Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Get the Picture!, March 5, 2005
This CD is a wonderful piece of work. What a great band! John Mitchell is freakin fantastic if you ask me. I have enjoyed his work with Arena, John Wetton, The Urbane, etc. Pete Trewavas has never played as good as this and it rates closer to the Transatlantic feel than Marillion. The ex-porcupine tree drummer Chis Maitland sounds better than ever as well and keyboardist John Beck from It Bites - bites down hard! Nice tunes with nice contrasts as in the shifting mood of Losers Day Parade where one minute it sounds like great Prog-metal and the next it sounds like an early Beatles or a mid sixties vocal thing. Letting Go is probably my favorite track with a very beautiful but haunting vocal by John Mitchell. Leave a Light On is great. Swimming in Women is a very interesting track. As it builds the songs motion takes on the effect of the pounding of the waves in a storm. Very, very cool and captivating. Room for Two is probably the best one for radio airplay as it repeats the upbeat chorus several times. Really every track has great strength and depth (something most of America's popular music lacks). I hope they make it through more albums than Transatlantic did. I can't wait to hear more!
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What's GOOD About Progressive Rock!, December 4, 2005
This release was dropped into my Amazon recommendation page and after reading the other listener reviews I thought I had to give it a shot.
Good Call! This has got to be the best new release I've heard in a rapidly-waning 2005!
My initial "sounds like" comparison upon my first listen was Marillion's "Seasons End," and inasmuch as these are (were) both efforts of hungry, toiling-in-obscurity musicians who I believe feel they have something to prove, it's probably not too much of a stretch to draw that parallel. Other reviewers have compared this to Asia, Supertramp, and (of course) Genesis. I agree and also agree with the astute observation that this would be an EXCELLENT gateway "check-this-out" recording for someone unfamiliar with progressive rock. By the way, am I the only one who feels Pete Trewavas' "side" projects (Kino, Transatlantic) are miles ahead of the recent output of his regular band (Marillion)?
There is plenty on "Picture" to rave about. As we would expect of any artists in prog, the musicianship & production is superior. What especially distinguishes Kino to my ears are the songwriting and lyrics. For me the other pinnacle of substantive and (I'll say it) profound lyrics has been and remains Peter Nichol of IQ. Kino's lyrics are at least equally trenchant--a COMPLEX stew of thoughts, emotions, and human experience that obviously were not inspired by the need to fulfill a recording contract.
I don't wish to try readers' patience with my track-by-track opinions on individual tracks except to single out #2, "Letting Go" as the brightest of the 10 gems included in this package. It really doesn't do the song justice to describe it as a mournful lament for lost love. Well, yeah, it's that, but it's so much more--the lyrics go WAY deeper, with amazing insight and economy. This is surely a great exhibit "A" of how a melodic structure and arrangement can complement already powerful words to create that magical transmutation of elements we recognize as a sublime work of art. Here the verse/bridge/chorus song structure we're all culturally hard-wired for quickly spirals up to a plateau of two lush title verses. Listening to "Letting Go" was one of those infrequent occasions when I was astonished by what I was hearing--as the track unfolded, my attention was fully engaged by the power and urgency of what was before me. As a long-time fan of prog rock, I know that some of the best efforts may not necessarily grab you at first; it's very rare indeed that something new comes along that rattles your teeth loose as "Letting Go" did for me.
Artistry of this caliber deserves as much support as grateful listeners like me can provide, so in addition to buying the CD, I'm happy to be able to recommend it to any other sympathetically minded consumers who are ready to get WOWED again. And yes, as indicated earlier, "Picture" would be an EXCELLENT place for a newcomer to progressive rock to start. Music this incredible deserves acclaim proportional to its artistic majesty!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect Tense, February 25, 2006
Stunning debut by a new supergroup consisting of members of various 'prog' bands. Kino are fronted by guitarist John Mitchell(ARENA) who also sings, Pete Trewavas(MARILLION), John Beck(IT BITES) and former PORCUPINE TREE drummer Chris Maitland. Far from your garden variety 'Neo-prog' supergroup on the Insideout label, KINO are that rare entity that works as a fresh new voice in melodic rock. You won't hear mellotron overkill, Genesis sections ripped off wholesale or 45 minute-long album tracks dressed up to be what they're not(progressive). If you're looking for retro-prog trying to bring back 1971, or bands who take their names from Genesis songs or Tolkein novels, you're barking up the wrong tree. Kino's main focus are the songs, and how they stack as a whole or apart. Some mentioned that PICTURE is 'pop', no not really. There are also moments of intricate grandness , but all executed professionally. I would say that KINO are accessable rather than pop. The melodies are strong and the musicianship elegant, but not without edge as well. There is that progressive edge to music that is genuine. Clearly this band was forged from mutual respect for each other's musical abilities, and will not disappoint fans from any of the members' main bands. Neo-prog sounds of Arena do merge well with the alt-rock sounds of Marillion and Porcupine Tree and the melodic rock & roll of It Bites. Yet, nobody really has to know anything about Marillion or Porcupine Tree or 'neo-prog' to enjoy the powerful and melodic content on PICTURE. There are other influences as well. They bring a lot of influences to the table: Radiohead, Beatles, Floyd, Zeppelin, Coldplay, Sting, Genesis, grunge, prog, metal, sophisticated pop of 10CC or Supertramp. You may hear some of that in there.
