A.C.T – Falling (MCD)

My favorite Swedish melodic progsters are back again! After two EPs, they now deliver what could be considered a classic 70s vinyl length album, clocking in a 30 minutes and 8 seconds, but would today be considered a mini-alnum. The album starts with the short “Fall In” intro which is just a short runway into the excellent heavy and melodic “Digging A Hole” with some really cool technical mid-sections. This is A.C.T in their prime. An outstanding song, indeed! Next up is “The Girl Without A Past” where we get to revisit Emilie who first had a song of her own on “Today’s Report”, and who still has problems with her memory. It’s a quirky song that starts out quite soft, but picks up into a pompy and theatrical chorus. There’s a lot of classic early Saga in the keyboard/synth arrangements, I feel. Lots of different vibes and parts, which really makes this listen experience a thrill. Next up we have the kinda stroll along, pretty straight forward and slightly poppy “Breathe”, a song you can’t help bobbing your head to. Despite being “straight forward”, it of course has some really cool and quirky passages, especially in the solo section. With A.C.T “straight forward” isn’t really the same as AC/DC “straight forward”. There are different levels , you know. “A Race Against Time” gets us into a heavy, energetic proggy intro with a pretty naked verse that moves into a power bridge. Another hard hitting number that shows A.C.T has so many more tricks to show us. This is brutal!! “One Last Goodbye” is really classic sounding A.C.T in their strutty, prog-pop vein. As usual the vocal layers and harmonies are exquisite, the musical technicalities and arrangements are out of this world. “The Earth Will Be Gone” gets us back into the theatrical and pompy world, of course with some reggae-infused parts thrown in for good measure. A very interesting vocal mid-section which really enhances the theatrics, and almost moves us into a Broadway musical. These guys never cease to surprise and amaze. Listening to this CD is definitely the best spent 30 minutes today! 

Janne Stark

Label: ACT World

Country: Sweden

Year: 2023