The Watch: Tracks from the Alps

The five piece Milan, Italian - based classic prog band The Watch is back with new music on their latest album release Tracks from the Alps, to coincide with their upcoming tour featuring Genesis' famous live Second's Out set. Tracks from the Alps is the band's fifth studio album, full of six original tracks, and a great cover of the Genesis Archive 1967-75 rarity, "Going Out to Get You".

"A.T.L.A.S." opens with crisp morning guitar and Simone Rossetti's classic Peter Gabriel-like vocals, "Standing on the edge of nowhere. Feel the cool air. Blowing my hair. Future arrives on a song". Yes, that elation that you feel when you pop on a classic Genesis album and feel the past roaring forward into the future. The feeling that this classic rock never gets old. This is one of the best tracks on the album. Full of Mattia Rossetti's deep bass, plenty of Valerio De Vittorio's Hammond, mellotron and synths. Marco Fabbri's percussion and drum work adds thunder and power to Giorgio Gabriel's power guitar chords. Welcome back…indeed!

"Devil's Bridge" is another powerful track with a message. Rossetti sings, "Take my tail. Tallest mountains. Imagery made of demons live". The guitar work from Gabriel will take you back to the Trespass Era of Genesis. The bass and drum work is solid supporting the wonderful guitar filling the air. As always De Vittorio's keyboard work brings you immediately back to all the great sounds you remember from Nursery Crime or Foxtrot.

"The Cheating Mountain" may be the best track on the album. I've had the album less than a week and it was the first to truly grab and hold on. It opens with the sound of hiking through fresh snow on the mountains. Which is always a great place to start…especially if you've done as much hiking as I have. Town bells sound as the hiker climbs. De Vittorio's keyboard work creates an excellent soundtrack to the climb. Rossetti sings, "Welcome my old friend. It would be alright. The first drop of rain. Watch it come...Hesitation will seal your fate". De Vittorio's keyboard assault is atomic. Rossetti's rousing flute is another great surprise.

"On Your Own" opens with deep keys reminding me of some of the band's earlier material from Ghost or Vacuum. Rossetti sings, "Right where you think. Planet's core. As you must know. Dip your brush. Deep as it goes. Preparing canvas for white snow. Get ready. Mountain peaks on your own. Face the day in a bright way. One day…suspended". Then he adds flute along with the magical keyboard, bass and guitar soundscape surrounding his inspiring vocals. Another of my favorite tracks on the album.

One of the best things about this band is that they enjoy bringing classic Genesis tracks from the archives out into the full light of day with amazing improvements. They did it on their last album Timeless with their wonderful renewal of "In the Wilderness" and "Let Us Now Make Love". On Tracks from the Alps, The Watch performs "Going Out to Get You". The powerful organ De Vittorio opens with sounds warmer than the piano Genesis used on its demo recording on the Genesis Archive 1967-75 box set. The mellotron and organ are simply mystifying as is the thunder Fabbri brings on drums. Rossetti doesn't have as much venom in his voice as Peter Gabriel, however those keyboards and the menacing guitar work from both Gabriel and Rossetti's guitars more than create the mood to match the power of this often overlooked track.

Keyboard wind effects and soft electric guitar chords open "Once in a Lifetime", like a breeze blowing snow off the top of a mountain. Rossetti sings, "Slipping away. I feel ok. It is cold outside. Sun in the sky. Another day. Mountains are my life". Another of my favorite tracks on the album. The keys, bass, and electric lead guitar fill the air with powerful melody. But this track is Rossetti's vocal showcase.

"The Last Mile" is the longest track on the album at over seven and a half minutes. It opens with strong classic lead electric guitar melodies and Rossetti singing, "Austrian girl on a farm. Answers the door. Who can it be? Who wants me? In the last hour before dawn. Get out of your bed and hitch up the horse and let's go". "Only horse drawn wagon could cover the last mile. Glad to be alive". Yes, an epic story set to keyboards that will take you back along with the lyrics to a simpler time when there was time to enjoy the subtleties of life in full.

Yet another powerful trip back and forward along the classic Genesis continuum. This band is now one of my favorites and definitely my favorite band covering Genesis classic music. This is the music that we who were old enough to appreciate it, in the late '60s and early '70s, remember. Take this latest trip back and forward with new music from The Watch. Close your eyes and dream of hiking in the boundless Alps with these classic sounding tracks.

Track Listing:

1. A.T.L.A.S.
2. Devil's Bridge
3. The Cheating Mountain
4. On Your Own
5. Going Out to Get You
6. Once in a Lifetime
7. The Last Mile

Added: February 3rd 2014
Reviewer: Mark Johnson
Score:
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Language: english

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