Customer Reviews

The World That We Drive Through

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

 

 

This picks up where the first Tangent cd left off, with interesting, challenging melodies played and sung by some of the best in the business. The band has a full sound, but doesn't overplay either too fast or too loud. Love the sax and flute touches, courtesy of Theo Travis (replacing David Jackson on this cd).

I'll admit that even the venerable Flower Kings occasionally succumb to what is sometimes referred to as "noodling", and there is some of that here on this cd, especially in a couple of the longer pieces. But the production on this cd is so crisp and "present" that you can really enjoy even these slower moments.

What more could you demand? - one of the great rhythm sections in all of rock (or jazz fusion, for that matter) in Jonas Reingold (bass) and Zoltan Czorsz (drums); the superb guitar playing of Roine Stolt; excellent vocals from both Andy Tillison and Roine; lush keyboards throughout (Sam Baine and Andy); and all supporting some excellent compositions. (Effortless 3/4 - 4/4 time changes on "Photosynthesis" flow perfectly with the song's lyrics.)

The 14-minute "bonus" track 6 is an apparent tribute to the likes of Tangerine Dream; I personally won't listen to that track too much (a bit too experimental, spacey and unstructured for me), but everything else is prog excellence.

Add to that the fantastic cover art and great liner notes, and you've just found the album you were looking for.

I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:
Music quality = 9.2/10; Performance = 9.5/10; Production = 9.5/10; CD length = 10/10.
Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 9.4 ("5 stars")

Every once in a while, a group of extremely talented musicians gets together and produces something equal to all their individual talents. Tangent has done this not only once, but twice now. I personally prefer the first CD - "The Music That Died Alone" to this one, but that's just my preference. This is a very,very good followup and will not disappoint those who enjoyed their first CD. Just my own bias, but if you're considering buying a Tangent CD and haven't yet - consider "The Music That Died Alone" for your first exposure. I believe that after you enjoy that Progressive masterpiece, it's easier to appreciate their work here.

Of the progressive bands that are around, The Tangent remind me of the original years of prog more than anything I'm aware of, and I am a prog fan. The musicianship is top notch, with Andy Tillson being the first player of a melodic instrument to stand up to Roine Stolt in terms of skill and melodic quality. Hearing Tillson rip across the piano is a thing of joy. His jazz styled riffing and solos being a joy to hear. Roine is in fine form as well, his jazzier side is better evident then some of the last couple of Flower Kings albums, not including "Paradox Hotel" which has a more rock oriented atmosphere.

In addition, it's hard to think of a better modern rhythm section than Jonas Reingold and Zoltan Csorsz (also from the Flower Kings alumni). They are tight yet have an edge to the comping sections where the soloists play. The reason I consider this progressive instead of neo-prog is due to the tight arrangements where even Jonas and Zoltan stay in the picture by playing complex, yet perfectly placed fills that punctuate the solos and add meaningful moments within the songs.

Another nice touch are the vocals, which are divided between Tillson and Stolt. Their voices are different, with Roine givng way and singing in a more thoughtful, jazzy tone.

Critics and fans consider this "The Canterbury Scene" subgenre of progressive rock, and while I can see some similarities I must admit that "The Canterbury Scene" generally annoyed me when I was younger, and later in life, still does. It is a fey, seemingly going nowhere kind of music which is not at all what "The World In Which We Drive Through" is like. Arrangements are tight with strong melodic vocals and balanced musical approach of moderate prog rock with substantial jazz leanings. The vocal harmonies are lush as are many of the musical breaks.

Roine Stolt is more of a bluesy player, even in his most progressive moments he sticks to chromatic riffing on his solos. This is a reason why he is a great guitarist. As someone who learned blues before expanding onward, I can vouch that the most important thing you learn in blues is to feel what you play and to solo with a start-middle-end, whether it's short or super long. And if you listen to Stolt, Tillman and Theo Travis, you'll notice that there's not much, if any wasted space, and that the solos sound like a miniature song within a song.

