Reviewed by Marc on 17 Nov 2013

The Greatest Show on Earth is my first contact with Norwegian Prog band Airbag. After listening to this CD a few times, it is obvious to me that there is a connection to be made with Pink Floyd's more melodic music (Wish You Were Here and The Wall being the two albums that come to my mind first). This association comes mostly because of the lead guitar (very Gilmourish is sound and style) and the keyboards (very Wrightish in...). The vocals also have some Roger Waters aromas, but lead singer Asle Tostrup is never frantic like Roger Waters can be.

To some extent the songs also have some Pink Floyd flavourings, but certainly not to the extent of thinking of Airbag as a clone or "copy cat" band. There is also some very modern sounding music on The Greatest Show on Earth, so I consider Airbag to be very much in the same wave as relatively new European Prog bands, like Amplifier, Anathema or Katatonia (circa 2013's Dethroned & Uncrowned).

The Greatest Show on Earth is a very enjoyable album from begining to end. The compositions are all very good and varied enough to keep the listener insterested, but still with a common thread that gives coherence to this CD. The musicianship is very good and it is an album that deserves multiple listenings.

Those that are searching for new and dynamic Prog music, but that still sounds like the Prog of old, should certainly take a listen to The Greatest Show on Earth by Airbag. Perhaps not the "Greatest Prog Album on Earth" ;-), but a pretty darn good one indeed. Highly recommended.