Longtime progressive rock journalist John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg has assembled a who's who of talent in putting together his first ever album. Comprised of nine songs based on actual locations in the city of Brugge, this is a neat medieval sounding experience that tells a historical story with Bollenberg's melodic vocals and superb backing musicianship from his cast leading the way.
First of all, where else would you be able to hear Rick Wakeman and Jordan Rudess on the same recording? Rudess injects some symphonic mini-Moog and Kurzweil to the majestic neo-prog of "Holy Blood", which also features some healthy guitar work from The Flower King's Roine Stolt. Bollenberg has a nice melodic voice, shown in great form on the title track (which also features Wakeman, Rudess, and Par Lindh) as well on the tender "Ursus Brugghia." "No Words" is a tour-de-force for Wakeman, as he blazes through the mix with nimble synthesizer solos while Stolt punctuates with electric and acoustic guitars with more yearning vocals from Bollenberg. Another important person on this project is Bjorn Johansson, who adds some guitar, Mellotron, assorted keys, and horns, to many of the songs. He and Par Lindh add huge amounts of Mellotron to the majestic "Anna from the Well", which also features vocals from Heather Findlay, who appears throughout the CD as well.
Chalk up a winner from Bo Bo on his first solo outing. This is progressive rock all the way, with nice bits of narration, folky medieval themes, and a great mix of bombastic and gentle instrumentation.
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