| Artist: | Evolution |
| Title: | The First Signs Of Life |
| Label: | Mellow Records MMP313 |
| Length(s): | 68 minutes |
| Year(s) of release: | 1996 |
| Month of review: | 01/1997 |
| 1) | First Steps | 4.52 |
| 2) | Activity | 4.43 |
| 3) | The Divide | 3.57 |
| 4) | Back To Reality | 6.34 |
| 5) | Mouse Trap | 6.05 |
| 6) | Giant Steps | 4.27 |
| 7) | White Lady | 11.18 |
| 8) | The Organic | 8.23 |
| 9) | Out Of The Sky | 6.13 |
| 10) | The Arabian | 2.41 |
| 11) | Keep The Home Fires Burning | 7.58 |
The first track is mostly electric guitar and is very melodic. The drums are unfortunately programmed, something that I usually do not like. On the whole it sounds rather like Pendragon, but is somewhat repetitive and has too little variation although the melody is nice.
Ken has a pleasant soft voice and articulates well, although he has a little more trouble with the higher reaches, where he sounds a little unsure. The melody is again nice and by now we can be fairly sure that Evolution is in the neo-prog vein. The drummachine is at it again. The drumming is certainly non-standard and even a little bit too busy for this track, which itself is rather flowing and melodic. The vocal melody of the chrous is good, but he repeats it a little too often.
The guitar intro to the next song is again rather Pendragon like, but a bit less laid-back. The drums are again very busy and in my ears seem to have very little to do with the very accessible melody line this instrumental is built upon.
Back to Reality sounds like the softer Gabriel era Genesis songs (no I don't mean the vocals). A peaceful track with some backing vocals by himself (I guess). The pace of the acoustic guitar picks up a little at the end but all in all a rather dreamy track.
Mousetrap is along the same lines. The guitarsound behind the vocals is a good idea on this track. Now, Ken sings while the repetitive guitar is mixed below the vocals not attracting too much attention. After a while the guitar is at it were let out of its trap and plays till fade. Quite a lot of lyrics have been put into this song by the way.
The next track is White Lady. Again a melodic song with good melodies, but a sameness tends to creep in by now. Again the Genesis reference is obvious, but I have to admit that in a way the music also reminds me of Camel (also through Pendragon I guess). After three minutes there's a very abrupt break into a guitarsolo.
The Organic is exactly that with a large role for the organ. The instrumental is a nice one and has some jazzy undertones. It does sound a little familiar.
Out of the Sky has a noisy guitar in the background like Mousetrap and is a nice track with lyrics on an encounter with beings from other space. This song also has a very familiar ring to it and after some thinking I find it to be White Russians of Marillion (listen to the "a lizard creature" part).
The Arabian is what one might expect a song vaguely Arabic and is just the one guitarsolo. It moves directly into the closer Keep the Home Fires Burning, a sympathetic track with a nice guitarsolo.