Lalu (2) – Paint The Sky

Can't POSSIBLY imagine any album unseating this for my favorite disc of '22. Lalu takes a step into the "rock" end of progressive rock and ends up squarely in Utopia. Less "metal" than previous releases, but far superior , IMHO. A diverse , excellently crafted opus with a stellar cast , led by former Threshold vocalist Damian Wilson. Wilson writes all lyrics and crafts a decidedly positive , uplifting vision and really crushes it here. Guests include Steve Walsh , Jordan Rudess , Tony Franklin ,Gary
Wehrkamp , Marco Sfogli, Jens Johansson (!!) among others. This particular version is ULTIMATE as it features over 13 minutes of bonus tracks , including a completely re-imagined instrumental version of the title track. It is this song alone that features Simon Phillips on drums , as well as the sole appearance by Alex Argento on the album. It's also a second chance to experience excellent bass work of Tony Franklin.The incredibly melodic acoustic version of " Witness to the World" is also a prime example of an enticing bonus track. It literally was close to triple the cost to snag this copy compared to the European version, but BOY am I glad I did. I didn't realize how essential those 2 tracks were... I get tons of music each year , but this will be outplaying all of them for quite some time. Bring 'em up , set 'em down , pile 'em up . The voting is over...Maybe '23 will be the year of a new contender for the crown. 6 STARS!!!