DAVID MINASIAN - RANDOM ACTS OF BEAUTY
A wonderful album which I still get great pleasure from listening to 12 years later.
Entitled Random Acts Of Beauty, never was a title more fitted to the music contained therein, because this is simply exceptional and has taken, for me, the lead in the race for album of 2010. It all starts with the lead contender of album cover of the year, featuring a beautiful lady against a lovely canvas.
David Minasian's old chum, the great Andy Latimer, provides guitars for the opening track, Masquerade, and, well, what an exceptional sound is produced. A track which has soaring guitars, clever piano and other keys, wonderful rhythm, and such an uplifting feel to it, you really are transported to a higher plain listening and immersing yourself in it.
So, can this feast to the ears be replicated on the remainder of the album? The answer, I am extremely glad to report, is a resounding yes.
Other reviewers have identified influences such as Camel (the obvious one) and The Moody Blues, and whilst these are present, I actually think that to describe this work as being somehow retro would be extremely unfair and inaccurate, because what Minasian has created here is nothing less than a modern symphonic masterpiece. In fact, the utilisation of all the instruments on this, including quite the most magnificent woodwind, orchestral keyboards & piano, and some wonderful guitar work from both Latimer and Minasian Junior make this, to these ears, akin to a classical music suite transposed to the rock arena - this, of course, being what the finest symphonic acts of the "classic" era did.
There is a lot of symphonic prog about at the moment. Some of it goes from the unashamedly tribute/retro (i.e. Transatlantic) to knowing nods (Kaipa). Much of it is wonderful, but with this effort, I found myself transported to a completely different level. The second track, Chambermaid, is misleading in its apparent simplicity, because what is created is quite the epitome of melodic symphonic prog.
Storming The Castle starts off with a medieval folk passage that wouldn't be out of place on a Blackmore's Night album, and the harpsichord and woodwind playing is pure classical symphonic folk. Quite utterly stunning (I'm sorry about the superlatives, but I can't help it!), the track then morphs, completely unexpectedly, into a hard riff dominated by growling guitars and swirling synths, backed by a strong rhythm. This man can rock as well as orchestrate, and I can assure all lovers of hard/heavy prog that he does it very well. Definitely reminiscent of Rainbow in their pomp, but without being at all copyist.
Blue Rain slows proceedings down again. Seven and a half minutes of hauntingly, achingly, beautiful music, backed by moving and clearly deeply personal lyrics. The guitar solos produced simply must be heard to be believed, and there is also more very clever use of woodwind.
The longest epic is Frozen In Time, and opens with bombastic synths, before, again, the oboe, piano, and electric guitar combine with percussion and bass to produce an uplifting, toe tapping wonder. This track clocks in at over fourteen and a half minutes, and, as one would expect, contains many time and mood shifts, but the musical movement is never anything less than soaring, and there is more very clever guitar (acoustic & electric) work contained in this. We also have the finest piece of church organ playing since the mighty Wakeman stepped up to the alter in Awaken on Going For The One. A huge riff out greets the second half of the track, and the clever way the tempo and atmosphere of the music is changed in an instant is achieved so deftly that I can only think of one other maestro who could do the same so effectively - Mike Oldfield, because this soon melts away back to the mood and tempo of the opening section. The playing really is astounding. As guitars, piano, and woodwind bring the piece to a close, a completely wordless song speaks volumes.
Summers End begins peacefully with sorrowful vocals, piano, and harpsichord, all creating a melancholic sound, but not darkly melancholic. The album is too uplifting for that. The track features some extremely good sampled and acoustic guitars and synthesiser work. Overall, a beautiful love song that seems to deal with love lost, but one that brings hope for whatever is to come.
The closer, Dark Waters, is a quiet and thoughtful instrumental which, again, produces quite the most haunting woodwind and keyboard work, before expanding with another massive guitar break. The denouement, in the finest tradition of the best classical pieces, fades away almost silently with piano to leave us wondering just what a journey the composer has taken us upon, and crucially, why is it over?
I know that it is difficult for people to commit their hard-earned money to a brand-new album from someone most will not, it must be honest, have ever heard of, and especially when there are so few reviews upon which to make a judgement. Well, it really must be a matter of trust.
For my money, if you buy no other album in 2010, make it this one. This is an album which will still be played on the Lazland deck in many years’ time. This is an album of such outstanding power, beauty, and powerful beauty, that it simply cannot be ignored and allowed to be quoted as some form of "cult" following.
This album deserves the support of everyone who calls themselves a prog fan, and is, in my mind, an essential masterpiece of modern symphonic rock.
ANDERSON & WAKEMAN - THE LIVING TREE
Still a pleasant album to listen to.
This is a new project by the two stalwarts of Yes who are no longer with the band, one by choice due to ill health, the other shrouded in mystery to be honest.
For those who expect reruns of Heart Of The Sunrise and all, then please prepare yourself for a disappointment. This is more akin to the gorgeous track The Meeting from Anderson Bruford Wakeman & Howe's album. Basically, Rick on piano and very light symphonic synths (utilised to great effect on the wonderful House Of Freedom), and Jon singing about the issues he has always sung about.
The best word that can be used to describe this is pleasant, and I mean that as a compliment, not an insult. It is the perfect album when you merely wish to sit down, chill, relax, and let your mind wander around with the sound of two masters without necessarily having to do any thinking or analysis of the music. Ambient, then, to the point of lying horizontal.
There is not one bum track on this. What the pair of them do, they do very well. Neither, however, is there one track which you could single out as being a masterpiece. Even though I regard the new Yes line-up with horror in the absence of Jon especially, there is nothing on this which will have their erstwhile colleagues recoiling in horror at the prospect of matching it with the promised album in 2011.
Such, however, was not its intent. This album, recorded over internet discussions and exchanges between the two, was released to coincide with the second round of excellent acoustic tours recently ended, and, as I say, they do it very well, and, at the end of the day, neither has anything left to prove and they indulge themselves totally to produce a non-essential, but extremely pleasant work.
HAKEN - AQUARIUS
My review in 2010 below stated that this was an acquired taste. Well, once acquired, it stays with you, because I still enjoy listening to this. With the last sentence, this is probably the first example on this website of the crystal ball being in perfect working order, because Haken have gone from strength to strength.
I've given this quite a few listens prior to reviewing, and that is right and proper, because it is not an album that can be taken in all at once. In fact, it is not going too far to state that it is most definitely an acquired taste.
Aquarius is the debut album by British outfit Haken. During the opening few seconds of the opener The Point Of No Return, I actually thought that I was listening to a Flower Kings album, such were the strange circus noodling effects, and these are repeated on a couple of occasions in the track and elsewhere on the album. At turns symphonic, heavy, and quite jazzy, this should, in theory, have enough to appeal to virtually everybody. In reality, I can see people being slightly annoyed because it does in parts virtually rip off Stolt, Reingold and company shamelessly. That said, it's very well performed, and I do like the majority of Ross Jennings' vocals, even if I could have done without the growling. When he sings melodically, he has a very good voice, and I would suggest that he keeps to this.
Streams is another long track, at over ten minutes, and is pure symphonic prog, albeit, again, extremely reminiscent, and clearly influenced by the likes of The Flower Kings, Karmakanic, with a smattering of Dream Theater thrown in for good measure. More pointless growling thrown in halfway does really grate, and I think that leaving the instrumental passage on its own, featuring some excellent keyboard work by Diego Tejeida, would have been better. In addition, I think the track is at least four minutes too long.
