Cyan - For King And Country


Year of Release: 1993
Label: SI
Catalog Number: SImply 28
Format: CD
Total Time: 52:53:00

You have to be full of admiration once you know that this entire album is the work of just one man: Robert Reed. On five of the eight songs Reed even dares to sing, which he does rather well. Certainly there are influences from the top sympho bands here. Nice variation both on keyboards and guitar, the latter reminding us of Steve Hackett. Halfway through the opening track "The Sorcerer" the Moog solo gets in the same league as Tony Banks / Rick Wakeman. Feeling for melody and harmony is spread all over this album. "Don't Turn Away" starts in a medieval fashion before the Moog introduces the kind of bombastic approach we have known and loved ever since Wakeman's Journey and Myths And Legends epics.

A song like "Snowbound" almost becomes like a commercial for Moog, including great synth sprints and wonderful guitar outbursts, reminding us of early Camel. First class material as in "Man Amongst Men" that is as if you're listening to Supertramp, with the one exception that this here is not the result of five people but of just one guy! Simply marvelous.

The piano in "Nightflight" very much contains the same feeling as UK's "Rendez Vous 6.02." Tucked away neatly in the title track I see glimpses of Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" classic, but the fierce rhythm soon makes sure the influence is not that obvious. Also the way in which Cyan uses the drum machine it can't be compared to the core of solo projects. Maybe the only remark might be the not so "adult" voice of Reed. In the end I could easily classify this album next to Steve Hackett's Voyage Of The Acolyte combined with a stew of Pendragon, Pallas and IQ. Now how about that for comparaison?

[In 2021, Robert Reed assembled Peter Jones (vocals), Luke Machin (guitar) and Dan Nelson (bass) to redo this album; as noted on the Tigermoth Shop site: "Songs have been extended and completely re-imagined, re-written with the new lineup." The review here is, of course, of the 1993 version - ed. Nov 2022]


Tracklisting:
The Sorcerer (11:30) / Call Me (4:24) / I Defy The Sun (4:22) / Don't Turn Away (6:38) / Snowbound (4:41) / Man Amongst Men (9:32) / Nightflight (5:58) / For King And Country (5:34)

Musicians:
Robert Reed - electric guitars, acoustic guitars, vocals, Ensoniq SQ1, Korg M1, Emu MPS, Akai S1000, Alesis D4

Discography:
For King And Country (1993)
Pictures From The Other Side (1994)
Remastered (1997)
Echoes (1999)
The Creeping Vine (1999)
For King And Country (2021)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin UK

Added: December 1st 2000
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: m.facebook.com/people/Cyan/100070126205736/
Hits: 3713
Language: english

  

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