Band:	The Tea Party
Album:	Seven Circles
Style:	Progressive hard rock
Release date:	2004

01. Writings On The Wall
02. Stargazer
03. One Step Closer Away
04. Oceans
05. Luxuria
06. Overload
07. Coming Back Again
08. The Watcher
09. Empty Glass
10. Wishing You Would Stay
11. Seven Circles

Seven Cirlces was actually released in Canada in 2004 but it took the album a year to finally get released where I live, in Europe. Seeing as I don't buy a lot of CDs anymore (I prefer iTunes and eMusic) it took me almost another year to finally acquire this album and give it a listen. Seven Circles is a rather radical departure from the territories that this band has been occupying in the past. Sadly, the change has cost them precisely that attribute, which made them interesting - their eclecticism.

For those who might not know, let me explain that The Tea Party used to make very sophisticated, yet quite classical hard rock, with elements of such immortal bands as Led Zeppelin and The Doors. They updated the sound of those bands with an almost industrial production and a lot of attention to the subtleties of sound and interplay of oriental instruments. Additionally, their very gifted vocalist had a knack for very poetic and ambitious lyrics. Sadly, on Seven Circles the only thing that remains is those vocals and lyrics; however, while they fit the band's previous style perfectly, now they sound really pretentious. This is because, let me finally reveal this, The Tea Party has now become a very straight-forward alternative hard rock band. All of the songs rely on very simple and not terribly inspired riffs and vocal melodies that blend together. Think Audioslave, Danzig or The Cult's Beyond Good And Evil but without any of the things that made those bands interesting - innovative riffs, over inflated ego or the quirky mysticism, respectively. There are some good moments on Seven Circles, such as "Oceans" or the decent collaboration with singer/songwriter Holly McNarland "Wishing You Would Stay"; however, there are far too few to make this more than an album that one could occasionally play in the car.

Basically, it sounds like The Tea Party have either 'sold out' or at least changed their style so much that they lost their identity.