Aquarium is a magnificent track, and provides the listener with strong proof that there is huge scope for development and improvement on subsequent releases. Very melodic, very well played, and even better sung, this is a clear highlight. This track appeals to fans of melodic and heavy prog, because when the melodic half gives way to the faster and heavier tempo, it is executed extremely well and seamlessly. No growling either, and the keyboard work by Tejeida is once again extremely good and the track closes with an exquisite guitar solo.
Eternal Rain is the shortest track on offer, at just short of seven minutes. This is a standard piece of prog metal, and is fine for what it is, without being in any way exceptional, although the jazzy section, with choral effects very strongly influenced by classic Yes, is fun.
Drowning In The Flood commences with deathly riffs, and the return of the growl. This is another track which, although well performed, strikes one as being disjointed, almost as if the band couldn't quite decide what they wanted to do with it. Very similar to the opening track and as annoying in parts, this is a track which, in the main, will appeal to those fans of the extremely heavy end of the prog spectrum, although some of the more melodic instrumental passages are the ones that appeal most to these ears, and this is the direction I personally would like the band to explore more fully in future releases
Sun is a fine track and features some excellent symphonic musicianship by the whole band. Melodic and understated, this is a joy to listen to. In fact, seven tracks like this would definitely have made this album a stronger contender for a glowing review.
The longest epic on the album, Celestial Elixir, closes proceedings. It opens in fine, bombastic, and operatic style, with a Flower Kings pastiche included again. In the main, however, this is a hugely impressive track, with some lovely moments in between the overblown ones, and those are enjoyable as well. It is large in scope and execution, and works very well, and is a fine way to finish a debut which is, overall, impressive.
I like this album, although I must state that I do not find it attains masterpiece status as others have. It delivers an enjoyable and eclectic listen, and more to the point, makes you look forward to how the band will develop. I hope that they concentrate on their more melodic side, because this is when they are at their most coherent and effective. They are most certainly a very fine group of musicians.
A good album amongst a crop of very strong releases in 2010, and a strong pointer towards future glories for this band.
GAZPACHO - MISSA ATROPOS
Probably still my favourite album from Norwegian proggers.
Norwegian band Gazpacho have come up trumps with their latest release, Missa Atropos, and this is an album which I hope will win them many more fans and friends.
The subject of the album, the Greek Goddess of fate and destiny Atropos, chose the method of death and ended the life of each mortal in mythology. Hardly light stuff, then, but Gazpacho manage that delicate balancing act of making a serious concept album that is also accessible very deftly. For instance, the opening Mass For Atropos (Part One) leads us as a well performed entree into the main album, and when Defence Mechanism starts the album proper, what we have is a very tightly performed, highly enjoyable slice of rock with clear progressive sensibilities and a terrific, almost Gothic, atmosphere.
This remains the mood throughout much of what follows. It does, however, manage to avoid being a depressing work, but, instead, takes us through a journey of one man's infatuation with the subject in a sympathetic and interesting manner.
All of the musicians perform extremely well as a unit, which is something that is to be expected from a band that has been performing as long as this now. I also think that Jan-Henrik Ohme's vocals get better with each release. His performance, and the intense backing from the band on the marvellous Snail, is sensational, and this should, in a fairer world, be a contender for hit single status. His performance on the title track is simply hypnotic, with violin adding a folky feel prior to the incredible riffing that closes. Similarly, She's Awake has three and a half minutes of Scandinavian beauty.
Fans of outfits such as Radiohead in their more accessible moments (the title track is clearly richly influenced by them), Porcupine Tree, and the rather obvious Marillion (Hogarth era), will find a lot to enjoy in this album. As regards the latter, their influence is everywhere, which is hardly a great surprise given the close links the bands have enjoyed since the outset of Gazpacho's career. Indeed, tracks such as River, a thoughtful six-minute opus, and Vera, would certainly not have been out of place on the Happiness Is The Road album. They manage a similar trick to my favourite band, in that tracks and music of overt simplicity belie what are, in fact, complex and deep structures.
A very good album. I earnestly hope that it provides the catapult to bigger success that this group thoroughly deserve.
SPOCK’S BEARD - X
I was right - I don’t listen to it years later!
I'd lost track of the band after Neal Morse left, and, if I'm honest, I always thought they were the weaker of the four bands who made up Transatlantic.
However, a combination of curiosity, a nice album title, and a couple of reviews, persuaded me to reinvest in the band with this, their tenth studio release.
By and large, I'm not devastated that I got this, but, then again, I feel that this is one of the weaker new albums I have got this year.
I like the opener, Edge Of The In-Between, which is a grand and bombastic symphonic track coming in at over ten minutes. A little formulaic, maybe, but certainly a strong track which does remind one of the Neal Morse era with the band.
Things get all eclectic and weird on The Emperors Clothes, with a brass section which sounds quite a bit like some of John Entwistle's madder moments. Sadly, that's about the most interesting part of the track, which tries its best to be different, but merely ends up being a bit of a hotch potch. A throw away track which grates on the nerves the more I listen to it. I'm not altogether sure quite what or who they are trying to do here, but whatever it is, it doesn't work very well.
Regrettably, that is the real problem with the album. There is nothing, aside from the opener, that I can see myself listening to avidly in ten years’ time, and it is somewhat beyond me how this could possibly be described as a masterpiece of prog rock as in some reviews.
Sure, they are good musicians. and the vocals are competent enough without being outstanding. But there is, to me, the sound of a band clawing its way in so many different directions in trying to be distinctive, that they end up being either dull or derivative. And a word of advice to them. The Flower Kings do the wacky, jazzy, eclectic thing far better than you. Don't try to compete. Ditto with the Dream Theater metal thing. They are also far better at it. The symphonic keyboard passages are very well played, but they are not, either, very distinctive.
I am not a reviewer who thinks that this is a band who deserve a poor review because of a "missing" band member/leader. As I said, I didn't rate them that highly before, either.
But this, I am afraid, is not a very good album, and is only one for those who simply must own every Spock's Beard album. It will be a while before the hard-earned money is reinvested in this direction.
LUNATIC SOUL II
Duda creates a fantastic atmosphere.
This is a very strong release from the solo project of Riverside's Mariusz Duda, and is just about as far away from his “home turf” as you can get.
The key to enjoyment in this album is the almost perfect atmosphere which classy musicians create.
The opener, The In Between Kingdom is a luscious instrumental, almost Arabesque in its sound and execution. Ambient progressive rock at its finest, and perhaps the best of its kind I have heard since Peter Gabriel's Passion.
This leads into Otherwhere, a stripped-down ballad which is almost painful in its lovely melancholy. A feeling vocal is accompanied by some very good guitar work.
This dark atmosphere is continued as the track segues into Suspended In Whiteness. Almost minimal in its execution, I do love the keyboard work of Duda's colleague Szelenbaum in the background. There is also some great percussion work by Wawrzyniec Dramowicz as the track enters its main phase. Strong rhythms give this the perfect accompaniment to feeling vocals. Very broody and also very good, this is one of the many highlights on the album.
Asoulum is almost so bleak as to be Arctic in its execution, but really is utterly beautiful in its melancholy and atmosphere. Very painful and almost mentally lost lyrics are portrayed very nicely, and accompanied by acoustic guitar, pounding bass, and background keyboards, all of which combine to create a massive sound, and you really do listen in wonder at the "lunatic" sound effects created by the background vocals. A very powerful piece of music which lingers in the memory for some time after you have finished listening.