The Winning Game and The World We Drive Through have clever lyrical references and commentary on socieconomics. The basic form for this album, establishing the vocal section, excellent vocals leading into segments featuring several band members playing in ensemble, such as piano and bass in a duet, make for interesting listening before the band either riffs or goes into comp mode for soloing with a nice return to riffing and vocals. Not that all songs follow this form, but to some degree, all of the songs have aspects of it plugged in with choruses and the like.

I appreciate The Tangent and "The World That We Drive Through" because it is complex yet laid back. This is lighter music than we might expect from three Flower Kings, and it shows Roine Stolt in a different role from most of his other projects. He's just another player in an equally matched ensemble and as a result his playing and singing are different, yet quite involving.

Andy Tillson is a killer keyboardist, especially on the piano. His riffing and soloing skills are top notch; easily among the best in the business.

You will like this album depending on how much quieter music and more so jazz interest you. If you are into Canterbury you'll like this album a lot. I think it's miles above most of the Canterbury releases but I admit to a negative bias.

Whatever biases you have, you better be at least a bit open minded, and isn't that the point of progressive? This album gets more interesting with additional listens, so even if it's not your cup of tea, give it some time because it very well might be a favorite once familiar.

So there's a lot of new progressive bands out there. Basically bands that take random licks and random ideas, throw them into an 11 minute track, and there's a song. The Mars Volta comes to mind. Not in a bad way, of course - I love the band - but in this context, lets assume not being like that is beneficial.

The Tangent is part of the same genre as the Mars Volta. Neo-Progressive rock, or simply progressive rock, whatever you decide to call it is fine. Roine Stolt - guitar legend of the Flower Kings - is a preformer with the Tangent, so that automatically assures you the guitars will be flawless, and they are.

The Tangent is a supergroup in the same vein as Transatlantic. And equally as good.

There are six tracks on this album. And five of them are classic prog. Track six, the bonus called 'Exponenzgesitz' is a jazzy, experimental track that I care little for. But it doesn't detract from the album, because after all, it is a bonus track and was added as an afterthought.

Overall, this is easily a step forward from their debut album, 'The Music that Died Alone'. Although one of the best albums of the year, it was full of good songs plagued with repetitiveness and randomness. Any such problems have been taken care of.

On this, 'The World That We Drive Through', you have several long tracks, each different and each amazing. The Winning Game is a very good, jazzy Flower Kings-esque track, and a good start to the album. The second track is one of the highlights, Skipping the Distance, and reminds me of Karmakanic (Jonas Reingold's solo project). Track three is a beautiful piece called Photosynthesis that just builds up. It's beauty cannot be put into words.
Then we get to the climax of the album. The title track is one of the two best tracks on here, with very good lyrics, amazing instrumentals, and is actually catchy. Its the first epic.

The second epic is called A Gap in the Night. It's an 18:00 minute long song, and probably one of the best progressive songs of all time. Every instrument has a chance to shine, and it's simply unbelievable.

I understand this review doesn't answer many questions, but it's difficult to translate this level of perfection to such a flawed language as English.

All I need say is buy it, if you haven't already. Be safe; buy two.

After obtaining and enjoying Tangent's debut album, I was looking forward to this follow-up with relish. When I first played the World That We Drive Through, I did not much care for it at all. But after shelving it for a while then listening to it repeatedly on a recent road trip, I came to like it a bit more though I still find it slightly disappointing.
While this CD has its moments, there is very little of the majesty that makes the debut effort so appealing. With the all-star cast of musical giants, the listener is not wrong to expect better. There seems to be no unifying theme and the final cut, Exponenzgesetz, sounds completely out of sync with what loose structure there is.
What is the advantage of the Special Edition over the regular release? I don't know, since I have not heard the other, but I suspect in this case its the attractive booklet that accompanies the CD. When the difference in price is slight, or if the special edition is packed with extras, I always opt for it and generally find it to be financially worthwhile and spiritually satisfying.
I can recommend this if you are a hardcore prog fan, but if you were to buy just one Tangent album, I suggest the debut CD or A Place In the Queue instead.

