Band:	It Bites
Album:	The Tall Ships
Style:	Progressive rock
Release date:	2008

01. Oh My God
02. Ghosts
03. Playground
04. Memory Of Water
05. The Tall Ships
06. The Wind That Shakes The Barley
07. Great Disasters
08. Fahrenheit
09. For Safekeeping
10. Lights
11. This Is England
12. When I Fall [bonus]

Formed in 1984, with however a big break from 1990 to 2006, It Bites comes from England and plays Progressive Rock with strong Metal influences. This is the first time that I hear something about this band though but according to what I listened to on their new release "The Tall Ships", I have the feeling that this band should have a better exposure, really in the genre "The Tall Ships" is a really good release, so please have a look at it if you like Prog!

When I'm talking about Progressive Music you have to know that I'm not talking about basic Progressive Metal. Actually, It Bites plays in the category of The Flower Kings or even Marillion and all the other bands which use to play Progressive Rock with however strong Metal influences but which cannot be compared to Dream Theater. It doesn't mean that it's bad of course and the last It Bites is a proof that we can do good music without using only heavy riffs. The eleven songs of "The Tall Ships" are really deep with nice interesting structures. The guitar soli are technical but not boring and the melodies that we can find on each tracks are beautiful, tender and memorable. It Bites plays Progressive Rock and does it well! Sure on a side this is a bit Pop and the ghost of Genesis is not so far away but the band has a lot of good technical parts in their compositions and there are some good riffs which are not so soft anyway. As I said before, if you like bands like The Flower Kings "The Tall Ships" should be a good surprise for you.

With this kind of bands, this is extremely hard to say bad things about the musicians or the production. The guys of It Bites are great musicians who all have played in a lot of combos and with famous musicians they're professional and top class performers and even if the front-man John Mitchell is new (he is in the band since 2006), I have to say that that he is really convincing and that his voice is really beautiful. With a really good production, a classy cover art and a perfect sound, "The Tall Ships" is a really good album. Maybe that it lacks a bit of intensity sometime but in the genre this is good no doubt.

If you like 70's Prog music I invite you to check "The Tall Ships". This album is a lovely piece of Prog and I'm sure that the fans of the genre, from the Metal scene or not, will enjoy a lot this album. Don't expect heavy and loud stuff here but if you like Pop sound and cool Rock you'll not be disappointed. Prog people, have a look at "The Tall Ships", I'm sure that you'll discover a good new band through this release!