Limbo is a short instrumental, just short of two minutes, featuring some interesting keyboard sound effects, and again, really does remind me very strongly of some of the music that Gabriel experimented with.
This leads into Escape From Paradice, and the inescapable comparison to Gabriel continues, with some quite fantastic drum work which bears all the hallmarks of the best of what we started to call World Music. The main "help me" vocal theme of the album is reprised here, and the bittersweet, melancholic mood is predominant, before the track explodes into something that Riverside fans would find a little more recognisable in a couple of short, heavy, bursts.
Transition is the longest track on the album, clocking in at over 11 minutes. It begins with more world music influenced passages, executed very well. Keyboards take over to create, alongside vocal effects, what can only be described as an extremely unsettling and heavy ambience. I'm not quite sure what demons Duda needed to purge in the recording of this album, but whatever they were, I can only say that they are better out than in! The main body of the piece features Duda singing accompanied by only piano, minimalist synth effects, and bass drum thumping. Just over halfway through, the track gives way to a louder section, and more in keeping with the darker side of heavy rock. The riff is so gloomy and loud that Sabbath themselves would have been proud to include it on their albums, and this continues right until the close of the track, where keyboards also explode into a lush symphonic backdrop to the riff.
The penultimate track is Gravestone Hill, which sounds like a title or location from a classic Western movie of years gone by. It is, in fact, a dark and lovely ballad featuring some lovely acoustic guitar work and more keyboard effects.
The album closes with Wanderings, which, to my knowledge, ends the two-album sequence and project. If so, it is a fine way to end. A decidedly more upbeat track than much of what went before. The demons have clearly been exorcised, and the entire ensemble plays a quicker and sunnier backing to lyrics which look forward, rather than back.
This is a fine album. Aside from, as mentioned, the obvious similarities in parts to Gabriel's Passion, this is quite unlike anything else I have heard in some time. Ambient, atmospheric, (until the end) very dark, and brooding.
An excellent addition to any prog rock collection.
PETER GABRIEL - SCRATCH MY BACK
We would appear to be promised some new material in 2022. Good, which is what this album is.
I have listened to Gabriel and admired and loved his work for over 30 years now. So, when a new Gabriel album is released, it's a must to get it on the day of release.
I admit freely that I was disappointed to learn that the great man was releasing an album of covers, rather than original material - after all, we have, I think, waited far too long since Up.
I have played it quite a few times until putting keyboard to review, and I am glad I did. First listen, I thought it was shocking, but it has since grown on me enormously. Of course, when you relate so strongly to a particular and unique voice such as Gabriel's as I do, it's difficult not to enjoy.
The interpretations are very much in the mould of the piano/voice versions of Father Son and Here Comes The Flood on the last tours, except these are with the backing of an orchestra.
The album starts off extremely strongly with versions of Bowie's Heroes and Simon's Boy in the Bubble, both very suited to this type of interpretation, and it really does proceed much in this vein throughout. Mirrorball, a song I was not familiar with, is simply stunning - Gabriel does Elbow to incredible effect.
Flume gets the full Gabriel vocal effect and is simply beautiful with the backing of a piano only.
Listening Wind, a Talking Heads track written by Byrne & Eno would, you would have thought, be suited to Gabriel. After all, he has collaborated with Eno and I rather think that he and Byrne are alike in their eccentricity. Somehow, though, the track does not pick up beyond a mere pleasant vocal and light orchestral backing, which is a shame. It's not a dirge, but it's not that far from one.
On Lou Reed's The Power of the Heart, we are back to piano and voice, and this works far better, with some very understated instrumental backing accompanied by a lovely vocal which cracks, literally, with emotion.
My Body is a Cage is another I was totally unfamiliar with, by Arcade Fire, this is a dark piece played slowly and to effect. There is some pulsating orchestration on this track.
The Book of Love is by The Magnetic Fields and was another new listen for me. I will be listening to more of their material which, I suppose, was the whole point of this exercise. You can almost see Gabriel smiling and indulging in the love of his music and family when you listen to this track, it really has the loveliest Gabriel vocal, backed by his very capable daughter Melanie, who has been such a revelation on tour with her father. Violins create the mood in harmony with these two remarkable voices.
Randy Newman gets the PG treatment next, with I Think It's Gonna Rain Today. This is another piano & voice lead track and is pleasant without being exceptional.
Regina Spektor's Apres Moi is next up, and this gets the full brass treatment at the start - isn't it nice to hear proper instruments, rather than pure sampling, a sin which even the great man has been overly guilty of sometimes? This is another delicate interpretation with dark underflowing strings bringing a sense of impending doom to proceedings. Very good, very strong, and very dark.
Neil Young is, by common consent, one of the most important North American artists of the 20th Century, so any interpretation of a great track such as Philadelphia deserves a serious listen. A fulsome and emotional Gabriel vocal is once again backed by some quite exquisite instrumentation. Gabriel has the knack of sounding frail when he is really rather strong, and this comes across clearly on this track, and I really love the trumpet/cornet solo backed by the trademark Gabriel chant. This is very reminiscent of some of the work on Ovo, and no poorer for that.
The album closes with Street Spirit, that exceptional Radiohead track which, for me, marked the arrival of one of the greatest British bands of the last 20 years. Because it is an original that is so intense and features some incredible guitar work by Greenwood, I don't find Gabriel's quiet interpretation working for me very well. It's not bad, far from it, but the original can barely be bettered in my opinion.
This is an album which will divide opinion sharply. So, here's a warning from an old Gabriel and prog fan - this is NOT a prog album and doesn't even pretend to be. It is the work of a supreme songwriter and singer interpreting some of his favourite music in his own unique style. By and large, it works extremely well.
If you enjoyed Ovo, as I did, you would love this. If you enjoy Gabriel's original quieter works, this is the one for you. If you are prepared to step out of the box in your listening, as he has with this work, then you will get a great deal of pleasure out of this work. Most of all, though, this is a GABRIEL album, albeit not with original work, and if you love his work, you will love this.
ASIA - OMEGA
Lovely cover!
Parp, Parp...Here we go again, the latest release from the band for whom the word Supergroup was, or should have been, written. Wetton, Downes, Howe, and Palmer return for this, their fourth studio album as a four piece, and the follow up to Phoenix, an album I enjoyed very much.
Anyone expecting an album of Yes, King Crimson, or ELP will, of course, be bitterly disappointed. This album is very much along the lines of the pop-prog this band perfected with their first release, so will probably not appeal to absolute purists. Of course, for those of you, like me, who are somewhat more open minded, this is once again a hugely enjoyable collection of tracks, with stunning musicianship, especially from Steve Howe, who is becoming like a fine wine, becoming more proficient and excellent as the years roll by. His guitar work, so sadly neglected on the second release Alpha, is once again very much to the fore, and he is, of course, joined by three of the other finest musicians in music.
I cannot say that any track really stands out on this LP. All tracks are played to a very high standard, roll along to a fine intensity, and feel just as good as that stunning debut all those years ago. I will, though, make special mention of Holy War, which has a strong resemblance to Wildest Dreams from the debut, and End of the World, probably the track that would appeal most to purists, this features some some exceptional musicianship.
My least favourite track, and one I feel is awful, is Emily, which somehow reminds me of a Eurovision Song Contest entry (for those of you unfamiliar with this cultural "landmark", go to YouTube or, for the sake of your sanity, probably best you don't want to know!).
