Living Dangerously by Broken Parachute

Living Dangerously by Broken Parachute

I've been following the output of both Ben Bell (Patchwork Cacophony) and Marcus Taylor (Kashgar) as well as the previous Broken Parachute album, and I can say without a shadow of a doubtthat Living Dangerously is the most mature of their output so far. I used to have an issue with Ben's vocals that I couldn't quite define, and while I'm not blown away by the singing here in particular, it's much better than it was. Most importantly (to these ears) Living Dangerously is full of what I love in prog : odd time signatures, in-song shifts and complex themes and arrangements. Ben's own work has a heavy Marillion / Oldfield influence, but here there's more Yes than Genesis, which also works for me. Ultimately though, it doesn't feel derivative, which is even better. There are still little moments when the patchwork nature of the project (the three musicians live in different parts of the world) is felt, maybe a tiny lack of cohesiveness, but honestly these are few and far between. By far the best that these guys have released so far.