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REVIEWS: CAIRO Conflict And Dreams back to artists page Discography • Audio • Tour Dates • Links The quality of the musicianship and musical ideas of the members in Cairo never ceases to amaze. Their progressive sound is dynamic and infectious, while utilizing outstanding compositional skills. Conflict and Dreams has a number of lengthy tracks that allow the lover of complex progressive music to really sink their teeth into the music. Listen to the interplay (and speed) on the 17-minute "Western Desert". Keyboardist Mark Robertson and guitarist Alec Fuhrman have a frantic interchange that will leave you breathless. – review by Kurt Kroeber ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Cairo is an excellent, wonderfully-bombastic prog band from San Francisco, California, who have released two albums with the American-based prog & metal label Magna Carta. Luckily, Cairo eschews the usual Magna Carta "prog-metal" sound in favor of a more classic approach... Their first self-titled album Cairo was released in 1994. On listening to the album a few influences become obviously clear, mainly ELP, Yes, and Kansas (at their most progressive). The heavy ELP-influence stems mostly from the keyboard and drum departments. Cairo's keyboardist, Mark Robertson sounds every bit as good as Emerson in his prime, and it is his bold, complex keyboard sound that dominates much of the album. Robertson uses everything from Hammond organs, to acoustic pianos, to modern synths, making for a colorful wash of sounds throughout the album. Drummer Jeff Brockman also proves to be a very accomplished and exciting player, really adding dynamics and drama to the bands compositions. Cairo also has an excellent vocalist in Bret Douglas, who has a high vocal range ala-Jon Anderson, and really delivers some emotional performances here. The bands use of three and four part vocal harmonies is also stunning! With all of these comparisons you probably think that I'm about to complain about a lack of originality. Not so! This band does manage to throw in enough of their own unique twists and nuances, that they do come away with their own identity. Guitarist Alec Fuhrman adds some eastern musical influences and violin-like passages that sound very fresh and original in their context. Bassist Rob Fordyce adds some nice melodic counterpoints in the arrangements. Some outstanding tracks include "Season Of the Heart", with a very rich Yes-inspired vocal arrangement, "Silent Winter" which features a great melodic structure coupled with a bombastic twisting/turning instrumental break, and "Between the Lines", which shows off Robertson's Hammond organ chops. A real treat for old prog fans is the 23-minute album closer "Ruins at Avalon's Gate", which combines influences from ELP's "Tarkus", with modern guitar sounds and emotional vocals. It also becomes obvious after multiple listens that this band has some very thoughtful and positive lyrics, a nice change from some of the "doom and gloom" prog out there! Between the release of their first and second album, Cairo contributed to Magna Carta's series of prog-rock "tribute" albums. They recorded a fine version of the Yes classic "South Side of the Sky" for the tribute album "Tales of Yesterday". Bret Douglas' makes a great showing for himself on "South Side", covering the vocal lines of Jon Anderson better than just about any else on that album! They also recorded well-executed versions of "Breathe" and "Squonk" for the respective Pink Floyd and Genesis tributes, although their version of the Pink Floyd classic adds little of Cairo's own unique flavor, and serves as more of a note for note re-creation of the original. Robertson later played on the ELP tribute Encores, Legend, and Paradox without his Cairo band mates, and Brockman likewise played on Magna Carta's ode to Rush, "Working Man". It was four years until Cairo released their second album, 1998's Conflict and Dreams. By this time, bassist Rob Fordyce had been replaced by studio-sideman Jamie Browne. Even though Browne is not an "official" member, he sure makes his presence felt on many tracks! Conflict and Dreams mostly continues in the vein of their debut, but with even more intensity and complexity! There is heavier sound on two on the tracks, "Angels and Rage" and "Western Desert", but luckily the band still avoids the plodding "crunch rock" pitfalls of most of their Magna Carta label mates. Tracks like the complex (yet highly melodic) "Corridors", and the emotionally gripping "Then You Were Gone", are some of the finest examples I've found of modern progressive rock at it's best. The album closer "Valley of the Shadow" mixes some tight vocal harmonies with an unpredictable melodic structure. The instrumental duet in the middle of this track, (between Brockman's jazzy drums, and Robertson on piano and organ) is a stunning example of this bands talent. Anyone who likes to put down the newer prog bands as being somehow less-complex and interesting than the "classic" bands (i.e. Yes, ELP, Camel), should really give this song a listen! Conflict and Dreams also furthered my opinion that, while Cairo may be influenced by Yes, & ELP (they admit this!), they are not by any means some uncreative clone of these bands. Anyone who likes the creative bombast of the classic prog bands, but doesn't mind some more modern influences in the mix as well, should check out Cairo. – review by Jeff Matheus ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Conflict And Dreams fell into my hands quite unexpectedly, but what luck it was! It seems that Magna Carta is not exacly a "progmetal" label. Cairo plays excellent, very technical music, but it is not metal at all. The technical abilities of the band's members amaze the listener at the first listening. Mark Robertson, the keyboard player, can easily be compared to Keith Emerson. Actually, he imitates his style very well, and his technical fireworks on Hammond organ are not only a pure display of abilities, but also a significant part of the music, pushing it way forward. All Cairo instrumentalists are brilliant anyway... Cairo is sparkling, bombastic progressive rock. The fact that the music is so varied enables us to enjoy the complex instrumental parts, and interesting melodies just after that. The whole album will be an exciting experience for any fan of ELP, UK or contemporary Dream Theater-like bands. An outstanding album! – Polshaq ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Click here to order Conflict And Dreams. Click here for the Cairo discography. |
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