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Seven Steps To The Green Door: Step in 2 My World

Wow, did this ever come out of nowhere! Seven Steps to The Green Door are a seven piece band hailing from Germany. This is their sophomore effort with their first earning a couple of awards at the German Rock and Pop awards. What stood out to me as I looked at the band personnel is there are no less than three vocalists; Anne Trautmann, Ronny Grube and Lars Kohler. You will find a great diversity in vocal stylings, from rap to almost death metal, it is all here for your listening pleasure. All the singers have excellent melodious voices which is a big plus for the band. Keyboards are often up front in the mix creating a variety of sounds and textures. The songs have an eccentric quality about them that never allows things to get boring. The band explores lots of experimental sounds employing saxophone, clarinet and electronic wind instruments that add a jazzy nuance to many of the tunes. There are plenty of tempo changes and mood swings often within the same song so repeated listens are definitely warranted. The songs cover a wide range of styles, touching on jazz, funk, pop, progressive metal, symphonic and melodic progressive rock. Songwriting is top notch and many beautiful melodies can be found all over this disc. This is a pretty unique offering and I found it difficult to compare them to other bands, however, at times ACT does come to mind. Not so much in the way they sound but rather in the fact that both bands possess that touch of quirkiness which really adds to their sound.

Things get off to a great start with the symphonic "New Rising" employing great keys (some nice organ sounds), wind instruments and pleasing vocals. A strong melody prepares the listener for what is to come. "Stay Beside" features wonderful piano, slightly processed vocals and an absolutely rocking guitar solo that really gets the blood flowing. There is even a bit of rap in the vocal department, but have no fear, it absolutely fits right in. Which leads me to my next point. It is so often the case when bands offer this much variety the music can become convoluted or even confusing. This is not the case here. Everything falls into place, with not so much as a note out of place. The synth playing in "Paid For Glance" is a real treat along with the classically influenced piano. The piece ends on a jazzy note with some quality saxophone.

Overall, the musicianship displayed is outstanding but never at the expense of melody which makes this album a real aural experience and one that this reviewer highly recommends. With more prog like this, the future of progressive rock would seem to be in good hands.


Track Listing:
1) New Rising (5:52)
2) Stay Beside (6:03)
3) Step Into My World (5:42)
4) Melissa (3:59)
5) My Lovely Mr. Singing Club ((2:51)
6) Attract Me (5:29)
7) Paid For Glance (7:24)
8) Moon Talks To Me (7:51)
9) Rising Shore (6:01)
10) Closer (7:36)
11) Out Of The Clouds (5:05)
12) The Making Of (1:24)

Added: November 20th 2008
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 4072
Language: english

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