This is a difficult album to rate. The band play so well, and this is most clearly a great continuation of a strong reunion, one in which I am very grateful that new material is being produced, rather than simply playing on old glories.
It's not essential but it is better than good.
THE REASONING - ADVERSE CAMBER
Welsh band no longer extant, but it was good stuff. Anything featuring Rachel Cohen is a winner in this website.
The brand-new LP from South Wales band, The Reasoning, this is a cracker. Recently highlighted on a BBC Radio Wales session, which I'm sure won them lots of new fans, the band will be familiar to fans of both Marillion & Fish, who they have supported on recent tours. However, whilst fans of both will continue to warm to this band, that statement is not to say that they only appeal to those fans, or that their music is somehow derivative, because neither statement is true. This band have created their very own sound, and Adverse Camber continues that trend very strongly.
There is all sorts for prog fans to enjoy here. There are some extremely heavy passages, interspersed with warm, melodic passages, and through it all rises the beautiful voice of Rachel Cohen, a singer who is growing with stature and authority at every turn.
An extremely good example is the second track, The Nobody Effect, where her gentle and warm vocals take charge of a track laden with fantastic heavy riffs. This will appeal to fans of bands as diverse as Rush and Mostly Autumn, and I especially love the chorus. The heavy riffs could, in another band, create an atmosphere of doom & death, but not with this band. In fact, I find the entire album to be exceptionally uplifting.
Tracks such as The Thirteenth Hour move along at an incredible pace, with vocals, harmonies, rhythm, and bass section combining to produce a prog masterpiece. The acoustic set was very good, but to appreciate the band as they really are, the full, electric versions must be heard.
No track on the album is longer than 8 minutes, but all somehow have an epic feel. Through The Now, at 7:53, is a very good example. This is a more melodic track, and Dylan Thompson & Rachel combine vocals to ethereal and marvellous effect. There are some wonderful guitar licks, with mandolin thrown into great effect. This track also gives a great example of the uplifting feel to the whole album - "On this journey through the now, Don't be scared to look down, There's a time and a place to wear a smile upon your face". Indeed. The track closes with the most gorgeous guitar solo, over pinned by vocal screams. Epic in intent and execution, this is a true classic of modern prog.
The quieter mood also comes through on Script-Switch Trigger, which again features some gentle and ethereal vocals, this time with a melodic and ballady background. Matthew Cohen's bass guitar is especially strong on this track, played almost in a Squire fashion, by which I mean the instrument is played as a lead instrument, rather than mere rhythm backing. The guitar solos here complement the track, rather than being an exercise in playing for its own sake. This track builds towards a huge denouement, a wall of sound created, before falling back to its gentle acoustic start.
The heavier feel returns with the album closer, 14. Another bright and lively track, this is a solid closer.
This album is more than a worthy follow up to the deservedly highly rated Dark Angel. It is an important progression from that album. This band are beginning to create a unique sound and attitude to their music, and I would highly recommend it to all prog followers reading this review and visiting the site.
This is an excellent addition to any prog collection.
By the way, eagle eyed CD buyers will see Mrs Lazland and the reviewer given a credit by the band, following a competition we entered to have our photograph taken for the CD cover. My thanks to the band for this.
MARS HOLLOW - EPONYMOUS
Debut album from US band. They only managed the one more.
A lot of mainly positive reviews persuaded me to get this eponymous debut from US band Mars Hollow. Listening to it again today for this review suggests that this is a promising start by the band, but one that is unlikely to trouble the compilers for Album Of The Year 2010 award.
The opener, Wait For Me, is a slice of pure homage to symphonic prog, Yes in particular. Indeed, many of the passages could have been lifted directly from Fragile. Good, but too derivative for me. I appreciate originality in the music rather than pure lifting of passages from classic albums.
The same accusation, by the way, could be directed at Eureka. Steve Mach is clearly a very talented keyboardist, John Baker an equally talented guitarist, and Kerry Chicone a very good bassist, but, frankly, the intro to this track is, again, Fragile light. Very easy to listen to, but I would rather that the band turned their obvious talents into redirecting away from something that is far too obviously a tribute to their heroes. Whilst bands like The Flower Kings, especially, wear their influences on their sleeves, they have managed to turn those influences into a great fusion of classic homage and a wholly original sound at the same time. Mars Hollow need to do the same thing before they descend into anonymous oblivion.
That is not to say that this album is bad, though. It is well produced, well performed, and the vocals mainly have a light and instantly accessible attitude. Midnight is a very pleasant piece of music. If I Were You is two minutes longer, and much in the same vein, namely AOR, and, to be honest, throwaway. The instrumental passage that closes the track, in contrast, could almost be from any classic ELP, Hammond led, album. Again, very derivative.
In Your Hands takes its influence from the other symphonic great, namely Genesis, of Foxtrot and Selling England vintage. I don't particularly like the vocals on this (I don't know enough about the band to identify who sings this track), and it is probably at least two minutes too long.
Things improve substantially with Wild Animal, an excellent track weighing in at just over seven minutes long. The vocals are superb, sung with true passion, and I love the guitar work on this as it is so delicately underplayed at commencement, together with a dark and brooding rhythm section. This is by far the most original track on the entire album and gives us a real glimpse of how good this band potentially are. Sure, there are clear nods to others (in particular a mid-section keyboard section that is most definitely Flower Kings), but, somehow, the band manage to fashion this into originality. The closing minute and a half then morphs into a true rocker, with a very hard and bitter edge.
The longest track on the album is the finale, Dawn Of Creation, weighing in at over twelve minutes. However, unlike a couple of the shorter pieces, this doesn't seem to drag at all, and features some interesting band instrumental interplay. The Yes influence does, though, shine through very strongly in the lyrics to this track, which most certainly could have been written by Jon Anderson, meaning, naturally, that they are open to all kinds of interpretation! There is a fantastic guitar solo included on this, leading into the closing passage of the album.
All in all, a satisfying debut, and one that promises well for the future, providing that the inventiveness shown on most of the final two tracks is repeated across an entire work.
BLACKMORE’S NIGHT - AUTUMN SKY
Hey Nonny Non. I rather like it.
Time to get our medieval boots out again! Yes, it's the latest album from the outfit formed by former axe God, Ritchie Blackmore, and his wife, Candice Night, that outfit initially abandoning all facets of hard rock guitar and playing instead a mix of medieval folk and prog related stuff.
The band has proved to be remarkably resilient, despite the almost overwhelmingly hostile attitude of the rock press, with many of its journalists deeply unhappy with what they see as a "sell out" by Blackmore.
That attitude always was nonsensical, and in recent albums, Blackmore has shown a willingness to revisit classic rock songs, including his own, and utilise the electric guitar as much as the acoustic and mandolin.
This album is no different, and, in fact, it is true to state that this represents everything you have come to expect of this outfit in every bit the same way as recent outings. That is not necessarily a bad thing - I love the band and they have given me a great deal of pleasure. The point I am making here, though, is that this new album represents absolutely no progress whatsoever on its immediate predecessors. Perhaps that is to be expected from a band heavily influenced by traditional and classic folk, I don't know.
