GAZE:

"The eleven tracks (66 minutes) range from quite good to excellent and makes this CD into one of the strongly recommended ones on the present sympho/prog market"  Nebula Times

"Heavy symf in the U.K. tradition"   Tarkus

"The new album gives us music that is both thrilling and powerful'"  French   Prog Magazine

"One of the most exciting albums for a very long time. It is worth buying for the final track alone, Extrovert, whose song format is simular to Starless with a phenomenal finale. Very highly recommended". Wondrous Stories

"Cross, the man who gave the band it's name, does all the guitar work and sounds like Holdsworth/Fripp. There are no favourite songs I can point. All of the songs are of same high standard". Background Magazine

"I'm impressed! It's a perfect mix between the prog-rock of the seventies with some neoprog influences added to it". Rafo Dorado-Margen

"As a vocalist Cross is like-or-hate type who press his abilities to the edge. I like his somewhat gritty sound. At this moment I have listened to Gaze more then ten times and it's an album that find it's way into the bunch of albums that I (without hesitation) like to listen to". The company Scandinavia

"The album sounds somewhat dark somewhat heavy, but also very powerful. Quality of the compositions is very good with the longer track  Extrovert  entertaining to the end." Dutch progressive Rock Page

"Extrovert is a truly impressive piece of music. I advice you to give 'Gaze' a serious listening too, track back to Dream Reality, and then - like me - sit back and wait for the next Cross album." Alternate View

DREAM REALITY:

"A symphonic pearl with melodies and quality at the fore." Mindview

"In general, the sound on this CD is pretty dynamic, with strong beats, flowing and fiercy guitar play (sometimes evoking David Gilmour) and rather bombastic keyboards." Background Magazine

"Armoury Show is a song not unlike the latest 'Calling all stations', Genesis album, dare I say it a tad more heavy and certainly more interesting. Powerful, atmospheric, imaginative, rock and features some highlydesireble keyboard sounds which may be of interest to Sequences readers. More than seventy minute's worth of impressive music." Sequences

"Fire is a huge thirteen and a half minutes of what sounds like three or four prog rock songs. The first part fairly rocks along with some unpredictible breaks and use of melodies. About five minutes into the track the whole atmosphere changes and we a much more laid back section with Cross' guitars and André's synths at the fore, a couple of minutes later the whole thing pics up with more excellent guitar work. Run for rescue shows the  power of the new Cross line-up. Dream reality is another monster song. Yearning is a guitar instrumental with synths and Hadders gong adding the only distraction. Three and a half minutes of sheer guitar mastery" Alternate View

'Borne by the success with the faboulus gaze, the swedish multi-instrumentalist Cross is experiencing air under his wings, and offers through this "best of" a selection of the best compositions from his first three albums, which today are - unfortunally! - sold out.'   LE BOUCHE Á OREILLE

VISIONARY FOOLS:

"After the short keyboard and guitar instrumental, the 56 second Deep, with barely a break to catch your collective breathes we launch straight into In a question mark. At over nine minutes this one of the longest tracks on the album, and again, the band use the time well, developing themes and melody lines throughout. Again, it's hard to define the mood of the song - one time melancholy, the next up-beat, one tome slow and mellow, the next an inticate instrumental;this is what progrock is all about! New dimensions closes the album. This is without doubt the strongest track on the album. It does take a little more to get into, but it seems the final evolution of the "new-Cross sound - all new stuff, meshing seam- lessly with elements of the darker "old"-Cross sound. The instrumentation is superb thriughout - solos are there to enhance the composition and fall into the song without appearing to be there at all. What a way to finish an album!" ALTERNATE VIEW

"The opening track The Riddle starts with some wonderful keyboards and lovely percussion that overall gives a very atmospheric feeling. This is followed by some intricate acoustic guitar. The vocals are powerful and emotional. this track has a wonderful melody, but on some places takes on a more of a dark feeling to it. In a question mark starts with a heavier guitar sound that mellows out to some excellent keyboards. There's also some fine bass lines and there are many changes in direction, mood and tempo throughout this 9 minute plus track. There's a superb guitar solo here. Great rhytm, strong beat and towards the end there's some more excellent keyboards. The final track New Dimensions is without doubt my favourite.Starting with some lovely keyboards which gives quite an atmospheric feel to the track, but it's not too long before the rest of the band come in. Throughout this track there are many changes  in tempo and direction. Great guitar and keyboards. Here we have an excellent album and one that grows on you the more you listen to it. If you enjoy good progrock then this one comes highly recommended!" STORMBRINGER

"Whilst in the past, influences from Twelfth Night and Pink Flod have been noticed, Cross has grown, and today you find a descent amount of  Yes and Genesis elements in their music. Especially in White lies, dark truth the keyboard sounds enormously like Tony Banks during his Wind and wuthering period. The repetitive pattern of  In a question mark   contains a fair share of Yes. While guitarist/singer/leader Hansi Cross may have gained some extra kilos, the music on Visionary Fools can certainly be called the very best the band has ever produced. Truly a wonderful and surprising album!"  PROGRESSIVE WORLD

"This is soaring prog, with large elements of Eighties Genesis and Pendragon, and at some points, it is almost Camel-esque. While there are many intricate passages, the focus is much more on songs with a purpose instead of meandering aimlessly. While the vocals are important, the main  elements are the interplay between the guitar and keyboards along with some very strong, almost tribal rhythms. An album that I have enjoyed playing immensely."
FEEDBACK

