Review from musicaldiscoveries.com/reviews/soat.htm

The Key pt. I: The Prophecy
Originally recorded between June and September 1990, this masterwork by Clive Nolan, Tracy Hitchings and Karl Groom is one of the finest symphonic progressive rock recordings available today. It must be listened to. 
Strangers On A Train's The Key Part 1: The Prophecy (Verglas Music (UK) VGCD011, 1997) is the first of two completed albums in the planned three album series.
With a total running time of over an hour, the album comprises fourteen moderate-length tracks that work together to deliver a majestic soundtrack-like epic. Clive Nolan's symphonic, classically-oriented writing and keyboards are perfectly complimented by Tracy Hitchings' stunning theatrically influence vocal work. Karl Groom's guitars and bass add the final dimension to the percussion-less instrumentals.
It is clear from the introduction ("Arrival"), that the album is a masterpiece. The instrumentals set the stage for what is to follow and a short vocal passage illustrates the power, range and brilliance of Tracy Hitchings' vocals. The music features the three artists working together yet tracks and passages within others highlight and demonstrate the range and extent of their individual talents ("Losing A Hold On Life" [Nolan], "Lightshow" [Hitchings], "Duel" [Groom]).
As expected from a symphonic work, the album has instrumental and vocal themes that bind it together into a cohesive whole. Almost train-like soundscapes can be heard within the music and perhaps are best illustrated at the begnning of the mini-epics "Sacrifice" and "Occam's Tears." These instrumentally strong tracks are interlaced with and complimented by Tracy's powerful emotionally-drenched vocals.
The highly memorable vocal ballads ("New World," "Lightshow") fit perfectly within the overall album context but work equally by themselves (like singles). The tremendous Hitchings/Nolan duet "From The Outside In" while progressive in its own right, it has a light West End feel to it. The track is a perfect illustration of how Clive's soundtrack interest is complimented by Tracy's theatrical vocal style.
The instrumental numbers are stunning in their own right but work well together to deliver a train-like theme between the more vocally rich tracks. "Silent Companion" builds from a low whistle melody before venturing into more typical synthesizer voices. A strong feeling of high speed mechanical movement comes from the bass guitar rich synthesizer track, "Crossing The Wasteland." A high speed piano - electric guitar duet in "Duel" further accentuates the transportation theme. Piano and light acoustic guitar provide a melodious introduction and then a foundation for Tracy's vocal scat which concludes the simply stunning [Renaissance-like] "Perchance To Dream."
Tracy's vocal power perfectly complements the majesty of church organ-like keyboards and soaring electric guitar in "Healing The Rift." In the concluding track, "The Key," Tracy reiterates the theme introduced in the opening track to bring the album to a sensitive and dramatic close. The theme returns in The Key Part 2: The Labyrinth.
Strangers On A Train's first album is a tremendous statement to the artists' talent and also their music's style. While comparisons may be difficult to make withouth the broadest appreciation of the progressive area they play in, clearly the band sound a lot like mainstream Renaissance (Dunford, Camp, Haslam, Sullivan, Tout) in many respects. Tracy Hitchings is a fantastic theatrical vocalist with tremendous range and power effectively illustrated by Clive Nolan's fantastic keyboard work and writing talent. The show-like, soundtrack quality of the music and total performance quality makes this album clearly one of the best we've ever heard.

click here for a review of The Labyrinth