There are times that a review becomes more difficult than usual. There are times that the role of a judge gains an unappealing aspect, as you face a creation of a beloved band and contemporaneously an ethical bail of brushing aside your given sympathy and remain objective to your duties.
Tiles is a very important band in the field of progressive Rock, not the most historic one but nonetheless one of the best holdovers of the genre. Throughout their career they were, and still remain, admirably qualitative despite their disproportional popularity. And that's one of the hundreds of reasons why they hold a high place in my consciousness.
Let's face it, most musicians that get involved into progressive music turn the whole thing into a show-off competition,forgetting what music's all about; feeling. Tiles' music might be incoercibly technical and complicated but it also gushes from oneiric melodies and majestic atmosphere. Even the most untutored 'ear' could grab some of it's beauty and be touched by it's grandiosity.
Their style mainly approaches Rush and partly, but obviously, Marillion and Vanden Plas. With such influences, did you expect a mediocre band and an average album? Possibly, they don't exceed the level of the forenamed (uhm...ok I wouldn't even dare to compare any band to Rush) but think of the artistic proportion we are up to.
As I said before, their compositions have a strong advantage. They are incredibly ear-catchy while retaining a major artistic background. Especially the instrumental ones are top ranking!
The fans of the specific musical field shouldn't make second thoughts about this purchase, especially when we all know the scanty number of albums concerning the progsters being released nowadays. A definite highlight for those who seek more intellectual hearings.