Mystoria

More straight up rocky than the last album with more "tunes" and less noodling.Its upto you if you feel this is a good thing.I thought echo street was a great album , but there were parts where I waited for it to get going.I can hear a little early Oceansize in here, which isnt perhaps surprising.It also reminds me a little of the astronaut dismantles Hal , one of my favourite Amplifer releases.Only a few listens so far, but its a really good album .I do hope it garners them more widespread appeal.They really are one of the best kept secrets in modern British rock and they shouldnt be.PS...hadnt even realized, the vinyl includes a copy of the CD in a slipcase...so you get vinyl, CD and mp3 via amazon..hard to beat really!

This is a decent album, as are all Amplifier albums. It is maybe a touch rockier than their last offering, Echo Street. It is still someway off their best album, which I think was their debut album (one of my top 10 albums of all time), but it does have some similarities. It has some serious power riffs and will appeal to fans of rock music and the musicianship is as impressive as ever. There is maybe something lacking, it doesn't stand out as much as their debut or even the Octupus. I'd like to catch the band live, some of these songs could sound seriously good. The packaging is good, I like the fold out book version and will post some photos if possible.

Another great album from Amplifier. Chuffed I bought it when I did as the price has gone up by £5!

Great fresh sound

Excellent album, noticeably less prog however this is still 100% amplifier, worth mentioning the best tracks - magic carpet, open up, bride, cat's cradle and black rainbow, all the songs/lyrics are great!

Amplifier really don’t sit still. For some bands, that’s a good thing, but I get the feeling with Amplifier that they’re struggling to find the direction they really want to take. Maybe this – Mystoria – is it. There’s a comment on their website that says something like, ‘Less prog; more rock’. A fairly clear statement. Add that to the fact that they’ve moved away from the proggy KScope label after only a single offering and you start to get the feeling that Amplifier really just want to do things their own way.So, is there a little intentional irony right from the off with Mystoria when the strains of ‘Mars, the Bringer of War’ from Holst’s ‘The Planets Suite’ sounds out? What could be more pretentiously prog? But that opening instrumental soon gives way to the extremely rock-driven remainder of the tracks on offer (though those same ‘Mars’ notes do appear later on the album).I’ve listened to this a few times, now, and I need to listen to it more. But after those few listens it doesn’t strike me as being anything special. It’s good, it’s enjoyable, and I’m giving it 4 stars because ‘I like it’, but for me it’s a collection of decent rock songs, no more, no less. Personally, I preferred ‘Echo Street’, and this just isn’t in the same territory in terms of style. I wouldn’t say this is a backwards step as such; as I’ve said, it’s a decent offering, but it’s quite a departure from their last offering. Which, when you think about it, could be considered rather proggy.

I got this direct (with an awesome T shirt!) via the band's email promotion a while ago but just got round to playing.I still rate The Octopus as one of my all time favourite albums but this is also a five star album. Worth every twinkle.Now on my third or fourth run through. Bit more rocky, little less prog, none the worse for that.

Opens with the gloriously demented volleys reminiscent of Super Mario mashed with Queen of old......from then on it's rock, riffs and the album growing on me with each listen. Not yet 5 star, last album was always going to be a hard act to follow but this one gives you an idea of the energy they dish out live - just play it loud.