The band has, of course, become a huge vehicle for Candice Night, virtually unheard of before she hooked up with Blackmore. She is one of those singers who you will either love or hate, nothing in between. It is, to me, arguable whether she would have had any success without the Blackmore tag attached to her, but I like her voice, which is quite unlike any other in the genre at the moment. Her sensitive performance on Believe In Me, backed by a lovely orchestral arrangement and understated Blackmore guitar, is powerful in its melodic portrayal.
The album offers up its usual mix of traditional arrangements and classic rock. Journeyman is a good example of this, the opening of which is a traditional folk arrangement, which is replaced by quite the most exceptional Blackmore electric guitar solo as the track builds to its conclusion.
There is a cover of Ray Davies' Celluloid Heroes, written for the 1972 Kinks album Everybody's In Show Biz. As with the best Davies lyrics, the track still has clear resonance and relevance in the modern day, and I think that Night handles the lyrics with aplomb, whilst the band backs her to great effect.
I would strongly recommend this new work to all who have enjoyed the band's output before. I would also recommend it to all Blackmore fans who might not be able to consider their idol playing anything else other than Stargazer or Smoke On The Water. You will be pleasantly surprised. On this album, and all others in the project, he proves yet again that he is the finest rock or folk guitarist of his generation, barring none.
It's not essential. Actually, that damning word "nice" comes to mind when listening to this, but that's not a crime.
The album cover, by the way, is phenomenal.
ODYSSICE - SILENCE
Really good instrumental album from Dutch outfit.
It is not an easy thing to achieve to make an instrumental album which speaks to you. Odyssice, a Dutch symphonic band, have done just that with Silence, another in a growing list which will compete for the album of the year.
As with all great instrumental albums, the musicianship is excellent. Indeed, as a lover of Camel, Steve Hackett, Pink Floyd, and Mike Oldfield especially, it is a huge compliment from me to state that the playing here is on a par with these fine artists.
The guitar work of Bastiaan Peeters is quite incredible, and I wonder just how on earth I had never heard of him before listening to this album. He deserves a great deal more attention and praise, and I would hope that this album will provide that launch.
Peter Kosterman, on bass, achieves that very difficult feat of using the instrument in a lead manner, in much the same way as Reingold and Trewavas from the modern era do, or Squire did in classic times. On the second track, Momento, his is the sound which leads the rest of the band around him.
Jeroen Van der Wiel provides the keyboards, which, at times, are very reminiscent of Tony Banks, and, in the best symphonic tradition, they swirl and soar.
Menno Boomsma completes the quartet. He provides competent drumming (no more, I'm afraid), but also chips in with flute.
It is difficult to describe where this band get their influences from. No it would be better to state that I find this refreshingly original. For example, Chinese Whispers has shades of Oldfield and Hackett about it, but only in the sense of the atmosphere it creates, which can be disturbingly dark and intense. For an example of how good lead guitar and bass can be in tandem, look no further than this track, which contains an incredibly haunting lead.
The emotion that is drawn out of Colours of Silence really is stunning, and I wonder just what life event occurred when this was written to produce such a moving track. Exceptionally intense, this is the highlight of the album for me. It also provides the finest drumming of the album, with a very complex time signature very well performed.
Flags Without A Heart has an acoustic interplay between guitar, bass, and piano, which set a dreamy, melancholic mood, one that is dedicated to former oppressed nations, before the track resonates with an electric guitar solo that is standout, with the band coming together to create a modern symphonic masterpiece.
There is no track below five and a half minutes on the album, so to describe Continental Motion as the standout "epic" is probably a bit misleading, but it is the lengthiest track here, and features some very deft, original, keyboard work interspersed with some more moving guitar work by Peeters. It also has in between all this an extremely interesting new age passage, which I hope will feature strongly in any future work the band produces. It closes with perhaps the strongest nod to classic symphonic prog with keyboards and guitar which would not have sounded out of place on later Genesis epic tracks such as Fading Lights.
The closer, Swank, reminds me very strongly of Floyd in their Gilmour era pomp, and is a good atmospheric way to close the album.
This is a very good album, and one that I would strongly recommend to all.
KAIPA - IN THE WAKE OF EVOLUTION
They have returned with a class album in 2022. This 2010 release is very strong.
Easily one of the contenders for album of the year in 2010, despite some pretty tight competition, the new album from Kaipa delivers on all fronts, and provides us with some of the finest in modern symphonic prog.
Roine Stolt - who he? Okay, a little tongue in cheek, but it must be said that his absence here really is not noticed at all. Talking of The Flower Kings, Reingold here cements his reputation, in my opinion, as the finest modern bassist there is in this type of music. His playing thunders throughout.
The flavour of this album moves from bombastic, to marvellous folk, all achieved with some of the tightest musical performances you will ever have the privilege of hearing. It takes its influences from the classic symphonic bands, most noticeably Yes, but also fuses it with that unique Scandinavian brand of modern progressive rock. Those of you who, like me, are also fans of prog folk will hear a lot here to delight your ears. For instance, the humble recorder has never sounded as good as it does on this album.
I especially love Aleena Gibson's vocal performance on this, and to be honest, my only minor quibble on the work as a whole would be my desire to hear more of her in front than Lindstrom. Her performance on In The Heart Of Her Own Magic is nothing less than stunning, and this is one of the tracks which has, at its heart, a strong folk flavour. Having said that, the vocal harmonies between the two are joyous.
The tone all the way through this album is relentlessly upbeat, and, indeed, listening to it almost makes me forget the foul wet weather we are experiencing here in Wales as I write this review.
This is not an album perfect enough to warrant the “masterpiece” rating. It is, however, an album which more than creditably warrants an “excellent” descriptor. Very highly recommended to all those who love the old symphonic prog, The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, and similar such fare.
LEBOWSKI - CINEMATIC
Twelve years on, this remains one of my favourite albums from 2010 and is played regularly.
Lebowski is a project from Poland, originally conceived in 2005, but this debut was finally released in 2010. It is an instrumental work, albeit with voices and chants, and, as with many such works, the key to success is keeping the listener interested and challenged. This it succeeds in doing. It is described as the "soundtrack to a non-existent movie” and includes along the way all types of homage to the great and lasting art form.
Opener, Trip To Doha, opens up in a nice jazzy groove, before developing into a more "traditional" symphonic prog track. There are some nice guitar licks with a gentle synth background. The duduk is introduced as a very nice accompaniment giving a Mid-Eastern feel, quite in keeping with the subject matter, and my only real gripe is that the track could have benefited a little more from this. Steve Hackett was, I feel, a little more successful in his last outing at creating such a mood.
137 sec. is next, and I love the Hammond Dulcimer played, which provides again a very welcome Asian/World feel to proceedings, together with a marvellous vocal performance by Kasia Dziubak providing a far more ethereal and mysterious feel to proceedings. Elsewhere, the moog is somewhat "by the numbers", but the bass and guitar riffs are nicely funky. When this track is adventurous and daring, it is very good indeed.
Cinematic is the title track, and a real highlight. It is vibrant and warm, with the keys, especially, moving out of a comfort zone and providing a challenging, but rewarding, listen. Think of a jazzy symphonic movement (the drums are especially good), and you are somewhere near the mark, and the sax and choral vocals simply add to the mellow and enjoyable feel of a very good piece of music, which never once loses the listener's attention, having more than enough signature changes to keep one interested.
Old British Spy Movie is a must for those of us who love the old "noir" films of the classic period. It captures the mood perfectly. The piano lead, especially, is full of mystery, and when Kasia Dziubak enters the fray with a magical and mournful violin, it just gets better. Add in some brass samples, a strong bass riff, and what you have here is a marvellous track which, again, pushes all of the right "mood buttons", with artful changes in tempo to keep you alert.
