Italians Tale Cue were one of Musea's earliest neo-progressives, applying an almost Amon Duul II-like anarchic approach to modern symphonic rock for some mixed results. Their roots are pretty true to Marillion and iQ, yet the addition of a really odd female vocalist gives it an angle that all but pitch-wise makes this a musical cousin to several of the 80's Japanese symphonic groups, and her lack of understanding of the English language makes much of this fairly difficult listening. Voices Behind My Curtain (Musea FGBG 4030.AR) is often a mixed bag quality-wise. The instrumentalists can really kick it out at times and some of the jams nearly leave me breathless, but there is a lack of togetherness that makes it sound fairly amateur (similar to Malibran on their first, Men of Lake, or Spaniards Harnakis). Not to mention that the heavily digital keyboards are a bit on the jarring side at times. A second album might have worked out some of the rough spots, but alas, it was not to be.
(originally reviewed as part of The New Italian Progressive Rock Scene
(part 1), Exposé #3, p. 8, Edited for Gnosis 3/24/01)
