Brother Where You Bound (Simon Says, 2008)

This is a track for prog lovers, rich in cross-references to classic albums and bands and full of changes, solos, interplays and assorted stuff. In a word, it's a long epic (some 26 minutes) paying respect to the ancient prog gods, but also drawing a 21st Century state of the art for our favourite genre. This is one of those suites you never get tired to listen to from the bombastic intro to the end, going through so many soundscapes,  reprises and musical zigzags.

 

"Tardigrade" is the third Simon Says' studio album.

 

In addiction to this, the musicians are all excellent and especially Magnus Paulsson, whose keyboards are like a flock of birds filling the sky. Really, these guys deserve all your attention and all the positive reviews I read about their works, especially about the "Tardigrade" album featuring this epic, that actually is one of the best gates to their colourful world.

As The River Runs (Simon Says, 2008)

"Tardigrade" is probably the Swedish Simon Says' most successful album to date and this is my favourite track in it. Being a neo-prog band, Symon Says don't make any musical revolution and follow in some well known tracks, but they do this very, very well. In "As The River Runs" there's anything you could ask for in a prog rock song: melodic and well sung themes, jazzy bridges, surprising changes, walls of sound, fast and slow passages, keyboard progressions and guitar solos.

"Tardigrade" is the third Simon Says' album.

Listening this for the first time, some could take it as a beautiful but rough rhapsody, sort of a container track, full of ideas and with a lack in organisation. Well, that's not true, and a further listening shows a well structured song, with the different phases set in a carefully chosen order, aimed to a winding and growing intensity. This effect is increased by some fair internal returns and - most of all, IMHO - by a discreet and effective piano. The final result is a flush, rich and brilliant synphonic rock mini-suite. For me, that's enough.