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Artist: Ziggurat
Genre: Progressive
CD Review:
I like this cd. Quite a bit actually. It's my sort of music. Progressive, nearly all instrumental. Progressive music makes me think, because it's not always dance music (at the same speed, the same key, the same etc). It makes me pay attention to what's going on, because thought was put into the construction, the arrangements, and often times the (musical) story.

All but 4 of these songs are instrumental. The 4 lyrics are printed in fold-out style in the cd booklet. I'm not a big fan of the singer here, but the word-songs are certainly interesting enough.

For instance, the very Zappa-like 'Least Gnown of the Gnomes', rock novelty that achieves an intelligent quality that FZ was so well-known for. 'least gnown of the gnomes / I'm the Patron Saint of Beer / pass an ale and whisky here / just a bath is what I fear / and. the GOOD works I do / are ignored and taboo / for I break with all the rules / when I satisfy you fools!'

But I think it's the music that sets this cd apart. 'Riddle of the Sphinx' is one of my favorites, a long cdrom game of a song that would certainly pep up Myst or a Mummy adventure game. I hope this band is going after scoring work, because they'll get it.

If you're the sort who has a copy of the soundtrack to Riven, but like your music to rock UP more, you'll need to get this to stay human.