Verdict: Musical reflection on the 70's and 60's (68%)
More Info: http://www.gama-music.com/in%20a%20cage.html
On one of the websites (http://www.soundclick.com/pro/default.cfm?BandID=378727) featuring their sound samples In a Cage describe their music as power/pop rock with a 70's/80's flair. In fact, the album is a, at times eclectic, mixture of mostly 70's and some 80's music with a 60's influence mainly on the vocal harmonies. Whilst it might be tempting to describe this as progressive rock, pop-rock from a bygone era is perhaps more representative as the influences include City Boy, Queen, 10cc and Brian Protheroe, Beach Boys and The Beatles
"Fall On Your Knees" is a symphonic slightly discordant introduction to the album that comes across as mixture of The Enid, Queen and Alice Cooper. The vocals are very theatrical and it is easy to imagine a manic live performance of this track. In contrast "Closer To The Heart" is a dreamy ballad with some jangly guitars and 60's style vocals and "Silent Serenade" continues the theme albeit with more a mid-tempo 80's pop-rock feel and a touch of Beach Boys to the vocals.
"Man Or Machine" rocks it up a bit more sounding like Queensryche. "Rainbow Lake Of The North" is a 60's style free-love track that if you want a Rainbow connection think of Ritchie's recent liking for Medieval music. More straight forward is the chugging rhythm of 80's style rocker "The Game". Staying with the 80's "So It Goes" starts off with a piano led vocal to mutate into a 80's style pop-rock track.
"Perfect For Pleasure" is a slow 60's influenced track with the more of those Beach Boy's inspired vocals. There is a bit of funk on "The Hollow Servant" with an 80's synth rock background. Back to the 70's for the last couple of tracks - lightweight pop on "Bourne To Freedom" and glam pop-rock on "Dear World".
This a bit of an ambitious project as it attempts to gel together music from a number of different eras. The focus on 60's and 70's pop meant that the backbone of the album fell just outside my personal 'musical window' which is more 80's based. However the album represents an interesting take on the music from those decades.
