Landmarq - Science Of Coincidence(CD, Synergy SYN002, May 1998) (63:17 mins) - Review by Jerry van Kooten
At last! We have waited a long time for the new Landmarq, but here it is... To conclude this review right away, I could say it was well worth the wait! Well, it is, but let me tell you a bit more.
The first thing that strikes when listening to the eight tracks, is, of course, the voice of Tracy Hitchings. It's not a big shock hearing the band with a female singer, but it took a few minutes to realise I was actually listening to Landmarq.
Her voice, of course, differs from Damian Wilson's. Maybe it's only her voice that is the difference, but maybe the band thought that with a change in line-up like this, they should also change the musical course a bit. You could also say that any band should at least try to change their course with every album. Whatever the reason might be, the music is a step from the songs on The Vision Pit, and I think it's a step forward.The first track is the title track, which ends the Landmarq tradition of naming albums after a song to appear on the next album. This track is more typically neo-prog than any of the other songs. For that reason, not the best track to my taste, and for a first track, maybe not the best choice for an opening track, since it's not completely representative for the rest of the songs.
A song called 'The Vision Pit' honours the latest of the first three albums and closing off an era. And what a song it is! The longest on the album (over twelve minutes), it contains an instrumental part unheard of! The instrumental passages have always been outstanding, but this is a new landmark... The same things happens in the last track, The Overlook (ten minutes) and Lighthouse (eleven minutes). These three tracks all have an instrumental part about half the length of the track.
This kind of stuff will go down amazingly, in concert, I am sure! So many things are happening; wonderful guitar, and amazing keyboard solos. Not exactly new to this band, but the way they put it down to disc this time is high class prog!Heritage and Between Sleeping And Dreaming are the quiet songs, but different from a song like Embrace. Summer Madness and More Flames For The Dancer are just very Landmarq. The first, a happy song with recognisable guitar melodies, in the way that you recognise it is Landmarq.
So, what we've got here is quite a diverse album. Hitchings' voice fits the music well, which is not very surprising, since she wrote most of the lyrics and all the vocal melodies herself. A new era for this band, and what a great way to start it... On stage, lady and gentlemen, please on stage!