Home Artist links Label link

Ywis - Leonardo's Dream

Artist:	Ywis
Title:	Leonardo's Dream
Label:	SI Music SI3061-2
Length(s):	52 minutes
Year(s) of release:	1995
Month of review:	09/1995

Line up

Rinus Hollenberg - guitars, keyboards, backing vox
Geert can de Burg - lead and backing vox
Herman Ruijters - drums, backing vox
Eric Stap - bass
Rene van Spanje - keyboards

Tracks

1)	Sad Man	5.25
2)	Leonardo's Dream	3.26
3)	Twist To Release	5.51
4)	On My Own	8.31
5)	The Morning Roars Again	6.04
6)	The Allegory	4.34
7)	Our Flight	4.24
8)	Trial And Error (instrumental)	5.23
9)	Put The Blame On History	8.19

Summary

Some time ago, the first Ywis album dating from 1984 was rereleased by SI. This rather fresh sounding album was neo-prog avant la lettre. The only trouble with the album were the vocals and the lyrics. As a result of the good receival of the rerelease most of the members decided to record another album (solely Julian Driessen, being too busy with Timelock wasn't available).

The music

The album starts out quite euphoric (and also as something familiar). The first improvement over the first album is that the lyrics and the vocals are better although still far from exceptional. The vocals are still recognizably Dutch, the use of harmonies (although a bit amateuristic) makes it all sound a bit more polished however and a comparison with Timelock isn't farfetched. Still, I like Ywis better, because Timelock has shown itself to be the Dutch answer to American melodic rock and not much more. This first song is very up-tempo and sets the tone of the album.

The second song also starts of very well. The vocal melody is not that good, but the riff is. Again very up-tempo and rocking.

The third track starts out very quietly with soft keyboards and subtle drumming. The vocals are dramatic (a bit too), but again the guitar takes the lead. The refrain is a regular sing-a-long, but infectious. This is the first track that reminds me definitely of Saga.

The fourth one is a moving ballad, subtle and dramatic. It sounds very much like one of those ballads by Dutch band Ten Sharp. Very good especially when emotion sets in at the end.

After this quite long ballad, it's time to rock again. A bit of a naive song, with a layer of keyboards behind a dominant guitar riff. Might be a good live track, but is too straight rock for my tastes.

The sixth one starts out acoustically. The vocals are again a bit too dramatic. Hard to take it serious. I think it's better if the vocalist would sing within his own possibilities. The vocal melody becomes better however. A mid-tempo song with some heavy guitar in it, with the keyboard lending some majesty to it.

Track seven is very accessible again and although the melody is alright, they are on the bad side of melodrama.

The instrumental track was the best one their debut album. This time it's not up-tempo and complicated, but starts of rather subdued with percussion and meandering guitarwork, a bit in the jazzrock vein. The song evokes a bit the atmosphere of the African steppes (no, not like Hackett) or a town like Havana, subdued but tense.

The last track is in the vein of anything that has been written about in the previous: harmonies, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and so gives a good overview of what Ywis can bring.

Conclusion

Lots of guitar, energy and good melodies seem to be the positive points of this album. As a whole less naive than their debut, but after so many years we should not expect less. The trouble is the vocals that are not bad, but not good enough to lift this neo-prog outfit above the competitors. Also they tend to go over the top. References? Early Saga I'd say, and very melodic. A notch above Timelock, that is more directed toward a larger public. On the other hand they sound a bit more amateuristic (probably due to the somewhat trite lyrics, the vocals and the harmonies). Not an album to play often, but in its category of melodic/progressive rock not bad either. Track 1, 4 and maybe 9 exemplify the faces Ywis can take (or make).