Heart Of Cygnus are new name to me, but they actually issued their debut album, 'Utopia', in 2007 and followed that up with "Over Mountain Under Hill" in 2008. 'Tales from Outer Space' is their third album. The band consists of founder members Jeff Lane and Jim Nahikian, together with Aldo Galatioto.
There was something about the 50s style science fiction album cover and the name that made me think, given that I was unaware of their earlier work, that this would sound like some sort of second rate Rush tribute. Then I listened to it, proving that you shouldn't let your imagination run riot before you actually listen to the music. I was very pleasantly surprised by this album.
The album starts with a brief intro which mimics a sci-movie before the band launch into "In The Days Of The Galactic Alliance" which at first seems to confirm those Rush suspicions when Queen inspired vocals burst on the scene, to be followed by some Brian May infused guitar work.
In true prog style the next 3 songs form a trilogy with "Maiden Voyage" starting off and this time the vocals waiting until almost the end to make an appearance. "Perelandra" is another short track that paves the way for the 10 min epic "Awake, Sleeper". This centre piece of the album mixes Rush, Dream Theater and Queen to good effect against a backdrop of suitably spacey synths the keep up the sci-fi vibe. "The Last Man" is a stirring ballad. "Starship Troopers" follows up in a similar vein with some Yes style vocal harmonies.
With a title like "XBSN" I expected the final track to be an instrumental. However, it is actually the band having some fun and rocking out at the same time.
Unusually for a prog style band HoC have kept things short and sweet with the album clocking in just at just over 31 minutes. That half hours seems to pass quickly and I'm always left wishing there were a couple more songs on here. That's a good sign!
Rating: 4 stars
