40 years in the making... prog rock from Texas? Houston, what problem?
Oz Knozz have brought this album to the table with nothing to prove. Formed in 1969, in the last 43 years this is only their third album (Kate Bush, eat your heart out) and their hometown of Houston, Texas isn't exactly prog rock heartland. So we go into this almost blind. Which is incredibly exciting.
Acting as if the last couple of decades haven't happened has given Oz Knozz the chance to re-visit the synthesised heartbeat of progressive rock with nods to Deep Purple, UFO, and Rush. Here Comes the Night has an intro reminiscent of Journey's Don't Stop Believing but that's quickly forgotten because so many of these hooks are so damn catchy. They take the harder side of AOR/classic rock and meld it with the melodic and harmonic sense of ELO or modern Uriah Heep (with True Believer).
Standout tracks are lighters-in-the-air Empty Room and Goodbye Again. The curiously-titled Fox Paws moves the album from nostalgic riffing to quirky beats and a horn section, which although interesting is somewhat tenuous (except perhaps compared to the jazzy What The...?). But they crown it all with the epic Kings and Treasures, a 7-minute anthem encompassing everything there is to love about 70s prog rock - tense drumbeats, pompous fanfares and wistful harmonised lyrics... kitchen sink and all. Despite voyages into the unknown, True Believer hardly breaks new territory. But to expect that is to somewhat miss the point: this album makes you feel great. It's hardly heavy going for prog, and cuts to the quick of the best elements of an almost-lost genre with fantastic modern production and sound quality.
It's intense, uplifting - at times nostalgic - but always so much fun.