WORK OF ART — In Progress (review)

WORK OF ART — In Progress album cover Album · 2011 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Stephen
Robert Sall has established himself as the most prominent songwriter in AOR sector since the release of Work of Art's debut in 2009. Not only he magically succeed to extract his optimal capability of writing splendid music into their sophomore work, but Frontiers also managed to ask his help to write many songs for various projects they've been releasing this year.

The trio's history went long way back to 1992 when they attended the music school before people got the chance to listen to their outstanding works, so after heavily haunted by Toto in their debut, 'In Progress' moves in a more original path, although the trace of those legends still obvious in many of the songs. 'In Progress' also shows maturity and applied tempo diversity in this album, and they only put out 3 ballads, which is unusual for AOR that mostly introduced more slowtempo tunes.

'The Rain' is an instant fave when it breaks out with shrilling melodies and fast-paced rhythm. 'Nature of The Game' slows down a bit and this is a debut-flavored track. 'Once Again' is an AOR perfection and 'Never Love Again' is a melodic rock masterpiece, definitely the best track here. 'Until You Believe' is definitely the better ballad compared to 'Fall Down' or 'One Step Away', but all of them are awesome tunes anyway.

'The Great Fall' is the first single and I wonder why they didn't put it as starter, but even though I like 'The Rain' better, but this one is marvelous too and influenced by Toto especially on the keys part. A very nice song to begin the second half and followed by another gem, 'Call On Me', with its powerful riffs and pretty chorus. 'Emelie' sounds very 80s and together with 'Castaway', both has impressive chorus but patchy verses, still a top notch tracks though.

With outstanding academical musicianship, they're like the Dream Theater of AOR and exactly knows what they're doing. Lars Safsund vocal is simply brilliant and he sways from low to high range with ease. Despite some minor flaws, I still think this record deserved a full five stars, a 100% record, and the album of the year for me.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Die for Us Technical Death Metal
WEREWOLVES
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

OPETH`S Epic Headline Show at Bloodstock 2024 | YouTube Premiere | Full Set | August 9th, 2024
OPETH
666sharon666· 6 hours ago
Opeth '§4' Visualizer/Lyrics Video
OPETH
666sharon666· 6 hours ago
Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed