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Line-up:
Pat
DeLeon - Drums, Percussion
Chris Herin - Guitars, Mandolin, Banjo, Keyboards, Trumpet (Track 5)
Paul Rarick - Vocals
Jeff Whittle - Bass, Lead Guitar (Track 5)
Release Date:
May
03, 2004 Europe
May 25, 2004 U.S.
Tracklist:
01. Window Dressing
02. Remember To Forget
03. All She Knows
04. Capture The Flag
05. Tear-Water Tea
06. Stop Gap
07. Unicornicopia
08. Paintings
09. A.02
10. Slippers In The Snow
11. Spindrift
Website:
www.tiles-music.com Check
also:
Surprise Of May 2004
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I
think it’s four or five year since we last heard from the American
group. Their last work “Presents Of Mind” was exceptional and
enhanced our appetite for more good music, as it showed huge
potentials for the group. In addition I remember my good friend who
saw them live in Germany as an opening act for Dream Theater some
years ago and was astonished by the technical capabilities, excellent
guitar riffs and live performance in general. So it’s been a long
time of absence. But it seems that Tiles will repay us for good. The
new album “Window Dressing” has everything that a prog rock/metal
fan would ask for.
For
a start I should say that the band must have balanced a lot on the
rock or metal silver lining, with the former prevailing here. The
music has much more direct influences from Rush than ever. But then
the ghost of Fates Warning (mostly of the “Inside Out” days), IQ
and Soul Cages is present here for good. If you have heard something
from the band in the past, you know that the whole sound is... Tiles,
which means that the influences are filtered well to create an album
with the original stamp of the band. And I think that this is the
biggest advantage of this record: it manages to differentiate itself
from all the rest prog releases in a unique way. The band succeeds in
combining a kind of complex simplicity to the songs, which makes them
approachable for everyone and not only the massive prog fan.
Furthermore they manage to add many classical guitars, mandolins,
saxophone, and violin creating thus amazing orchestrations that
transmit positive feelings.
This
new approach of the band is mirrored on the first self-titled song,
which despite it’s length (17 minutes) is not complicated in
technical terms, rather in combining many different themes and moods.
The album gains some extra point from the smart cover and of course
from the amazing production by Terry Brown (Fates Warning, Ruch etc.).
And for God’s shake we finally get a prog release that presents a
whole different approach than Dream Theater’s!! I’m thrilled and
urge everyone who likes even a bit prog rock/metal to listen to this
excellent album. I'm possibly too harsh with this grade...
by Alex Savvatianos 8,5/10
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