The Garden (Dutch Progressive Rock Pages)

In 2006 my colleague Andy gave a positive but cautious response to More Than A Dream, the debut title from Unitopia released the previous year. It just goes to show what a difference three years can make because their second is for me one of the better releases of 2008.

Like its predecessor this release contains elements of prog, pop, rock and world music plus jazz and in the title track, psychedelic. The ambitious compositions are superbly crafted with Trueack’s warmly mature voice to the fore and instrumental support that is uniformly excellent throughout. The music is heavily orchestrated at times although I’m unsure if the same full orchestra was used as the last album but it certainly sounds suitably cinematic.

For many 2008 has not been an outstanding year for prog rock releases with more disappointments than there have been pleasant surprises. My personal favourite remains Camorra’s 2 CD She which brightened up the earlier part of my year and likewise this two disc release from Unitopia sees the year out in fine style.

If you suffer from winter blues then I strongly recommend you add some Aussie sunshine to your Christmas with this double delight from down under. - Geoff Feakes 9/10

Full review:

http://www.dprp.net/reviews/200901.php