Iceland, apparently the oldest written track on the album, is a tribute to Zdzislaw Maklakiewcz and Roman Klosowski, two Polish actors of some fame in their homeland. Not knowing enough about them, I cannot really comment on how the track brings them to life, but I can say it is a pleasant track with nice symphonic sensibilities without ever being especially stretching and includes a lovely piano solo.
Encore is a "French" track and is suitably dark and complex in homage to that great nation's cinematic works. I like this track a great deal. The accordion is great and evokes the feel of the nation more than adequately, whilst the guitar solo, set against a very brooding synth riff, is very accomplished, and, at times, quite beautiful, especially some four & a half minutes in when the hairs are raised with a passage redolent of some of the best Mark Knopfler moments. It doesn't last long, but it is wonderful when it is there.
Aperitif For Breakfast (O.M.R.J.) is dense and jazzy and, to my ears, at the start, very reminiscent of some of the more tuneful and accessible latter-day Crimson music. There is a special mention here for Marcin Luczey's piano work and the lovely guitar lead by Marcin Grzegorczyk. Later on, the track develops into a very much Marillion-esque feel when Marek Zak and Krzysztof Pakula take to the fore with an immense rhythm section. The denouement is the closest the band come to a huge wall of sound, and it is very good indeed.
Spiritual Machine is my favourite track on the album. A dark, guitar led piece that transports us all into a futuristic film led by intelligent robots/machines/computers. It is almost doom- laden in parts, but Grzegorczyk's work immerses us in that world perfectly, together with intelligent use of machine voice effects. Most welcome, though, are the softer passages, ambient, pastoral, and beautiful amongst the gloom which portray a world far more complex than at first glance.
The Story Teller is, apparently, the track which changed the most during the recording period, and sets off at a light, pleasant, but unremarkably ambient pace, although I do like the very well-played bass lead. There are also some nice French Horns included, but I think this is the one track where, mid to 2/3rd through, the attention does clearly wander, before the gloom is relieved somewhat by a heavier denouement.
Human Error is the closer, and the longest track on the album at just short of eight minutes long. I'm not sure whether this was aimed at the Robert Young film of the same name, but, if so, it does musically very well paint the picture of a conflict between the leads and their scheming boss. It is very broody and also very good. The lovely jazzy licks, featuring a beautiful oboe, take me to the place of the excellent 2011 King Crimson ProjeKct, and is very welcome.
The film reel clicking at the end is a fitting conclusion to this tribute to the movies. Alright, Anderson & Vangelis have done it before, but so what?
There is an eclectic mix of moods here. At turns broody, melancholic, bright, and beautiful, it is very rarely anything less than wholly engaging, and this is an album which is highly recommended to those of you who not only enjoy instrumental progressive music, but also those prepared to take a little bit of time to appreciate it.
Sit back, put it on, and enjoy. This is an excellent addition to any thoughtful prog collection. Let's hope for more in the not-too-distant future, because I feel there is something even more special to come. At their best, pushing the boat out, they are quite excellent.
My thanks to the band for making the CD available for me to review.
JON ANDERSON - SURVIVAL & OTHER STORIES
Above all else, it was so nice to hear him singing new songs after the illness which almost took him away from us.
I thought that the Anderson & Wakeman collaboration last year, The Living Tree, was a good album, but not anything particularly memorable, and part of the problem was that I felt that Anderson, a singer who has always had the capacity to move me very deeply vocally, had not really fully recovered from the illness which almost took his life and also signified his ejection, under not particularly pleasant circumstances, from the band with which he will be forever associated.
So, I eagerly awaited this latest solo release, the first of three promised new albums in the next year. I asked, had the great man's voice fully recovered?
The answer to that question is an unequivocal yes. This album finds Jon back in soaring and full-blooded voice again, and, in this reviewer's eyes, the world is a far happier place for it.
As one could probably guess from the title, the album, lyrically, is intrinsically bound up in the illness and his subsequent recovery, aided in a fabulous fashion by his wife Jane and friends such as Wakeman. Probably the feature of the lyrics that most stands out is the absolute directness of the words Anderson puts across. Whereas, in the past, he has tended to use words as sounds more than messages, sometimes extremely obliquely, on this work, his faith, gratitude, and love of life and the planet shout out loud and clear in lyrics which could never be mistaken other than for what they are.
There are some beautiful moments on this release. The opener, New New World, is a strong track which fairly races along. Unbroken Spirit, a paeon to his own inner strength and faith, is simply superb, with Anderson's voice absolutely scaling the heights of yore and with a musical backing very close to that of later Yes albums. The longest track, The Incoming, clocking in at just under eight minutes, features some wonderful piano and acoustic guitar work, backing a rather lovely reflective vocal, and as the track develops, it moves into another gear and what I can only describe as a symphonic masterpiece very close to some of the marvellous tracks recorded for Change We Must. The "Same Love" passage is amongst the finest I have ever heard from this legend.
Love And Understanding reminds me strongly of the Anderson led material Yes produced on The Ladder, full of joy and relentlessly upbeat thumping rhythms. The album closes with Cloudz, a wonderful track which is perhaps as close in spirit to the best of the work Anderson did with Vangelis, certainly in the sound of the main keyboard backing. If you didn't like this, then you won't particularly enjoy this track. I did, so I do, simple as that really.
My favourite track, though, is Just One Man, a very overtly religious song, sung with such passion and heights, it near moves you to planes that you barely imagined existed. Musically extremely simple, with a mellow piano and soft orchestration backing, the real instrument is Anderson's voice, and it is here that you realise that he is back to using it at its most effective. Quite simply beautiful, and a reaffirmation of all that I enjoy about this man's music.
The remainder are not bad, by any measure of quality. They are, though, not as good and Effortlessly, especially, has the mark of filler written all over it. The one track that many will find difficult to even halfway appreciate is Big Buddha Song. The title is a little misleading, because in this, Anderson sings the praises of one Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna, and the mystical Earth Mother with whom he has long been associated. It's all very cheerful, but perhaps too direct to appeal to many. It is funny, however, when he moves a massive nod to his erstwhile band colleagues with a rendition of We Have Heaven. It's almost like being back in 1972!
Anderson, by the way, assembled his backing musicians by advertising for contributions on the internet worldwide, and the result is perhaps surprisingly excellent. I cannot put names to all the contributions, but the music is uniformly of a very high standard, and perhaps this is a decent model on which artists can create in the future. It wouldn't be the first time Anderson had led the way musically, by any means.
This album is not a masterpiece. That would be an exaggeration. It is, however, simply wonderful, a hugely enjoyable musical, spiritual, and vocal journey with one of rock's most important contributors, and it is simply fantastic to see and hear him back in such form.
Do not buy this expecting to hear a Yes album. Although Anderson describes himself as the guardian of "Yes Music", this is an album which is far closer to his solo work and collaborations with Vangelis and Wakeman than a full-blooded Yes album, although I for one think that had Yes been a bit more patient, this material could well have formed the backbone of a far stronger effort than Fly From Here. Perhaps I'm biased, I don't know, but this is an album to treasure.
Not a masterpiece in the fashion of Olias, but certainly very much up there as the best of an (admittedly) mixed solo career.
MOSTLY AUTUMN - GO WELL DIAMOND HEART
I enjoyed this, the debut as lead singer with Olivia Sparnenn (now Josh), at the time, and perhaps even more now.
