Jadis
Understand

The Jadis are certainly one of the leading bands of the so-called English new prog, even though they have never achieved the relative success of other representatives of the genre such as Iq or Pendragon (Marillion represents a case of its own…). To be honest, a reason can be found in the fact that, after a rather brilliant and promising start, their ratings began to decline with subsequent albums. If "More Than Meets The Eye" was a little gem, graced by a perfect balance between progressive and accessible melodies (in the positive sense of the term), between Chandler's romantic guitar and Orford's refined keyboards (at the time he was dividing his time between Jadis and Iq), already the next one appeared much more unbalanced and light (this time said in a somewhat more negative sense).

"Across The Water" indeed, although still a pleasant album to listen to, saw Chandler's guitar overpowering Orford’s keyboards both in terms of arrangements and the very structure of the songs, creating a sort of pop-prog that already made enthusiasts turn up their noses. The third album, "Somersault," which unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to listen to, marked the departure of Orford and bassist Jowitt (also with Iq) and seems to have been (at least according to reviews of the time) even further from the romantically catchy interweaving that characterized the band's initial works.

"Understand" represents the band's fourth studio work and marks the return of the defectors Orford and Jowitt, leaving hope, at least on paper, for a return to the stylistic coordinates of the debut album. It's disappointing to tell readers that this has not occurred, and the comparison between "Understand" and "More Than Meets The Eye" turns out to be quite pitiless. Mind you, it is certainly not a bad album as this "Understand" is full of the characteristics that define Jadis: beautiful melodic lines, catchy riffs, romantic guitar solos, refined arrangements, and excellent production. So what's wrong, you may ask? It simply is a completely soulless album, one that you'd forget 10 minutes after finishing listening to it. An album as light as a spring breeze, if we want to be poetic, a thoroughly pointless album if we want to be perhaps a bit harsher but certainly more realistic. Only for diehard fans.