a progressive rock adventure
Reviews - Somewhere in the dark
New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock
Fred Trafton
In 2002, Deep Thought released their new full-length CD, Somewhere in the Dark. Before that, they had released some cassettes, an EP (Shadows of the Past), and some re-recordings of the cassette material but only the EP was still available. For fans of symphonic modern prog, this is a really nice release. It's a well-recorded "neo-prog" album (I suppose you could call it that, though I don't really care much for the term "neo-prog"), with some nice time signature shifts, smooth symphonic keyboards, interesting and well-performed vocals (in English) and excellent guitar work. It also has that hallmark of neo-prog: sounding a bit like a simplified version of Genesis in orchestration and texture. However, don't take this as a negative ... the music isn't really that much like Genesis, it's just a point of reference.
Somewhere in the Dark is definitely song-oriented, though there may be some sort of concept going on here ... if so, the concept eludes me. But that doesn't prevent the vocals from being interesting and well-executed. There's nary a hint of a German (or Italian) accent in these vocals. The compositions are also song-oriented, with definite verses and choruses. As long as you're not expecting ultra-complex academic music with no repeats, it's not objectionable. But don't expect Tales from Topographic Oceans or anything.
Deep Thought performed at ProgSol 2002 to an appreciative audience.