For The Tangent's second album the band would loose former Vandergraff Generator member David Jackson. The rest of this all star band was still in tact and the departure of Jackson does not appear to have changed things up all that much. For some reason I don't like this one quite as much as the band's debut, but I can't really put my finger on why. Overall things seem a bit less varied on this outing, but that is a minor criticism. All of the elements that make this band great are here, with Tillison's keyboards and Stolt's guitar leading the charge. One very nice addition is the final track "Exponenzgestz" which is an experiment in ambient rock. I don't usually enjoy full albums of this stuff, but this track is just about a perfect length and shows another aspect of what this band can do. Overall this is another strong album from The Tangent, but a slight step down from the first one.

I have to say that you'll need few listening session before you can really appreciate this cd, if you like prog music, you already know this anyway.
This cd offer excellent prog music, very well produced, the sound is excellent and the musical execution is perfect. Highly recommanded for any prog music fan out there !

fresh, vibrant, varied, melodic, and well-structured, with excellent lyrics as well. great balanced use of keyboards, guitars, bass drums, flute, and sax. strong instrumental passages and the songs build to satisfying climaxes and resolutions. closest to the vision of progressive epitomized by Yes of any band since the 70's. A must for any prog fan.

After the fantastic debut you would have expect a superior fallow up album. Not in this case, as The World That We Drive Through is just slightly disappointing. The first album had some interesting jazz and Cantenbury influences and exactly those influences made that album so fresh and enjoyable. On this album The Tangent took a less demanding direction - neo prog. There's nothing really new in here that you wouldn't hear on other neo-retro-prog albums. David Jackson is gone from the line-up and gone are his frantic sax parts. He was replaced by Theo Travis, who is undeniably a skillful player, but his playing is predictable and lacks imagination (he plays some nice melodies throughout the album, though).
The construction of the compositions themselves has also changed. While The Music That Died Alone had several short tracks that were developed to maximum, this one has only five lengthy compositions with a huge amount of tired and uninspired lengthy solo excursions.
The World That We Drive Through will only appeal to neo-prog lovers of The Flower Kings and the likes. If you don't dig this kind of stuff, stay away and check the debut instead.

I bought it before i had the first album- " the music that died alone) but i new that if roine stolt involved here this album will be great.
From the first listening i found track no' 1 (the winning game , 11:10 min) and track no' 2 (skipping the distance , 8:57 min) excellent tracks, and track no' five "a gap in the night" is also good one (18 min).this album has great adaptions and great sound quality .
(after i got this i got their last /first album with roine stolt " the music that died alone" i love this from the first time ).
track no' 6 "Exponenzgesetz"is bonus track (14:00 min) . as a bonus track it is better then nothing but i"m afraid targent want us to give them /rated this track before they are going to do a full progect like this. this track is "not suitable for inclusion in the main body of the targents work " they intend to developed it to a full cd progect. i"m very happy to get this album specially for the first two tracks i mention and it has great music on it. if you like "the flower kings " you probably enjoy this album and be happy to have it in your collection. all the lyrics by andy tillison except from " what the world needs now is love " by hal david all music by andy tillison except " photosynthesis ( sam brain)" th street light watershed ( tillison and manning) and exept from "what the world needs now is love " (burt bacharach) al arrangement by the tangent:
the tangent are:
Andy tillison = organ , synthesizers , guitar, theremin , pianoand vocals
roine stolt = electric guitars , electric piano , percussions and vocals.
sam reingold -piano and synth and vocals.
jonas reingold -bass
zoltan csoorsz - drums and percusions
theo travis- sax,flutes
guy manning - mandolin , accoustic guitars and vocals

more information from tangent you can find in "www.thetangent.org".