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Reviews

Unitopia — More Than a Dream
(Unicorn Digital UNCR 5029, 2005/2007, CD)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2008-10-01

More Than a Dream Cover art

More Than a Dream is probably the best of the recent Unicorn Digital releases, and that is saying a lot! Unitopia hails from Down Under and they independently released More Than a Dream in 2005, which Unicorn Digital has picked up to distribute to a wider audience. There is a 70s/80s prog rock feel to their music with enough hooks to make you want to sing along. In addition, with everyone jumping on the Porcupine Tree bandwagon these days, there are the “mandatory” PT elements peppered throughout, but Unitopia successfully pulls it off without sounding trite or derivative. Additional points of reference are Peter Gabriel, Camel, and the Canterbury bands. There is one oddity on this disc, “Take Good Care,” sounding very much like a contemporary Christian praise song. The rest of the disc is excellent heartfelt neo-prog that connects with the listener. The band is Mark Trueack (vocals, hand percussion), Sean Timms (keyboards, vocals, mandolin), Matt Williams (guitars, vocals, banjo), Shireen Khemlani (bass, vocals), Monty Ruggiero (drums, percussion), Tim Irrgang (percussion), and Mike Stewart (sax, flute, clarinet, percussion, keyboards). These Aussies are emotionally engaged with the music and are in one simple word, great!

Filed under: New releases, Issue 36, 2007 releases, 2005 recordings

Related artist(s): Unitopia

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