Title

Label/Cat No.

Year

Length

Touchwood

Mangrovian Music

2004

66.29

Coming Back to Live

Mangrovian Music

2006

94.24

TOUCHWOOD

Tracklist: Fatal Sign (9.54); Vicious Circle (5.29); Cold World (6.36); Penelope (7.08); I Close the Book (5.51); Help Me (5.29);  Wizard of Tunes (8.52);  Back Again (5.39);  City of Darkness (8.43)

In 2001 Dutch band Mangrove brought out a mini album "Massive Hollowness" - with a run time of around 35 mins, this would have been considered as a standard length LP in my day!  Now, with some changes and tweaks to the line-up in terms both of job description and personnel, they are back with their first self-proclaimed, full length offering, "TouchWood".  The band are a four piece outfit comprising founder members Roland van der Horst (guitars and lead vocals) and Joost Hagemeijer (drums and vocals), together with Pieter Drost (bass) and relative newcomer Chris Jonker (keyboards).

The band have a fairly typical European approach to the progressive scene, and while there are undoubtedly strong retrospective influences coming to the fore in the music - comparisons, not only to seventies names like Genesis and Pink Floyd, but also neo-prog acts like IQ are easy to make - this is not in any way to the detriment of the music.

The compositions for the most part have an easy flow to them and while there are some quite intense moments, the majority of the album is fairly safe and laid back. "Fatal Circle" and "Wizard of Tunes" are probably among the strongest pieces featured, and the band really hold it together well during these numbers and show a glimpse of what they are capable of.  On the downside "Penelope" is a definite chink in the armour, being too quirky and ploddy by far and - at over seven minutes - I could have well done without it.

In terms of playing ability the band are hard to fault and the guitar and keyboards strike a powerful chord. I cannot say I'm quite so keen on Roland Van der Horst's vocals.  For my money it's not just that he has a strong European accent, which will not be to everyone's taste, but also the fact that the delivery is at times a little too bleak - and often too close to being spoken rather than sung.

As for the presentation; the CD is beautifully packaged with a 12 page booklet featuring nice nice artwork and clearly defined lyrics to all the songs. For what I assume is a self produced CD, the packaging quite frankly cannot be faulted and, in fact, puts a lot of better known bands to shame.

Given time I think that Mangrove are a band who could make a name for themselves, but they need to find that certain extra spark to make themselves really stand out from the crowd. Even after many listens I found that there was very little about the album that really stuck in my mind, no tunes were left buzzing around my head.  There is not anything fundamentally wrong with the band's approach; the performances are well honed and the music has charm, but for me it just failed to create a lasting impression.

In the final summing up I would say that this is a pleasant enough offering, competently put together and well presented. If you enjoy Euro-prog, my recomendation would be to check out some of the samples on the band's web site - and if you like what you hear, take the plunge.

Simon May 9th 2004

COMING BACK TO LIVE

Tracklist:
disc 1
1. Zone I 
2. Zone III
3. Cold World
4. Wizard Of Tunes  
5. Back Again 
6. Fatal Sign 
7. City Of Darkness 

disc 2
1. Facing The Sunset
2. I Fear The Day
3. Hidden Dreams

LINEUP
Roland van der Horst - guitars, vocals
Joost Hagenmeiijer - drums, vocals
Peter Drost - bass
Chris Jonker - keyboards

Additional Musicians:
Nathalie Balkema - backing vocals
Monique Leerkes - backing vocals

REVIEW

With three studio works already behind them Dutch based progressive rockers Mangrove have decided the time is right for their first live album and the 2CD set that makes up "Coming Back to Live" certainly delivers the goods with style.

The material featured on the album was all recorded live at Gigant in Appledorn (Holland) on November 4th 2006, and the tracks follow a chonological sequence through Mangroves career to date.

The first two tracks, 'Zone I' and 'Zone III' both originally appeared on the band's 2001 mini album, "Massive Hollowness".  In the first number in particular comparisons to Genesis are pretty clear certainly in terms of some of the keyboard work, but by and large that's as far as it goes. Musically the track is superb with it's strong punchy bass line and some beautiful soaring guitar work. The second piece from this era is an altogeher more sombre affair, very laid back and restrained, but painting a nice contrast with th opening track.

The next selection of tracks consists of five songs that originally appeared on the 2004 album "Touch Wood". Having previously reviewed that album I will not attempt to go through these on a track by track basis, but I would say that listening to these numbers again now in a live context they certainly made more impact on me than they did the first time around. In particular the track "Fatal Sign" stood out as noteworthy not least because of it's strong yet varied keyboard sounds, solid bass and guitar work and the well delivered vocals.  No problems here at all!

The second CD features materal exclusively from the bands 2005 concept album "Facing the Sunset" - in fact the only track not present is "There Must be Another Way". This part of the concert shows a considerable maturity of style over the earlier tracks. Gone are the neo progressive noodlings and in their place we are treated to a hard hitting punchy opening number that would not seem out of place on a King Crimson album. In complete contrast to this there are times later on in the number where the vocal delivery is quite reminiscent of Gabriel era Genesis, but please don't be fooled into thinking the band are simply copying what has gone before - this is a powerfully put together piece that stands up on it's own as a great song.

Equally "I Fear the Day" and "Hidden Dreams" come across as perfectly crafted pieces that are performed with a feeling that shows the band working well as a tight knit unit. Interestingly I get a sense with this later material that when the band do insert passages that have neo progressive leanings, they do so because it works and not simply because they are following the trend. The result is well crafted music that also has a sense of fun and enjoyment - great stuff and as it should be!

In view of the superb musical content the one possible let down comes with the CD packaging which is perhaps a little disappointing purely in terms of the brevity of the accomapnying insert - a simple yet nicely presented 4 page affair.

When I reviewed the band's 2004 album "Touch Wood" my general feeling was that while Mangrove were undoubtedly a talented band, they lacked that certain something that fired the imagination.  On listening to this album I think it is fair to say that that missing something is now firmly in place!

"Coming Back to Live" is a very pleasing album in every respect, paying homage to a number of classic progressive rock names (Genesis, King Crimson and IQ to name a few) but at the same time maintaining a character that sets it apart.

Fans of Mangrove are bound to appreciate this album as a worthy addition to their collection, but I think too that it should also find favour with the uninitiated since it provides a superb cross section of the band's material to date making a good starting point with which to get acquainted with their  music. Well worth a listen!

Simon 19th November 2006