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Xaal (France) (an overall view) Discography: 1992 - "On the Way" ("Musea") 1993 - "Seconde Ere" ("Musea") An excellent French all-instrumental band, now disbanded, unfortunately. "On the Way" is a 60-minute masterpiece debut with five long tracks. Stylistically, it is an original Fusion with the structures very typical for RIO (Rock In Opposition) and slightly influenced by the bands like Univers Zero. However, unlike them or Present, this band quite often uses openly jazzy elements, and then such arrangements remind me of Brand X, although Xaal's music shows absolutely new and original ways on that direction. "On the Way" is a very complex album with a lot of diverse and intricate arrangements, solos and various interplays between all of the musicians. Sometimes it may seem a bit chaotic, but this is the sort of music for many listens, and a mature Prog-head will never be disappointed by such a unique album. The first impression of the second Xaal's album is... that it is very short, unlike its predecessor. Really, "Seconde Ere" sounds about 38 minutes. The pieces here are also shorter, and musicwise, it is a step backward to more accessible (and a bit more jazzy) structures. Incidentally, this album contains some interesting ways in arrangements. However, there's no new works from Xaal for six years already since "Seconde Ere". VM. 3.06.1999

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