Album Review

Mike DeGagne [allmusic.com]

Old Loves Die Hard is this German band's most structured, most entertaining, and most accessible album next to the masterpiece Illusions on a Double Dimple. The elements of progressive rock are wonderfully marbled throughout these seven tracks, highlighted by the ten plus minutes of ''Panic on Fifth Avenue'' and the brashness ''The History of Mystery.'' Singer Barry Palmer's voice climbs and descends to the backdrop of such keyboard machinations as the Hammond C3 organ and Moog synthesizer. Keyboardist Jurgen Fritz implements light delicacies of piano and strings to contrast the sometimes dominating feel of the synthesizers. While anything but dark, the music on Old Loves Die Hard peaks and sometimes hovers with a colorfulness that presents each song with some musical livelihood. There's an assertiveness that's cast throughout this album thanks to the whole-hearted fusion of percussion and bass, coming to life especially on ''A Day in a Life.'' Triumvirat's emphasis here is on their free-range use of keyboards and creative application of voice and instrumentation, much like that of 1973's Illusions or '75's Spartacus.