IZZ sliver of a sun
		Format CD Country USA Recorded 1998 Issued 1998 Label Doone Records Cat no. Rune 148 Playing time - Reviewer Sven Eriksen

Here we have something as rare as an "intelligent pop/rock band" with clear progressive leanings. Not less rare, perhaps, is the fact that the mix works perfectly.

Izz is a five-piece group with guitar, keyboards, bass and two drummers. The music is compact and well produced, and the musical associations flow in many directions, for me personally first and foremost to Kevin Gilbert. But there are resemblances to Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin (two female vocalists contribute not least to this), and Ritual ("Lornadoone" would have fitted perfectly on their debut album). They show us that they have also listened to Yes, "Double Bass" is in the Brand X/Return To Forever mould, and "Just A Girl" is one of several tracks that contain traces of the melodic side of 90s Crimson.

Composer Tom Galgano is a superb songwriter, moreover, he is a first class vocalist. It is perhaps a bit too early to proclaim him as the new Kevin Gilbert, but the similarities are many. They both manage to combine the accessible and the exclusive, and both are extremely elegant. Izz have produced a record which have spent a great deal of the last few weeks in my CD player (and that is certainly not because I left it behind there).

© 2002 Tarkus Magazine

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