Angalog Missionary- Transmitter

Blurring the lines between Tori Amos, Kate Bush, The Sundays, and U2, Analog Missionary's Transmitter offers sprawling, intricate rock with moody, intimate lulls and anthemic rock highs. Marked by immaculate and impressive musicianship, the album is a beautifully produced slice of rock that revels in intricacy. There's almost always something going on that will likely catch your attention, whether it be a well fleshed out bass line, an interesting lead guitar accent, or a spectacular drum fill. Yet, the music highlights and incorporates each musician's talents, from the sometimes Tori Amos-esque timbre and breathy delivery of vocalist Anstrom to the powerful, seemingly U2-influenced guitar work of Kevin Kaiser, without becoming a showcase of sorts.

The entire album is simply amazing...consistently good enough, in fact, that it's actually fairly difficult to highlight specific tracks. Still, "Chaser" and "Dirty Road" probably prove to be the standouts of the album's first half, albeit by a fairly narrow margin. The latter is a spectacular 9-minute moody rock epic with a killer chorus that later explodes into an amazing all-out rhythmic jam, while the former is an emotional, powerful rock number with another great anthemic chorus and a killer guitar solo. Of the disc's second half, the lovely-albeit-more-formulaic ballad "Interference" and the disc's title track, with an intense, almost PJ Harvey-esque chorus, prove to be the most memorable.

As a whole, Transmitter is a spectacular, exceptionally memorable rock epic with remarkably strong songwriting, performances, and production. Powerful, emotional, and intense, it's immediately accessible but also deep. Likely to appeal to a very wide array of music lovers, from those with mellower tastes that prefer artists like Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, and Cocteau Twins to those interested in more up-tempo stadium rock a la U2, Analog Missionary's Transmitter shouldn't be missed.