Kingston Wall - III Tri-Logy (1994)

The third and final Kingston Wall album, originally released in 1994, is perhaps the most challenging of the three to get into. This is largely because by this album the band had largely dived their deepest into psychedelic and progressive territories. The songs are considerably slower with the fast paced hard rocking sections mostly gone, there’s a much larger usage of synths/electronics on each song, the whole psychedelic mood is at an all-time high and in a way the album plays out as one long seventy one minute long piece since each song bleeds into each other. The only real exception to this is the song, ‘Party Goes on,’ which sounds like it could have easily fit on the first album. Oh yes, and I mustn’t forget the industrial/techno-ish/rock piece called, ‘Stüldt Håjt’ that adds a sudden odd twist to the album when you arrive on it.

So that brings up the obvious question, does this album disappoint? The answer is both a yes and no. Assuming you enjoy the bands faster paced hard rocking songs with just a little bit of the psychedelic/progressive touches then you’ll probably have a harder time getting into this album, but if you’re a fan of all things psychedelic/progressive than this could easily be your favorite Kingston Wall release. Either way the obviously noticeably thing about this release is that Petri’s guitar work is not nearly as exciting as it lacks the dynamic riffs and the mesmerizing guitar solos that characterized past albums, and that is truly a shame. The songs themselves also don’t appear to be as catchy, but still are quite good.

It's hard to pick key favorites from this album since it basically flows as one piece, but fortunately the album ends with what’s got to be one of the finest progressive rock tunes every wrote. At eighteen minutes, ‘The Real Thing’ showcases everything that made Kingston Wall so fantastic; catchiness, great riffs, stunning solos, ambiance, psychedelia, progressiveness and excellent passionate vocals. The song has both its fast hard rocking parts, slower psychedelic/progressive parts and even some ambient parts that recall old 70’s Pink Floyd. Sakari Kukko also makes a return on this song with an extensive saxophone solo. Simply a marvelous must hear song.

I tremble at the thought, but I'm certain if Petri Walli had not killed himself in '95 then I'm quite sure Kingston Wall would be one of the most successful and recognized names in the Finnish music scene today, but I must face reality and accept his decision.

In the end there are some great songs on this album, but I would have to say it’s my least favorite of the three Kingston Wall albums, but still it's a fantastic release, truly. However if you keep in mind what I mentioned in the second paragraph, then I think you’ll definitely enjoy this album.