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For Absent Friends - Tintinnabulation

Artist:	For Absent Friends
Title:	Tintinnabulation
Label:	Red Sea Records RED 2014
Length(s):	55 minutes
Year(s) of release:	1996
Month of review:	06/1997

Line up

A.T. - vocals, guitar
Peter de Jong - keyboards
Edwin Roes - guitars
Ed Wernke - drums
Rene Bacchus

Tracks

1)	Nowhere To Run	6.04
2)	Don't Stay	4.23
3)	Each And Every Day	7.38
4)	Ignorance	5.58
5)	Way Out Of Line	5.03
6)	Waste Of Time	5.15
7)	Too Late	6.29
8)	Boy	6.43
9)	Father	7.29

Summary

I'm not familiar with their last studio album, Running in Circles, but I think I have everything else they ever recorded (including demo tapes, a live tape and a single), and I do have heard them play some stuff from Running live. In the beginning I liked them very much, being a neo band with their own sound, a good vocalist (special in those days), and writing good tunes as found on their mini-album. Both Worlds has some nice tracks, but I never got into tracks like Moving On and the sound was certainly more polished. When I heard Running in Circles live I wasn't impressed, although Faf out of Hal contained a number of good acoustic tunes, but not very progressive on the whole. Seems like that's not one of their goals anyway.

The music

The album starts out nicely, with some not so obvious drumming and a different guitarsound, a bit "country" like. The next one is not so good. The chorus is a bit too accessible. The third however is FAF in prime shape, bass intro, then some keyboard, high sung vocals. Sweeping.

The next is one of my favourites with a good chorus, sad lyrics and good composition. Very good. The instrumental is a bluesy guitarsolo with some freestyle drumming. The others take a break.

On Waste of Time it starts with fast acoustic guitar. Then a more or less symphonic intro, which is very nice and instead of being about love, this is about someone who ended up in jail The song sounds vaguely familiar, but it is one of the better tracks on the album.

On the next one we have some nice drumming again, but the chorus is once again a bit too obvious, while the eigth track starts off, lyrically, where Fish and his Family Business left off.. It's about the feeling people get when confronted with violence at the neighbours and their feeling of helplessness while wanting to help, but not really daring. The voice is different on this album and that helps, because A.T.'s vocals are so recognizable, there's the danger that everything sounds the same. There's a good up-tempo guitarsolo in there and even some organ.

The closing track is the emotional Father, which is one of the highlights of the album. Very good.

Conclusion

Problems of an amourous nature are still the most important lyrical factor in this band, and I can't blame them, it probably being something more part of their world then the more distant problems "of this world". Still, more than ever they have involved themselves into other problems and subjects as well. This is not progressive rock as such, but varied melodic rock, preferably with some interesting signatures and somewhat longer tracks as we have come to expect of progressive bands. Still the melody, and being to the point, is more important for these guys than anything else. Still, that doesn't make me like it and in some cases I really don't like some of the up-tempo choruses, but on the whole a surprisingly consistent album. Not a highflyer, but enough quality to merit a listen. Still, I wonder, what about that title? Ah, well, they probably liked the ring of the word.