The band Adventure have their base in Norway. Trondheim to be exactly. Terje Flessen (guitars) and Odd Roar Bakken (keyboards, acoustic guitar) asked their friends Terje Craig (bass vocals) and Elen Hopen Furunes, (vocals) Kristian Resell (drums), Roar Nygard, (vocals) , Knut Erik Jensen (piano), Lars Hydmo (flute) and last but not least, Tone Dahl (flute) to make their third album Caught In The Web after four years of rehearsing. The first one had no title en was released in 2000 and the second one Beacon Of Light (see review) in 2009. All Aboard is the short instrumental opening song and takes only one minute. The second song Fast Train brings you back into the long forgotten times of the early classic rock area. Think of Uriah Heep, Focus, Jethro Tull and Deep Purple. With keyboards swinging from left to right and back again. I loved the sound of those classic bands, but Adventure is even better. It's more modern and of this century. The first ballad on Caught In The Web is Solitude. It's similar to the brilliant Uriah Heep song Wonderworld. In the middle there are some very interesting piano and guitar-intermezzo's. If you like to play the air-guitar, well than it is your chance, you can do even better than Mick Box (Uriah Heep) or Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow). The pub and drinking song on this album is Empty Man. The pumping rhythms and waltzing themes end with a long, quite dark drum solo with the same rhythm as in Child In Time. The blues is played in Simple Man. As a contrast from its title it is sung by the female singer Kristian Resell. The style is similar to the Dutch prog band Flamborough Head. Another gem is the second instrumental two minute song: For Elise. To write a song that makes Gandalf and Camel jealous is not a simple task. And we are back in the world of the seventies again. Close your eyes and listen if singer David Byron of Uriah Heep has returned from his grave. No difficult or confusing lyrics in the four minutes long Test Of Time. Just simple rock, rock, rock music. Watching The Glow: Angelic voices, Hammond organ, the typical ah, ah, ah's from Uriah Heep, Spanish and electric guitars. A nice song to sing in a pub or for a party with friends with lots of beer and alcohol. More mystic sounds in The Virus. Just a Pink Floyd kind of guitar played for 52 seconds. The symphonic rock of Jethro Tull is easy to discover in part 1 of Caught In The Web. Flutist Tone Dahl is a good copy of Ian Anderson and Terje Flessen an excellent guitar substitute of Martin Barre. The last three songs are also outstanding. Not only classic rock this time, but more progressive elements can be heard. All the members of the band get the chance to show their qualities and their musical knowledge. The album ends with the words: “Was It Just A Dream”. And I have to admit: Yes, it was...... Final conclusion: One of the best releases in 2014. Not just progressive rock, but also a splendid mix of hardrock and the fantasy music in the vein of Ayreon. ****+ Cor Smeets (edited by Astrid de Ronde) Where to buy? |
