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Listening to this album as an entity, one can state that the band has once again made progress and the vocals especially have improved. For me personally the vocals of drummer Joost Hagemeijer and guitarist Roland van der Horst were always in the way of rating the band above average, however Beyond Reality is the first album in my opinion where the vocal performances score above mediocre. Although vocally still not my personal preference, this obstacle to enjoy Mangrove?s music to the full, finally is out of the way?
A subtle mellow opening, fully instrumental with acoustic guitar, electric guitar and a somewhat strange ?organ? sound. This prelude ends when the full band takes over and, still instrumental music, produces bombastic slow symphonic music in the vein of Galleon. The piano performs the main theme and softly singing, Roland impresses with an emotional performance. Next piece in this long track is some music heavily influenced by Genesis (Lamb Lies Down) with the same organ sounds Tony Banks used in those days. One of the backing vocals seems a bit distorted, although the harmonies are quite okay. Then Chris Jonker comes up with a nice synth solo accompanied by Pieter, Joost and Roland, the latter taking over the soloing in Steve Hackett style and here Chris? keyboards feature the Mellotron and other orchestral sounds. Nice hooks and melodies. In the last part some instrumental music probably inspired by works of Pink Floyd (guitars) and strangely enough maybe, The Flower Kings (melodies and keys) produces a varied and mature composition indeed.
In the first part of Time Will Tell instrumental music such as in Genesis' (Trick Of The Tail), then Roland sings a fairly up-tempo tune. Both vocally and instrumentally, memories of Kayak (with Max Werner) come into mind. The instrumental part highlighted by Jonker?s electric piano, reminds of even older ?symphonic music? from the early seventies. Whereas Genesis meets Arena in the next instrumental passage, followed by a slow somewhat bluesy piece. A howling wind announces the next chapter of this epic track, being nothing less than a tasteful tribute to Pink Floyd's (Meddle), while the last part could easily have been performed by Arena again.
A mellow semi-acoustic piece is Love And Beyond: piano, acoustic guitar and just one vocal. This is the ballad of the album, after an electric climax of the full band it fades away with acoustic instruments and a sole voice again. The best of Arena meets Kayak comes back in Reality Fades, at first a church bell and haunting orchestral sounds and then the band performs a masterpiece of modern instrumental prog. The title track begins with Jonker?s piano solo, playing the main theme, then all the prog ?dino?s? seem to come together: elements of Genesis, Arena, Pink Floyd, Pendragon to name a few. I don?t think I?ve heard Roland sing as emotionally and slightly over the top as in this track, but it fits! The grand finale of this song is in the vein of Arena again: majestic, bombastic and pure joy. In Voyager at first the melodies remind of Pendragon, IQ and Arena but the theme Jonker plays on the piano reminds me of Foreigner?s Cold As Ice, so rock meets pop and definitely the less ?symphonic? part of the album, but nevertheless it still is quite a ?proggy? track with influences of Uriah Heep. Near the end, the cello sounds and the slow majestic music, followed by nice orchestral sounds give Roland the opportunity to excel on his guitar once more. We have the best in progressive music, a feast for the ears.
Yes, Mangrove have delivered their best album yet and I have a gut feeling that the best is yet to come? Beyond Reality is another gem in the extensive Dutch prog history!
Tracklist:
1. Daydreamer?s Nightmare 14:19
2. Time Will Tell 18:30
3. Love And Beyond 4:16
4. Reality Fades 6:56
5. Beyond Reality 9:02
6. Voyager 14:39
