Well, well... there must be a prog god somewhere because I've just found perfection in the latest album from The WATCH. After three decades of prog sampling, I still find it amazing that what passes between my two ears can reach me so deeply as to melt my innards the way this album does. Vacuum is a killer album, a work of stellar magnitude obviously created most painstakingly, with love and utmost professionalism.

What’s unique here that the vocal quality of Simone Rossetti is very similar to Peter Gabriel and is better than Cyrus of Citizen Cain. This album gives me full satisfaction as I have been so longing for the music which is similar to early Genesis. In a nutshell, “Vacuum” is what the Genesis would sound like if Hackett did not quit and Gabriel rejoined the band. It’s like the follow-up album of “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” released right after “Wind and Wuthering”.

The Watch amazes on this album due to their excellent musicianship. And the first thing that will strike you here are the technical skills of this guys. The band plays progressive rock with amazing arrangements through all ten songs. There are some early seventies influences of bands like Yes but taken to a more modern sound, adding more dynamics and energy to the music. This is pure musicianship and you will have to listen to this album over and over again to fully appreciate all the ideas.

To undertake a track by track overview I fear would be nigh on impossible with this level of complex arrangements, ever changing moods and tempo changes – best think Genesis at their most complex and inventive and you have Vacuum. I would add that certainly The Watch have benefited from the 30 year (plus) time span that has elapsed and therefore the production values are very good. Along with the production values is the meticulous attention to detail, allowing the band to capture the innumerate musical, lyrical and melodic nuances that go to make this a fascinating and studied album.

They are in the manor of what Genesis' compositions very well might have developed into if they had chosen a different direction and followed a more symphonic line rather than blending their music with more and more pop elements. And the way in which The Watch does it is not only interesting, it is also very emotional and definitely to my liking. It has a considerable amount of dynamic interplay between punchy majestic pompous parts and enchanting atmospheric moments moving up and down on an emotional scale ranging from darker to more light feelings. It is touching and creates an emotional impact all the way throughout.

The Watch simply delivers original music, but with the vintage seventies Genesis atmosphere as main ingredient. Since the original Genesis came to life, all over the world many bands became inspired by them and introduced Genesis flavours and elements into their music. Based on the many bands there are, spread over the last thirty years, I can clearly say The Watch is the absolute best, with Vacuum for sure being their absolute highlight.

The vocals of Rossetti are better than ever and can compete with Gabriel. What is very noticeable on ‘Vacuum’ is the over abundance of keyboards: the mellotrons, Hammonds and other pianos create a whirlwind of sounds. This album exhausts its strength through the use of keyboards and vocals. They definitely demanded their leading role on the CD.

The main highlight are, the impressive vocals by "Simone Rossetti", he has an extraordinary abilities as a singer and also like an actor, basically because of the characteristic sound of his voice, that it is very similar to the vocal tones from Peter Gabriel. In fact The Watch is the band that represents the "Genesis" feeling at the present day, and is a specially work for all Genesis fans, where the songs contain references from memorable albums as "Selling England By The Pound" and "Foxtrot". Brilliant and an indispensable work, highly recommendable... "