*. Gerard .*

Album: Save Knight by the Night (1994)
Genre: Prog Rock (Symphonic/Neo Prog/Exp.)  /  Japan

''Irony of fate'' was undoubtfully the less inspired Gerard album to date and problems begun to show up. Reputedly differences regarding the band's direction led to the departure of original guitarist Yukihiro Fujimura shortly after,quite strange because both Gerard and Fujimura's band Vienna played no more or less the same style of Symphonic Hard Rock around the period. Egawa still recorded a new album with the remaining Gerard members with ex-Moondancer guitarist Taku Sawamura replacing Fujimura,who only contributes on vocals.Because of Fujimura's departure Egawa renamed the band to ''Toshio Egawa's Gerard'' with the new album seeing the light in 1994 on King Records under the title ''Save Knight by the Night''. Check the front cover to realize how egocentric Egawa was by the time,even giving himself the name ''Geraro'' for the photo-shoot!Musically the album sounds like a mix of the old'n'good Gerard and the newer Hard Rock approach. Tracks like ''Into the dark'', ''Evidence of true love'' and ''Trio'' are absolutely fascinating and bombastic Symphonic Rock arrangements with Egawa's flashy synths on the forefront, sudden breaks, grandiose solos, dramatic atmospheres and excellent bass work. ''For piano'', ''The Momorable Melody of the Song'' and the eponymous track are all piano-led compositions with some programmed instrumentation added,which are somewhat spoiled either from the cheap production or the cheesy vocals, with the exception of the last part of ''Save Knight by the Night '', which offers a grandiose Symphonic/Electronic atmosphere. The dull ''Don't Leave Me Now'' is what we all turn our backs on Gerard for: a straight Hard/Glam Rock number for a track with syrup lyrics and funny vocals to say the least. Reasonable enough, the departure of Fujimura left Egawa alone to lead the Gerard crew and thus his new album is dominated by his work on piano and synthesizers. Despite his egoistic approach Egawa managed to compose some material slightly better than the previous Gerard release with the most symphonic tracks being a great example of his talent. Recommended, especially to all fans of keyboard-driven prog. 
Review by "apps79" (Rate Your Music).

RATING:  7.75 / 10

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