***** Iluvatar -- Sideshow
A great album by the United States' best neo-progressive band. Not really "new" material, this is billed as being mutated Iluvatar tracks from the first two albums. There's three "alternate" mixes, four live tracks and an unreleased "Children" era track. The radio mixes aren't anything real special (although based on very good tracks, they're just abbreviated versions), and the unreleased track, while very good, isn't quite up to "Children". Otherwise, the live tracks are excellent, including a "funkified" version of "Dream Visage" from the first album and a cover of the Who's instrumental "Sparks". While I wish that the band would either release a full live album or some new studio material, this will do for now. There's also a "secret" track that is an interesting trance remix overlaid with snippets of spoken Iluvatar concert and radio material.
Review by A. D. Jensen
