Reviews

With their fourth album Alias Eye scores a bull's-eye, I think. The mixture of progressive AOR-rock with a lot of jazzy elements really works for me. Alias Eye has two prominent musicians in their line-up: the excellent guitarist Matthias Wurm and the melodic singer Philip Griffiths. If they succeed in writing more consistent and balanced compositions they'll get an extra star next time.
www.backgroundmagazine.nl/CDReviews/AliasEyeInBetween.html

With blasts of Eastern hand-percussion and wind instruments, "Arabesque" shimmers into view with vocalist Philip Griffiths sounding rather similar to Threshold's Damian Wilson, with his wonderfully precise approach adding an extra colour to already expansive ideas. The guitar work ranges from bold, brash riffs, to less up front pulses, while the keyboards continually alter the landscape through ever changing layers of atmospheres. It is a strong indication of what else you can expect from this album, with the likes of "In-Between" using jazzy horns to punctuate a flowing, swinging shuffle, while "All The Rage" finds Griffiths spitting out the lyrics over an electro-beat and gritty slab of guitars. Whether through its harshly insistent fare, or the more classically progressive offerings, In-Between consistently catches the ear, drawing you in and offering songs which convince from start to finish.
seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=12885

Alias Eye is a band that I have rather enjoyed over the years. Their accessible excursions into the fields of progressive rock have usually been of the pleasant variety, with the occasional gem uncovered on occasion. And in style they continue in a similar manner as before on this production. Short compositions with an emphasis on lead vocals, with more than a few forays into classic rock territories, although, in this case, the gems have escaped them in my opinion, replaced with occasional moments of brilliance.
progressor.net/review/alias_eye_2012.html

Alias Eye have been around for quite a while, and despite owning several of their output, I am not sure how many titles they have released so far. Oh well, straight to this recent CD then, titled In-Between. Again mainly a progressive rock album, and again they incorporated several other styles. In some cases, like a little metal in Indentured Pride and jazz in title track In-Between, that works just fine. In other cases, like the rap in All The Rage, I am afraid I am still not totally getting it. But the band shows balls by trying anyway and that is a good thing. Songs closest to the progressive rock tag, like album opener Arabesque, Time Machine or Stars Shall Fall, show the band convince with good songs and great melodies. Both vocally as instrumental. The voice of singer Philip Griffiths is warm and without having an enormous reach he still manages to capture the listener. I do feel towards the end of the album the songs appear to be less spellbinding, but still this album is a joy to listen to. If you liked them before, go out and buy it. If they are still unknown territory to you, it is about time to go and check them out. It is deserved.
yourmusicblog.nl/?p=2232

Because the band isn’t afraid to use saxophone Alias Eye has a sound quite wide and so you can hear some jazzy influences pass by be it not too difficult or complex. Thus, the atmosphere is accessible and open, but at the same time they are artfully on the loose. This is a different way to do it without falling into most complicated structures such as Dream Theater and all adepts, you can change your musical abilities also show a more subtle way and on 'In-Between’ it works more than fine. Point of criticism is the opening of the CD, which could have been done with more power to my taste, the quiet piano notes of ‘Arabesque’ serve as a warm up but I'm more of a overwhelming approach. But in conclusion the fourth of Alias Eye is well taken care of and hopefully we can greet the band in a live setting some time.
www.lordsofmetal.nl/showreview.php?id=21693&lang=en

From a progressive rock standpoint, the music of ALIAS EYE is tame and at worst, harmless, although that may be judging too harshly. Where the band's strength lies is their penchant with melody, and their skill with fusing elements of prog canon into songwriting that feels neither pressured nor forced. A deceptively eclectic album from a band I'm glad I took the time to warm up to.
www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=36286

But Alias Eye can be equally soulful as on the melancholy Stars Shall Fall. And produce a lighter side driven by piano on Distant Memories. Yet for pure classic prog the signature piece is on that Alias did not write. They cover seminal UK prog band Beggars Opera's Time Machine in a grand style. Alias Eye's vocalist Philip Griffiths is joined by his father, Martin, one of the original members of Beggars Opera. With little doubt, In Between finds Alias Eye in fine form, offering creative, entertaining, and sometimes a little edgy prog rock. Recommended.
www.dangerdog.com/2012-music-reviews/alias-eye-in-between.php

In-Between is made up of ten tracks most of which are in the four to five minute range. And yet, it’s what Alias Eye are able to do within that time frame that really counts and as such it’s quite deceptive because there’s more going on than sometimes meets the ear. So on the surface while a song may seem somewhat straight forward, there may be subtle shifts in musical direction or with the arrangement giving off an overall proggy feel. It’s the kind of thing that you notice after it’s done; that there seemed to be more going on than you realized at the time. The other thing that ads to this feeling is the cohesive nature of the compositions, leaving one with the impression that some of these songs were longer than they actually were. One of the more surprising tracks is “Time Machine” [5:42] from the second Beggars Opera disc Waters of Change, here featuring both father and son on vocals as well as some classic Mellotron sounds. Interestingly enough the song in no way sounds out of place, it fits well within the other compositions. A track like “Takes What’s Mine” [4:31] which starts off with some heavy power chords and then goes into electric piano, sounds a little bit like Supertramp and again that’s another good sonic reference point for the style of prog happening here. Having just listened to the first three Beggar’s Opera CD’s I’m struck by how similar in style much of the music here is to those releases.
www.jerrylucky.com/reviews%20a-e_070.htm

I truly had my doubts about the German progrock band Alias Eye´s new album "In-between" because I thought their previous album "In Focus" from 2006 was a really weak effort, I didn´t get their crossover of fusion, pop and progrock. But to my joy, the new album is more solid and the band focus on more pomp-ish prog and less fusion which isn´t their strongest side. The only fusion-like track is "In-between" and it´s a disaster if you ask me, another weird track is the funky "All the rage" which feels so misplaced here. But other than that, the album is quite enjoyable and their singer Philip Griffiths reminds a bit of Dennis DeYoung (Styx). The opening with "Arabesque" and "Break what we knew" will please fans of Lucifers Friend and Opus (early era, before their terrible hit "Life is life"). Another mighty fine track is "Take what´s mine" that bring thoughts to Supertramp and even Saga, we also get a great cover version of Beggars Opera´s "Time machine".
www.melodic.net/?page=review&id=10785