专辑简介

It took a few years for the members of Collage, Poland's neo-progressive rock bandwagon, to pick themselves up after the group's breakup in the mid-'90s. A Street Between Sunrise and Sunset can be considered as the group's rightful heir. Written almost completely by drummer Wojtek Szadkowski (who used to be Collage's main songwriter), the album is performed by a cast of ex-Collage musicians (some of them appearing as guests). Lead singer Robert Amirian plays the soft card, aiming for the dreamy seduction of Pendragon instead of the lung-heavy theatrics of Fish. It serves the songs right, as they tend to be on the unassertive side of things. Szadkowski's writing consists mostly of an elegant midtempo propelled by a straightforward rhythm section, topped by simple melodies and featuring interesting instrumental breaks for guitarists Sarhan and Mirek Gil to fill in. The melodies walk a fine line between catchy and trite, and here lies the album's fate, since your appreciation of them will determine your perception of the whole project. The album is at least part conceptual, lyrics dealing with divergences of opinions, a man leaving his loved ones to find himself and come back home. The topic is not new, but it is elegantly phrased in image-filled verses that run into a lot of prog rock clichés -- but they are very well-written nonetheless. Highlights include the opening "The Evening Wind" and "Fight," the latter a punchy five-minute song. Fans of vintage Collage, but also Fish, Pendragon, IQ, and Quidam, will most probably be fond of this album. The cover artwork was commissioned from Mark Wilkinson, the man behind many of Marillion and Fish's album jackets.