The first three tracks are very accessible. "Crazy Beautiful Life" is an optimistic, Flower Kings short song, where the stick player creates its cold metallic thunk wrapped in a warm ambient keyboard. Cushma's sung and chanted vocals and Cides' active stick playing propell the songs. The music tears into progressive rock territory known in Tony Levin's recent albums, and includes post rock sections similar to Oceansize and Lazuli.
Some songs characterize a more upbeat Dead Can Dance and include the prog-drone of David Sylvian. Contributors include Tony Levin, Trey Gunn, Steve Parish, Winston Napier, Nan Mercader and Uncle Jim but the instrumental solos are few or non-existent, leaving it to the melody and arrangements to create the "Freak Show" advertised on the cover. 
"The Number Song " is a heavy drum workout worthy of Billy Cobham in his prime. "Woman on Horseback" is a remix of a Quodia song, using ambient textures behind Trey Gunn's narration. However, the song never gets to a discernable story and the repetition lets it drown in poetic overdose, almost becoming a parody of itself. The otherwise exciting track "Half The World" reminded me of early Peter Gabriel, gets caught in the same problem. Half the world this, half the world that - enough already! Only John Lennon can make that type of lyric even remotely bearable. “Amor De Bandoneón” has a powerful beginning, and Cushma makes good use of its tango roots. They get a little mired down at the end, but the Argentinian feeling remains.
(From www.progressiveears.com)
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