Mostly Autumn is a band whose career I have followed since they started. They perplex me in many ways, not least of which is why they have never quite reached the commercial heights they are clearly more than capable of reaching. In sporting terms, they are a team that are constantly at the top of the second division but can never quite manage to get themselves promoted to the premier league.
Will this new release do it for them? Well, the first thing to state is that they have managed to produce an exceptionally good album without the main reason a lot of us started to listen and watch in the first instance, namely one Heather Findlay. Her successor, Olivia Sparnenn, a backing vocalist previously, steps up to the plate more than adequately.
We had a big taste of the feel of this album musically with Bryan Josh's excellent solo album, Through These Eyes, on which Sparnenn shone.
The first track, For All We Shared, opens with a Celtic tinge in best traditions of the band. The main part of the song transforms into the type of grandiose rock anthem that they have become very adept at and is played very tightly, with a very good vocal performance by Olivia heading up some mighty riffs. A grand climax with vocal harmonies especially between the two main protagonists leads us to ask the question...Heather who?
Violet Skies features a thunderous bassline leading a deceptive acoustic guitar and sensitive vocals. A very understated track and a triumph for Olivia vocally. Her voice soars and you know she is a worthy successor. It is also nice that this track is dedicated to Heather.
Deep In Borrowdale features Josh taking lead vocal duties. His voice has improved tremendously over the years, and you no longer wish he wouldn't bother, and when he & Sparnenn combine, it produces great harmonies. A track which has classic rock written all over it, but with a nice acoustic & flute interlude (played by the always excellent Anne Marie Helder) included prior to the epic climax. Josh certainly knows how to produce the killer guitar solo.
Something Better is the natural successor to Josh's incredible solo album, both lyrically and musically, but also with a very knowing nod to the exceptional Heroes Never Die. A brilliant four minutes of commercial hard rock combined with a thoughtful diatribe against our modern-day leaders, as opposed to classical figures who would have "got it right". Hugely enjoyable.
The title track produces something special, and, lyrically, is very clever dealing with a brave soldier dying in Afghanistan (he was a MA fan). Josh proves just how much he has matured as a lyricist on this, but also it is the case that the music itself backs the obvious pain felt by all. I could have done without the press conference recordings, because, simply, the music didn't require them. It is by far the most symphonic of the pieces on the album and features a wall of sound played by the welcome return of Iain Jennings on keyboards, and new drummer Gavin Griffiths shines on this.
Sparnenn co-wrote the last three tracks, and the first of these, Back To Life, is a welcome return to a more folky, pastoral, feel following the emotionally draining rock of what went before. She sings very well, and I think the key to this performance is that she does not try to emulate Findlay. She is as good a performer in her own right, and she rightly makes this lovely track her own, rather than a cheap copy of her predecessor's style. A gorgeous song beautifully performed.
Hold The Sun is a very catchy commercial rock track, very easy on the ears, and played with a very tight intensity by the entire ensemble. The Josh solo at the close is straight from the top drawer.
Closer And When The War Is Over really does, lyrically, what it says in the title, and is a bittersweet track which expresses sweet regret over all of the futile losses we have experienced in Bush & Blair's conflicts, but also looks forward in a way that Waters never quite managed to do. It is very reminiscent of Roger's solo work, without ever being truly retro, and, indeed, highlights the band's excellent knack of mixing traditional folk with symphonic rock, and is a fine way to close proceedings.
So, is this, as Classic Rock Presents Prog stated, the finest Mostly Autumn album? Not quite. I still think that privilege belongs to Passengers, but this really isn't that far behind. Will it be enough to propel them into the Premier League? Maybe not, but you know that it will keep them in the Play Offs, and if this excellent album is translated into the long overdue masterpiece on the next album, the sky is the limit for this very important and talented band.
To make such a good album in the absence of their talismanic singer is quite some achievement. This is one of the best releases of 2010, and that is, I know, a very good and tight field.
An excellent addition to any prog rock collection, and one that I highly recommend to fans of the band who might have fallen away from them, and also prog lovers who admire their folk and bombastic, symphonic, heavy prog rock all in one sumptuously produced package.
ARGOS - CIRCLES
Retro Prog album not, regrettably, used to depreciate my cd player in at least 12 years now.
Listening to this album from German band Argos, I am struck by one glaring omission from reviews undertaken thus far by esteemed colleagues, and that is just where this band take their primary influences from.
For when you listen to tracks such as Custody Of The Knave, and, indeed, much of this album, the one primary influence that screams out is Hamill and Van Der Graaf Generator. Indeed, the similarity is so obvious in the vocals, I must ask myself whether vocalist Robert Gozon, especially, is a twin of Hamill and somehow lost his way to Germany.
Elsewhere, the instrumentation also harks back strongly in terms of flute and mellotron, especially, to Trespass era Genesis, with a massive dollop of Canterbury Scene thrown in as well, something which is especially evident on the very solid short track, Willow Wind.
The band do, by the way, put paid to that terrible old joke/theory about Germans not having a sense of humour by putting out the rather quirky, and brilliantly named, Total Mess Retail. Very jazzy, it bears absolutely no semblance to Close To The Edge whatsoever. It is, in fact, a very eclectic track, and rather experimental, and could have done with rather more than the 3:47 on offer here.
The longest track. Lost On The Playground, is very reminiscent of Ye Olde England Kentish prog, but is a very pleasant listen, and features some good work from Rico Florcak on guitar especially.
There is not a bad track on this album. All is very solidly performed and produced and is designed particularly to appeal to those fans of all prog past. What the band have done well, in my opinion, is to avoid the very nasty, and ultimately self-defeating, trap of seeking to emulate only one band or style as their baseline. Instead, what we have here is a very pleasant smorgasbord of differing 1970's style prog, which is a good listen, but not in any way ground-breaking.
This is an album which seems strangely out of time in 2010. Of course, this review should alert true fans of retro prog, because there is much in here that will appeal to you.
PAATOS - BREATHING
Swedish band regrettably not heard of since 2012, this was an enjoyable album
This new 2011 release from Swedish band Paatos is my first taste of the band, but will not be my last, for this is a pleasing album. If, like me, you have a particular taste for rich female vocals, a well-produced work, and a clever ear for mood swings, then this album might well be for you.
It starts off with a mighty statement of intent on Gone, a very clever pop/rock track which also creates a wonderful wall of sound. I particularly enjoy Ivarsson's bass work, and there is enough clever musicianship abound in this track to keep most prog fans happy.
Fading Out follows, which is a single length track which recalls, for me, Bjork in her Post era in the vocals and music at the start, but then a more traditional prog sound with Banks like keyboards takes over, prior to a reprise of the opening bars at the denouement. This is a nice short track with lots going on.
Shells is a fine piece of music, combining some lovely vocals, pastoral keyboards and orchestration. Perhaps the highlight of the album for me, it is melancholic and almost yearning.
If that, however, was melancholic, things turn quite a shade darker on In That Room, with many passages reminding me of the extremely clever, and haunting, movements on the two Lunatic Soul offerings. Another very clever, and very good piece of music.
Andrum is a short piece with some good woodwind and brass and ethereal chanting, and, especially, more very clever bass work between the orchestrals. This takes us into No more Rollercoaster, which takes the mood elsewhere again, and is, essentially, a post-modern rock track. It's good enough, but I, for one, would have far preferred the band to have developed Andrum more as an extended piece of music, simply because it was more interesting.
