 70's sound, makes this stuff much closer to classic prog, in comparison to other melodic prog metal bands. There is often a certain thrilling and high tension too.As for the above considerations "Conflict and dreams" is their best one and not too much derivative recording, above all by making a comparison with their previous debut album (too much enriched with Yes-oriented harmonies) and also "Time of Legends",their third issue, which for me is a back-ward step from the point of view of their composition, as They are more concentrated on their bombastic solos !!
Make your choice !!

When coming up with ideas for a focus for this 'review', I came up with such one-liners as:

My coat's on the floor...where's the hook?!

or

...too white

What I mean to say is; although these guys can play their balls off; I've yet to hunger, anticipate, revel in the joy that Prog Rock can bring even after many listenings to this note-filled tome.

These guys play technically better than ELP, sing almost as well as Yes and have a sense for the Debusseyesque textures of Genesis but they've not guts maaan!

A jazz piano teacher once told me that from Jazz to Rock to Clasical and everything in between "everything is the blues". What I understand that to mean is that in every great piece of music there's an underlying pain, tension or deeply felt emotion that keeps the listener and the player enthralled from note to note. On this album such events are few and far between and unfortunately, polished down to a Muzakish shine that robs the music of any success it may have in reaching the listener's emotions.

So, my hope is that someone, somewhere out there tell me where the beef is in today's Prog Rock. Spock's Beard is okay and I've yet to digest the Flower Kings so the juries out yet; but I know deep in my heart something is out there that will wake me and the world up to the true magnificence that the best of Progressive Rock can be in this, the 21st century!

(music up, holy choir crescendos, my head explodes)

About two years ago I was a huge progressive metal fan. So I potentially praised every release by Inside Out or Magna Carta. And so when I saw a Magna Carta label on Cairo's "Conflict And Dreams" I immediately bought it.
That was the time when the legend didn't meet my expectations. Two years ago this CD was for me too hard to digest. It was to minimalist in approach for a prog-metal release, the production was too raw ( in a negative meaning ) and I couldn't stand the horrible vocal melodies that Bred Douglas was singing.
But since those two years my tastes in music matured. But did I liked Cairo's second release better?
No! I find it now even worst than earlier.
Still I think that it has a bad production and the singing is terrible. This is a pretentious recording with a lot of annoying crescendos, uninspired melodies and irritating rip-offs from Yes and ELP. I admit that there are some "moments" but they are so rare that you probably don't want to find them anyway.
If you are looking for today's good progressive rock, go for Spock's Beard or even Glass Hammer and leave Cairo to people that didn't like them. Try at your own risk.