James LaBrie, he of Dream Theater fame (or infamy, dependent upon where your tastes sit given the legendary way that wonderful old band divide opinion within the progressive rock community) releases Beautiful Shade of Grey, his fourth solo studio album, and his first for nine years. It is released on Inside Out records.

On this album, LaBrie has mostly stayed well away from the sound and flavour of his day job band. Further, there are here none of the death growls and other such impacts of previous solo efforts. Instead, what we have is an extremely melodic, warm, accessible, and ultimately commercial set of songs, and do you know what? It is all the better for it. I have really enjoyed this album and was thinking whilst reviewing it that in all the years I have followed the big Canadian man’s career, I can’t recall ever seeing an official photograph of him smiling. Well, that mean and moody look is rather belied by the warmth there is in much of this album, which primarily deals, in a distinctly non-concept manner, with the joys and challenges of human relationships.

Before discussing the album in great detail, a shout out to artist Thomas Ewerhard, whose work will be familiar to fans of Spock’s Beard and Neal Morse, amongst others – it is a beautiful cover, and you can see more of his work on his website at https://www.thomas-ewerhard.de/H-O-M-E/ It is well worth a visit.

The band LaBrie has assembled for this album include his son, Chance, a drummer who features in Canadian hard rock outfit, Falset. Elsewhere, we have acoustic and bass guitarist Paul Logue of Eden’s Curse, and LaBrie’s (critically important) creative partner here, long-time collaborator Marco Sfogli of PFM on lead guitars, and keyboardist Christian Pulkkinen of Epicrenal. For those of you who adore the acoustic guitar as a prominent star of a musical journey, then this is absolutely the album for you.

I am going to discuss first the Led Zeppelin cover, Ramble On, the penultimate track on the album, a classic from the second side (as we of a particular vintage call the flipside of vinyl albums) of Led Zep II, now an incredible 53 years old. This is a loving version of the original, with LaBrie sounding just like Percy in his prime (the track was never performed live in Zep’s heyday but was wheeled out for part of Page & Plant’s subsequent tours and was performed at the last reunion gig at the O2). A must for all Zep fans.

The album is bookended by two versions of Devil in Drag, with an electric version at the close. The opener features some moody and bluesy keyboards and a racy acoustic guitar riff, and about two minutes in we get the first listen to a very common feature throughout this album, namely an extremely catchy chorus featuring the subject of the song. As the track progresses, the pace is kept impressively by LaBrie Junior on his drumkit, and there is an extremely pleasing acoustic guitar solo. The electric version is perhaps the closest we get to LaBrie as we are used to him, and it is a very enjoyable power ballad and quite clever in that it brings a pleasing heavy conclusion to what is mostly an acoustic-led album. The listener’s contrast between the acoustic guitar solo and the electric equivalent is fun.

Talking of fun, next up is Supernova Girl. In the chorus, when LaBrie sings of “nothing can get in our way” to the love interest of the track, you are singing along to the pleasant anthem, and the guitar is running along gloriously. Definite hit single territory this, and it sounds wonderful to these ears.

There is a great rhythm section, with a pulsing bass especially, on Give and Take and it features some more of that lush acoustic guitar which is a clear highlight throughout this album. The solo in the extended instrumental section is a joy.

I really enjoy Sunset Ruin, which features a mournful cello kicking off proceedings. The video for this favourite of mine is embedded below. Note the soaring orchestral strings above the beautifully sung chorus, this is a pastoral track at its heart, and a deeply satisfying one at that.

Hit Me Like a Brick is an amusing track, in which LaBrie sings about said brick being extremely unexpected and laying him out on his arse. The track is a racy one, and the electric guitar solo just over midway through is fantastically melodic, with some strong bass, drums, acoustic guitar, and keys roaring alongside. The track is only three and a half minutes long (indeed, the album itself is only 48 minutes), but there is quite a lot packed in here.

Wildflower is gorgeous. More lush acoustic chords, an accordion, and a warm rhythm section provide the backdrop to what is essentially a tribute to strength song, and it is very warmly sung by LaBrie. The closing segment rocks out more and is expansive.

Conscience Calling is a sub-minute track with vocal lyric harmonies only and this leads us into the dense piano opening of What I Missed. As the track develops, it segues into clearly the most “progressive” track on the album. They are some complex key, guitar, and rhythm chords at play here, with some interesting “halts” to proceedings. Lyrically, the track speaks to me of an emotional confrontation, and it is impressive in its scope.

Am I Right is the longest track on the album at 5:52. The opening vocal passage is achingly fragile and quite lovely. The chorus simply gets inside your ears and refuses to let go. This is a fantastic ballad, expansive, and deeply felt vocally and lyrically. Towards the end, the song bursts forth with gospel voices, and you are taken away. This song will live in your mind for a long time and is a favourite of 2022 here in Lazland. Enjoy the video below.

LaBrie deserves a great deal of respect for putting out an album which is such a radical departure from much of the music he is normally associated with. Father & Son LaBrie and Logue share the production credits here, and it is mixed by Swede Linus Corneliusson, and together they have provided us with an album which sounds fantastic. If this project, and certainly the artistic collaboration with Logue, develops into something more permanent, you know I would be extremely happy, although I accept that a comment such as this might earn me several brickbats from the frighteningly loyal Theater fanatics. Well, boys and girls, he can do both, eh?