SECRETS:

"Swedish multi-instrumentalist Hansi Cross has been around for a long time, offering us some outstanding symphonic gems over the years. Together with drummer Tomas Hjort and rousing bass player Lollo Andersson, Hansi has not been able to surpress his love for Genesis, as I hear snippets of Wind And Wuthering all over this new Cross album. This is already appearent in the underlying keyboard segments for "Bleeding in silence" before the song becomes more complex once mellotron sets in and drum breaks are scattered all over the place. However, if you think Cross is merely a Genesis clone, then think again because "The Core" not only holds some King Crimson influences but contains enough time-signature shifts to keep you busy for the rest of this year. "Changed reality has those Tony Banks arrangements, whilst the hoarse voice of Hansi complements the music perfectly. The rhythm is brought to a stop to make room for a short classical, symphonic interlude before the drums settle back in. The highlight comes right at the end with the long "Welcome to Utopia". A solitary synth introduces the song ceating an ideal soundtrack for an imaginary film. The drums kind of settle themselves around Hansi's guitar solo. Then it's a gradual build up in the vocal department, culminating in the strongest chorus on the album. Towards the end, Hansi once again illustrates what a fine guitarist he really is. The strange thing is that "Welcome to Utopia" stops, yet after a three minute silence we are treated to an extra 2,30" of pure symphonic instrumental delight. Talking of "Secrets"! PROGRESSIVE WORLD: PROGNROLL

."..a very good progressive record sounding a bit like Genesis directly after Gabriel left. If you like that kind of prog, don't hesitate this may be a diamond to you."  LEVEL 11

"You should listen to the 14 minutes "Welcome to Utopia". You will not be disappointed and you'll notice that Cross doesn't betry his Swedish background, a prolific nation when it comes to high quality progressive rock. Check this out!"

Rating: 7/10 SARABANDES

"To my ears "Secrets" is definitly the best Cross album so far. A good mix between 70's sound and neoprogressive elements. 11 out of 15 points" PROGRESSIVE NEWSLETTER

"The music on here is fantastic - bright, clourful, with just right the edge. I wouldn't quite call Cross a prog-metal band, but there is an edge to the music - here I would have to say like Arena. Keys take the lead on the instrumental "Awakening", though the guitars are hardly shortchanged. Cross is equal adept at both, though beeing more a guitar fan than a keys fan, it's the guitar i tend to follow more closely - so, yeh, Cross is getting close to be added to my list of guitar heroes. The album closes with the 14-plus minute "Welcome to Utopia". High pitched (but not too high) Tangerine Dream-like keyboards lead us in, parping over a synth wash that take the lead only, after some slightly militaristic percussion comes in. By about two and a half-minutes, it's the singing Cross' guitar. "Utopia goes through several moods, my favourite beeing the harmonizing vocals - von Panajott guests on this track." PROGRESSIVE WORLD: THE MUSIC BOX

"This is a worthwhile album of refreshing prog, that blends history of the likes of Wind and wuthering-Genesis (and subsequent eras)/Yes (Drama-era) with more modern neo-prog, albeit in a pleasing variety of rockier guises and avoiding the usual neo-prog trap of each track sounding samey or synthy-slushy." "I'd say those who like Ines, Galleon or Tantalus but also the harder prog rock sound, would definitly enjoy the musicianship" WONDROUS STORIES

"The most recent album from Swedish proggers Cross is easily the best of theirs that I have heard to date. Intricate and sometimes quite menacing (check out opener "Bleeding in silence") with good musical interplay. All fans of modern prog will enjoy this album" FEEDBACK

"Cross is Hansi (guitars, synthesizers and vocals), Tomas Hjort (drums and percussion), Lollo Andersson (bass) with with a substantial and appreciable aid of Olov Andersson on mellotron (oh yes) and other synthesizers. T of work. Some days ago I interchanged e-mails with Hansi and I mentioned to him that his style of playing guitar was very distinguishing, and I maintain it. This makes him, in my humble opinion, one of the best guitarist on the present neoprogressive scene (along with Simon Brezinsky of Polish group Abraxas). Check the solos in "The Core" and "Awakening". Perhaps this has been made before, but the work presented and displayed here is sincere and very well done. I will never get enough of works like this one." EUFONIA

"Four years ago i reviewed the CD "Gaze" by a band called CROSS, then unknown to me. in the review i compared them to King Crimson and UK. I really enjoyed that album! Of course I wondered if "Secrets would be as strong as "Gaze. When i heard the opening track "Bleeding in silence" i knew that nothing had changed. They even have grown! The King Crimson-sound has stayed and I also hear some influences of Genesis...just as if Tony Banks had joined the band. Beautiful! But also the rest of the material is outstanding. Especially the final track, named aptly "Welcome to Utopia", is areal beauty. It lasts almost 15 minutes and is a musical showcase of the talents of Cross." **** (Henri) BACKGROUND MAGAZINE

"This album is a combination of the 70's, 80's and 2000, some nostalgia mixed with unpredictable changes in a wellbalanced and positive manor. A very well done and good album" ART ROCK

"...with Secrets, Swedish band Cross had come up with a winner." "Four of these seven tracks clock in beyond 8 minutes, giving the band plenty of room to excercise its imagination amidst Hansi Cross's tasteful crooning and lyrical guitar work. the album's masterwork is its 14-minute closer "Welcome to Utopia", which also brings out the group's symphonic side. A solid album all around" PROGRESSION

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