Satellite: “I Want You to Know” (2009)
Polish neo-prog band Satellite make a tidy, polished-sounding (if you will) brand of reflective rock–contemplation being something a lot of the better prog can induce in its listener.
The band’s first three albums could be seen as a loose trilogy dealing with day, evening and night. They were a little more challenging musically than 2009’s Nostalgia, which seems to aim at a more mainstream, commercial sound. It’s a move in a good direction in my opinion; it doesn’t matter what you have to say or how great the musicianship you display in saying it unless you make your listener want to press the “repeat” button.
“I Want You to Know” touches on the album’s overall theme of nostalgia, the seductive yearnings of “empty rooms left too soon” and things “gone with a tide”, then gives you a few minutes’ instrumental passage to dwell on it before summing up with the sentiment “just have to stop believing in yesterday”. This isn’t life-altering, groundbreaking, mind-blowing prog. Just the competent and very appealing kind.
