Unitopia - "The Garden" Review

Artist/ Band: Unitopia
Title: The Garden
Label: InsideOut/ SPV
Year of Release: 2008
Offical Artist/ Band Link

The Review:

Unitopia was created by Mark Trueack (vocalist) and Sean Timms (keyboards) in 1996. Joining them are Matt Williams (guitar), Shireen Khemlani (Bass/Vocals), Monty Ruggiero & Tim Irrgang (Drums) and Mike Stewart (Saxophones/Flute/Clarinet/Percussion/Keyboards).Their debut ‘More Than A Dream’ was released in 2005 with worldwide distribution in 2006 by Unicorn Digital. The band switches labels and in 2008 they release a double album called ‘The Garden‘ with the overall style is firmly rooted somewhere between the symphonic and modern progressive rock genres. They can be mentioned and praised in the same sentence as Spock’s Beard, Genesis, Flower Kings, Peter Gabriel, Rocket Scientists, Jadis, Cryptic Vision, Magic Pie and more.

The first disc is highlighted by the epic title track, "Angeliqua" and five shorter more accessible tracks (all under 4 minutes). The result is an aural journey with a mixture of styles like progressive rock, world music and ambient. The title track is evident of the mixture. As far as epics go, it doesn’t sound forced. It’s also my favorite track of the entire album.

The second disc begins with a track called “Journey’s End” which clocks in at 16 minutes, that kind of reminds me of what Transatlantic did on their ‘Bridge Across Forever‘. This is my second favorite song on the album. The final track, '321', which pertains to the amount of hours the men were trapped in a mining disaster at Beaconsfield. It’s a wonderful tribute to those men, of which I’m sure would appreciate. It’s also a nice way of ending a fantastic double album. There really isn’t any filler songs, more rather a mix of complex and accessible styles. I’d recommend this to fans that appreciate the more accessible and modern side of progressive rock.

Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on February 3rd, 2009

Tracks:

CD 1 - The Garden

01. One Day

02. The Garden

03. Angeliqua

04. Here I Am

05. I Wish I Could Fly

06. Inside the Power

CD 2 - The Journey

01. Journey's Friend

02. Give and Take

03. When I'm Down

04. This LIfe

05. Love Never Ends

06. So Far Away

07. Don't Five up Love

08. 321

Reviewed Discography

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