PRESTO BALLET — The Lost Art of Time Travel

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PRESTO BALLET - The Lost Art of Time Travel cover
4.16 | 9 ratings | 2 reviews
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Album · 2008

Tracklist

1. The Mind Machine (10:51)
2. Thieves (9:05)
3. You're Alive (4:26)
4. One Tragedy at a Time (14:03)
5. I'm Not Blind (6:01)
6. Easy Tomorrow (6:32)
7. Haze (9:28)

Total Time: 60:26

Line-up/Musicians

- Scott Albright / lead vocals, acoustic guitar
- Kurdt Vanderhoof / guitars, mellotron, Chamberlin, organ, bass pedals, synthesizers, electric pianos
- Ryan McPherson / organ, piano, synthesizers, lead & backing vocals
- Bill Raymond / drums, percussion
- Izzy Rehaume / bass, backing vocals

About this release

Progrock Records PRR560 SPV 452612 CD

Thanks to colt, adg211288 for the updates

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PRESTO BALLET THE LOST ART OF TIME TRAVEL reviews

Specialists/collaborators reviews

Nightfly
Presto Ballets sound is likely to come as a bit of a surprise to anyone who knows guitarist Kurdt Vaderhoof from his other band Metal Church. Here there's an absence of the thrash metal of that band, instead Presto Ballet have a sound firmly based on seventies American progressive rock bearing a resemblance to the likes of Styx and Kansas with a bit of Deep Purple thrown in for good measure.

The Lost Art of Time Travel is their second album and very good it is too. 7 songs make up the album, 4 of them 9 minutes or longer giving ample opportunity for instrumental workouts. Presto Ballet produce a powerful yet melodic sound, the seventies authenticity helped by the production and much use being made of keyboards like Hammond organ and Melotron. The band are all great players and in Scott Albright they have found an excellent rock vocalist capable of handling the strong melodies with ease.

The album is consistently strong making it difficult to pick favourite tracks but special mention should be made of One Tragedy at a Time, a 14 minute masterpiece with swirling melotrons and Hammond organ, powerful guitar riffs and a dynamic rhythm section. It's nearly 3 minutes before the vocals come giving you an idea of the space left for instrumental interplay. Although as already stated, they produce a powerful sound, there's still room for some light and shade with plenty of changes.

This is pretty much the formula for the album which is fine with me but You're Alive adds an acoustic guitar driven interlude very much reminding me of Styx both musically and vocally and excellent it is too. Haze, which closes the album also offers some diversification being one of the other more restrained and laid back moments until an instrumental section picks things up a bit reminding me of Genesis with some Hackett style lead guitar.

This album turned out to be one of the unexpected gems of 2008 and recommended to anyone who likes their prog metal with priorities on strong melodies.
Windhawk
Pretty neat sophomore effort from US band Presto Ballet here, and a great find for those who like progressive rock as it was back in the golden days of the genre.

Their chosen style resides somewhere in between a rectangle formed by acts such as Yes, Genesis, Kansas and Uriah Heep; strong and melodic compositions with more than a few symphonic tendencies - but with a heaviness and grit to the guitar-work as the only element that reveals the metal background of the bands instigator.

Nothing new or ground-breaking on this release; the overall sound a heavier, darker and somewhat grittier version of a band like The Flower Kings; but the songs are well made, planned and executed. The moods and atmospheres strong, the melodies compelling and the compositions evolve just enough to stay interesting while maintaining separate identities.

Well worth checking out.

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  • MetalArea
  • adg211288
  • Colt
  • UllDeDeu
  • ollischr
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