ARENA's John Mitchell has proven to be a real soulful player and one of my favorite guitarists these days. His playing has taste and a lot of bite, and he sets himself far apart from the Hackett wannabes and prog noodlers. No wasted notes, and none executed without some sort of feel or soul behind them. John Beck's keyboard textures are solid throughout, and Chris Maitland provides real, solid drumming which propells the tunes. Pete Trewavas is the one Marillion guy who seems happiest on stage and on record, he seems to be one of the most well rounded and professional of this genre. He puts a lot into whatever he does and is content, I gather, to play music in many styles- be it pop, prog, melodic rock, or whatever. I would even dare to say that PICTURE is far superior to Marillion's 'MARBLES'. Whatever these four have done in the past, KINO sounds like an organic 'band' where all the members actually WANT to play with each other. They have a sound of their own, and make good use of their individual styles and influences. The songs are:
LOSER'S DAY PARADE: opening 9 minute epic starts strong, with an alternative edge. The middle section is somewhat late-mid Beatles(Revolver maybe?) with some muffled voice and analogue production sound. It breaks back into grunge styles merged with some tricky instrumental bits, and goes into an atmospheric section before ending in a more anthemic manner. Nice leads from Mr. Mitchell. There's quite a lot going on during this song and should satisfy any art-rock fan.
LETTING GO: powerful anthem chorus, nice harmonies, nice vocals from Mitchell. His vocal style is closer in spirit to modern rock than the 'frontman' type microphone wrangler. This helps put the focus on the music as a whole rather than any up-staging 'personality'. His vocals do have still have some edge and passion though. Nice 'Zeppeliny' synths too.
LEAVE A LIGHT ON: a modern Marillion-sounding track with some good AOR keys from John Beck. A Rush-style middle section and synth solo flesh it out some. Reminds me of The Police as well.
SWIMMING IN WOMEN: more of a standard 'Neo-prog' sound here(think of ARENA or Pallas), kind of dark. Actually one of the coolest, if not one of the only, songs about sperm ever recorded. Nice ominous keys and overall vibe. The fact that semi-humorous lyrics are set to such edgey and supposedly 'serious' music are enough to inform you that 'prog' can have a sense of humor. John Beck handles the lead vocals on this one song.
PEOPLE: guitar and chorus reminds me of the band Jadis. Drums and guitar kick it up a bit towards the end.
ALL YOU SEE: this one is, I suppose, the power ballad with keyboard strings and crying guitar solo.
PERFECT TENSE: mid-tempo track which may recall Marillion circa 1999(Marillion.Com album), but also a hint of Sting or even Mike & The Mechanics. Lyrics are about religion, I think(popular subject manner for Neo-proggers for some reason).
ROOM FOR TWO: a short, bouncey and rockin' track that probably stomps when performed live. In a perfect world, this may have been one of the singles from the record. A modern rock vibe to this one, nice chorus, so catchy that you can't possibly hate it.
HOLDING ON: probably one of the more musically involved cuts from the album, going through many moods and influences. Acoustic guitar features for the first and only time on this track. A little bit of a YES sound blended with Kino's own edgey approach, especially in the keyboard department.
PICTURE: the title track is very short and very simple, but one of the most musically cohesive and moving pieces on the whole record. Mostly just a dreamy piano theme and vocals- strangely sad, haunting, even beautiful.
And with that, the album is over. This is one of the few records that I have played several times over in one sitting, which is rare. I can't say enough good about KINO. Miles above stuff like Aryeon and Flower Kings. I hope KINO find the time to create more music in the furute, as PICTURE has been rather successful and well recieved, and had been getting good reviews throughout. And if you liked this album, head over to their website and get a copy of 'CUTTING ROOM FLOOR'- a new online only disc of demos, live cuts and new songs(including a killer 14-minute track) which compliments the PICTURE.
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