Publication: Breakout Magazine
Country Of Origin: Germany
Review Date: Spring 2008
Reviewer: Unknown
Transcription: Al Grabenstein

It has taken yet another four years for the Americans finally to present the successor album to "Window Dressing." In previous reviews, the group's proximity to Rush, in terms of sound and production, was critically noted from time to time. Similar comparisons will presumably again be made, at least with respect to the opening track, "Hide in my Shadow." Already in the second piece, "Sacred and Mundane," Alex Lifeson of Rush makes an appearance (as do Alannah Myles and Kim Mitchell in other tracks), and the producer of Rush was brought on board again as executive producer. He had been responsible for the sound of Queensryche or Fates Warning's "A Pleasant Shade of Grey" and, also, for the 1991 Album of Voivod, and, moreover, had been at the controls with the Albums "Fence the Clear" and "Presence of Mind." According to the band’s press release, he was to "produce polished and yet organic recordings," as he did with the Rush album "Permanent Waves." However, you would definitely not do justice to Tiles if you were to be just looking for elements reminiscent of Rush or perhaps Fates Warning (or perhaps the earlier Spock's Beard?). To be sure, these elements do shine through every now and then with a sly wink, however, Tiles have become much too independent, their compositions are much too compact and multi-faceted, to make comparisons worthwhile. In contrast to their 2004 album, the group presents itself more oriented toward vocals, at times almost groovy, with greater distance to epic tendencies than in earlier albums. Songs like "Landscape" or the slightly-more-than-eight-minute-long "Dragons, Dreams & Daring Deeds," which oscillates between calm or rock-like grooving phases and prog-like passages, show a band which appears to have reached the next level, even if the track "Crowded Emptiness" does not quite reach that level. The album comes to a close with an ingeniously grooving "Hide and Seek," in which guitar and a fresh bass culminate in one fantastic finale.