Hailing from Milan, The Watch came to life in 2000 from the ashes of
another band called The Night Watch. In fact, when the members of The
Night Watch parted ways vocalist Simone Rossetti did not give up and
gathered around him a brand new group of musicians to play Genesis
covers and some original tracks in the same style. In 2001 the new
band released an interesting debut album on the independent Lizard
Records label with a line up featuring Simone Rossetti (vocals,
flute, tambou), Simone Stucchi (programming), Roberto Leoni (drums,
percussion), Gabriele Manzini (keyboards), Valerio Vado (electric and
acoustic guitar) and Marco Schembri (bass, acoustic guitar) plus
Sergio Taglioni (piano, organ, Moog, synthesizers) and Gino Menichini
(additional keyboards). The music is in pure Genesis style, yet not
without a personal touch. The artwork is taken from an old
architecture printing, Prospettiva of Vignola, 1642...
The opener “DNAlien” is a piece about the risks of technology and
the consequences that can befall humanity if people choose the most
convenient, seemingly safe, path to fulfil their desires. The
prevalence of aesthetics over the substance of things and feelings
can lead to alienation, just as the prevalence of silence over
words...
“The Ghost And The Teenager” is not a Gothic tale but a piece
dealing with the unstoppable tendency of teenagers to get into
trouble by following bad advice, such as drunk driving. In this case,
the ghost is the bad advisor lurking in the depths of the mind of a
teenager seeking reckless thrills, with all the dangers that come
with them...
“Heroes” is the caustic portrait of a cynical, vain rock star who
acts like an Olympian deity on stage, smiling at journalists and
audiences, convinced he was chosen by God among all men to play his
role... The next track, “Moving Red”, is a surreal description of
a frenetic bus ride with a nightmarish atmosphere. Eventually the
protagonist arrives in a town. Now he's under the spotlights to put
on a show that captivates the audience. But if harmony and balance
aren't strong enough the result could be a mess...
The short and melancholic “Riding The Elephant” contains a pinch
of electronics and paints, albeit with somewhat hermetic tones, the
figure of a young woman who manages to hide her wounds from the eyes
of the people and to overcome a traumatic and difficult family
situation by hiding her shyness with bold looks...
The final track, “...And The Winner Is...”, is a long piece in
pastel shades where old, dusty, cobweb-filled canvases describe the
passage of time and the complexity of human actions, which accumulate
to form a surreal and enchanted landscape. The waves of time, with
years and years of accumulated life and experiences, sculpt forms and
feelings, years and years serving to shape the secret of human
nature. The charm of a mysterious woman or that of a city derives
from the intensity of overlapping and intersecting experiences. In
the background, the city of Venice is dying, swallowed up by canals
of wine and slowly succumbing to the unstoppable wear and tear of its
houses built on poisonous pylons, following the rhythm of the
tides...
On the whole, a perfect exercise of style that deserves its place in
a prog collection.
You can listen to the complete album HERE
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