For this project, members of
the Flower Kings (guitarist
Roine Stolt, bassist
Jonas Reingold, and drummer
Zoltan Csorsz) and one ex-member of
Van der Graaf Generator (sax player
David Jackson) team with the core of
Parallel or 90 Degrees (singer/keyboardist
Andy Tillison, guitarist
Guy Manning, and keyboardist Sam Baine), hence the name of the group. Parallel, tangent -- take a few seconds to figure it out.
Stolt and
Tillison share an undisputable love for old-school symphonic prog rock and epic songs. They indulge in both here. "In Darkest Dreams" is the main course, an eight-part, 20-minute suite that adds some of the
Flower Kings' bright colors to
Po90s usually darker (
VDGG-esque) delivery.
Stolt and
Tillison trade vocals; the remainder of the album features only
Tillison as lead singer. "The Canterbury Sequence" is an ode to the music of Caravan and Hatfield and the North, well-intentioned and pleasurable. The finale takes its distances from the Canterbury scene and achieves a more personal statement. "Up-hill from Here," an upbeat, almost shockingly joyous number, lets the two guitarists battle it out for the noisiest solo. The title track comes back to
Po90s brand of beat-heavy mid-tempo writing, a melody that acknowledges
Peter Hammill's influence. The Flower Kings' rhythm section once again manages to give the music a more flexible feel, while
Stolt's input as a composer brings out the sun in the second half.
The Music That Died Alone remains mostly
Tillison's project, stylistically speaking at least, but the music is more readily appealing than the claustrophobic worlds of
Parallel or 90 Degrees.