** Cast -- Third Call
Aside from the Hillage and Khan CDs I bought in Sunnyvale last week, I also gathered in quite a collection of neo-progressive. I have listened to this one about ten times, in a failed attempt to find something to like. Cast is a Mexican band which treads neo-prog on this release, with more of a symphonic edge than one normally finds in this type of music. Part of it tends toward Yes, but for the most part, I would draw a real line between this band and Aragon, a group I have never cared for. Similar lyrics and song structure, but Cast at least has a drummer and imaginative keyboard player. In the review after the one that follows this one, I complain about a band that sings in a foreign language. Cast apparently was aware of that problem, as the lyrics here are in English (sung with nary an accent), and are printed in English in the booklet (although everything else is in Spanish -- bizarre). Track #5, "Static Dreams" has a ethnic (but not Mexican) tinge to it, and the instrumental "Veto Ben" is pretty good, but the rest of it is pretty limp.
Reviews by A. D. Jensen
