Prolusion. The Scottish band BEGGARS OPERA had its heyday in the early 70's, back then issuing a trio of albums that are generally well regarded. Their recording career went into decline after that, however, and after 1980's "Lifeline" they went on a hiatus. A partial reformation by some members resulted in the less than thrilling effort "The Final Curtain" in 1996 as something of a last whimper. Then in 2007 original guitarist Ricky Gardiner and vocalist Virginia Scott returned with the album "Close to My Heart", and in 2009 this was followed by "Touching the Edge". And these days this reformed version of Beggars Opera seems to have reached some sort of creative peak, issuing no less than 3 full albums in 2010.

Analysis. One of the many cliches of the rock universe is that a band that returns after a lengthy hiatus with a good album ultimately will fall back to productions of a more mediocre standard. And while that isn't quite the case for the UK act Beggars Opera, I don't find them to be quite as impressive as on their previous two efforts. "Suddenly Ahead-Ahead" is the first of the three releases they issued in 2010, and on this album they continue pretty much where they left off on 2009's "Touching the Edge". The compositions are rather similar in overall nature, with a mainstream-oriented structure following a verse and chorus mode being their main preference. Verse and vocal parts in general are crafted with somewhat of a laidback nature, the most common approach being to underscore Scott's vocals with a symphonic backing in the shape of floating keyboard textures or a dampened organ, in some instances also with a gentle piano motif applied. The songs containing chorus parts take on a more dramatic mannerism in those aspects, first and foremost with the guitar adding in riffs of a more dominant nature. The non-vocal parts of the songs are first and foremost the domain of Ricky Gardiner. He explores the contrast between his often darkly-tinged riffs and the lighter toned keyboards, produces guitar solos, harmonizing with the tangents, often opting for the drawn out "crying" expression on those instances, or sets off exploring riff constructions, only backed by the steady rhythms department, with resonating, staccato riffs as an expression often given an airing. The songs as such stand and fall upon the various contrasts presented and with how interesting that end result will be for the listener, with Virginia Scott's vocals arguably the most important factor in that respect. Personally I think these compositions work rather well in that department, sometimes very much so, but on the whole not as enthralling this time around as on their previous two productions. Closest on this occasion with When You Were Rosy, where the staccato guitar riff backed by spacey synths motif at the onset of this song is highly intriguing, and a technique that probably could have been revisited more often as far as I'm concerned.

Conclusion. Beggars Opera continues exploring pretty much the same territory on this album as on their previous two efforts, art rock compositions with distinct symphonic tendencies and occasional proclivities in the direction of bands like Pink Floyd. Perhaps slightly more mainstream-oriented on this CD, possibly reaching out to a wider audience, but those who enjoyed their previous two efforts should find this first of their 2010 productions to cater for their musical tastes quite nicely.