Discipline - Unfolded Like Staircase. 1997 USA-Michigan

When Unfolded Like Staircase first hit the market, there was an enormous buzz surrounding it. I wasn't overly impressed, the album seemingly like many new American prog bands that were being praised at the time. And left me scratching my head. Echolyn and Spock's Beard were also receiving rave reviews, and while I could appreciate both (the former more so), to my ears they weren't even necessarily worth keeping. And same with Discipline, which I sold quickly. Recently the title popped up again for sale on the cheap, and so I thought I'd give it another whirl some 20 years later. Yes, OK, this album now does resonate quite a bit. No question it has an earlier era feel to it - more 70s for certain than most bands coming from the 90s. There's a strong VDGG component here, mixed with the complexity of a band like, yea, Echolyn. Some of the music here, especially the vocals, annoy me at times. But then again, Peter Hammill annoys me often too, so therein lies the problem. The many reviews I see for the album go to great lengths to describe the superlatives here. They can't all be wrong. I can see that multiple plays will result in a better experience. Well worth owning.

Ownership: CD: 1997 Strung Out. Jewel case. Lyric booklet.

1997 (first listen); 5/14/17 (review / new entry); 5/22/24