Shadow of The Lake (Mystery, 1998)

Here you are some well conceived and well performed neoprogressive rock. "Shadow of The Lake" is a 15 minutes track by Canadian band Mystery from their album "Destiny?". Like all the best examples of this sub-genre, you'll find here references to some of the classic bands from the Seventies and also a good deal of passion and emotion. In addition to this, the sung parts are very good, with a ballad-like flavour that Mystery know how to mix with the symphonic side of their music.

This is the original cover art of "Destinhy?". It also exists a 2009

10th anniversary edition with a different cover.

Some strong electric guitars and a series of beautiful changes provide more charming moments and enliven the track. Michel St-Père - the mind behind the band - plays both guitars and keyboards, and builds up a rather complex plot for this song, probably the first full-progressive one in Mystery's discography. I surely enjoyed it.

Another Day (Mystery, 2012)

The Canadian Mystery are also known for their vocalist, Benoît David, who sang with Yes from 2008 to 2012 and faced the very difficult task to replace Jon Anderson. David was also a member of Mystery between 1999 and 2014. But this beautiful suite clearly shows that these Canadian musicians deserve some more attention and actually do an excellent progressive rock. "Another Day" comes from the album "The World Is A Game"and, while credited as a long single track, it features different moments and varied sections, and also some recurring themes.

"The World Is A Game" is the fifth studio album by Mystery. 

David sings it very well, kind of an answer to some criticisms he received during his Yes experience. Another special mention naturally goes to Michel St-Père, the man behind Mystery, who wrote the song and played both keyboards and guitars. He balanced very well hard and mellow sections and also managed to enrich the sound with guest musicians like Marilène Provencher-Leduc whose sweet flute graces the most atmospheric moods of this suite or the drummer Nick D'Virgilio of Beard Fish and Big Big Train fame. A very good listening, if you believe me.