The title track is the longest on the album, coming in at just short of six minutes, and is a return to form. Again, I hear quite a lot of influences at play here, and I am sure that the band have listened to some of Gabriel's more ethnic influenced stuff in addition to the aforementioned Lunatic Soul. This is another darker track, with Nettermalm's vocals losing any sense of innocence, and combined with understated guitar, a thumping rhythm section, and cello, it creates a rather doom-laden pastiche very effectively.
Smartan continues the theme with mournful cello, piano, and effects linking with some more extremely fragile vocals. It is, again, extremely well executed, but you do, at this stage, however, begin to look for a somewhat lighter touch in the mood, and this is brought to us by Surrounded, which is a very good pop/rock song with delicate prog sensibilities and reminds me a bit of some of Magenta's lighter moments. It is, however, very welcome as taking us back to the mood of the opening tracks before the gloom totally took over.
I have no idea what Ploing, My Friend is all about, except to say that it is just short of one minute of percussive noodling and plinking. Perhaps it was Petronella's tea break, I don't know, but, whatever, when things return to normal with Precious, it is welcome. This is a very good commercial track that will have prog purists running for cover, I suppose, but I like it in much the same way as I still enjoy the better indie music that is out there. I especially like the keyboard work on this track.
The album closes with Over & Out, which is rather like its predecessor in terms of impact and influence, excepting it's not as good.
This is a good album, and I would recommend it to those who enjoy intelligent, modern rock music, without necessarily having to have prog in every note or passage. I especially like Nettermalm's vocals - she is a real talent, and, overall, the band are a very tight and effective unit.
MATT STEVENS - GHOST
I really ought to listen to more of his work. This is a fine album from the very talented, and also extremely pleasant, musician.
Matt Stevens is a very talented multi-instrumentalist who has been making quite a few waves in the progressive rock community in recent times. This superb album, released last year, received a glowing review from Classic Rock Presents Prog, no less, and he is clearly a very busy live artist as well. If you can, get his Live In Blackpool album from his Bandcamp site.
Whilst, I suppose, the multi-instrumentalist tag will raise the inevitable Mike Oldfield comparisons, do not be fooled, because, if anything, the closest I can describe this man's music as getting to is Anthony Phillips, formerly of Genesis fame. This is meant as a deep compliment, because this is primarily a guitar led album which reminds me in so many ways of some of Phillips' finest moments such as Field Day. Stevens manages that extremely difficult trick of making acoustic and non-vocal music remain interesting for the duration, and no better example can be found than in the cracking pace of Big Sky, built around a simple acoustic chord, but with such a pace and variations found in the effects at the end to make you smile in wonder at it all.
Reviewers have drawn comparisons between some of the music on offer here and Radiohead, although, in my opinion, it moves way beyond that. Whilst, these days, Radiohead tend to make me feel rather despairing and miserable, this doesn't. The bright percussion and simple, but effective, bass riff accompanying the Greenwood- esque guitar on Eleven is perhaps the best example. It's cheerful and uplifting.
Just about my favourite track is Draw, featuring some extremely clever acoustic guitar work, bright and uplifting, set against a lovely jazzy drum and bass backdrop. Effects towards the end bring a very eclectic feel, and it is here, I think, that my only note of criticism comes to proceedings. I love Stevens' acoustic guitar work, but I do feel that future offerings might wish to explore tracks which feature, for example, samplings, bass, drums, and other instruments more to the fore, if only to "mix it up" a little more.
For example, I love the percussive work on the longest track on offer here, Lake Man. It is a marvellous piece of music, with some very nice effects which, in my opinion, should have been more to the fore alongside the stunningly simple, but supremely effective, percussion beat. That said, you do rather marvel at the guitar playing. Similarly, I love the glockenspiel on the mellow Glide.
The final two tracks, the title track itself, and Moondial, finish off proceedings in a very strong manner.
Ghost creates a mood and a soundscape that cries out at you that there might just be something, or somebody, watching you. Far more satisfying than any of the mad psychic frauds you see on telly in bringing you closer to the "other side".
Moondial has a cracking riff attached to it, and I wonder just how much more it would have achieved with a little more "electricity", for want of a better phrase.
This is excellent, and it is, to me, refreshing to hear a new artist bringing this approach rather than some of the interminable doom laden metal that seems to be particularly in vogue at the moment.
Very highly recommended to all who appreciate Phillips, Hackett, and Fripp in his more ambient moments. I think that this man is capable of bringing a genuine masterpiece to us in the not-too-distant future, and I think this will be done by bringing a work based around the full range of his obvious musical talents, rather than a pure acoustic guitar led album, as pleasurable as that undoubtedly is.
ALL OVER EVERYWHERE - INNER FIRMAMENTS DECAY
This is a relatively early example of my belief in being honest in my reviews, even when you are provided with music by the artist. There was some very good stuff on here, but the production was lousy, to say the least.
All Over Everywhere is a collaboration between Dan Britton, who will be familiar to veterans of this site, and a classically trained musician, and folk fan, Trinna Kesner, who won't be. It strikes me as being a true collaboration, so what you get is an interesting mixture of what most of us would pick up as more traditional progressive rock fused with symphonic and folk sensibilities, and I will immediately state that if this sounds like a description of outfits such as Blackmore's Night, Renaissance, and the like, then it certainly does not sound that way, because it is very difficult to place this record in a box such as "inspired by" or "fans of such and such a band will like this".
That is a roundabout way of saying that the album is difficult to Pidgeon hole, and that, for me, is a good and healthy situation.
Ten musicians, including, of course, Britton and Kesner, are credited on the CD. Fans of my favourite instrument will particularly appreciate the mellotron swirling everywhere about this work, whilst those who like their progressive rock to take on a more classical symphonic flavour will enjoy the instrumentation of strings and woodwind.
Vocal duties are taken on by Megan Wheatley, another new name to me, and she has a wonderfully mature voice, which makes it all the more a shame that she spends the entire work struggling to be heard clearly. For no better example, I would cite the short On A Dark Street as being a prime example. Her voice is simply gorgeous, especially when she hits the higher notes. For a further discussion on this, see my end comments regarding production.
There is a melancholic feel to much of the music, with the exception of the final, and longest, track Gratitude. Until The Sun Begins To Fall and The Shroud are especially dark and downbeat.
My personal favourite on the album is Honesty, a four-and-a-half-minute piece of wonderful music, featuring a lovely vocal performance set against a background of quite exquisite orchestration, keyboards, and acoustic guitar.
The woodwinds backing Wheatley on After All The Years, courtesy of Kelli Short, add a loving texture to the decidedly reflective vocals, and, in fact, the entire instrumental passages here, including very good piano work, are chamber in their execution, and will be enjoyed by all who appreciate and respect the vast influence that such classical music has had upon progressive rock from the very outset.
Gratitude, as stated before, is the longest track here, and the only one to clock in at over ten minutes. It is the closest thing on the album to what we would describe as more traditional symphonic prog, with elements which do recall parts of Trespass and also classic Yes. It is a very much more upbeat affair than most of what preceded it, and you really do enjoy allowing the keyboard led instrumental passage to wash over you. A fantastic piece of music, it closes the album on a definite high, and very much provides this listener with the hope that this will prove to be a long term, and improving, project.
I have discussed the many highlights present on this work. It is a good album, and one which gets better with repeated listens. However, there is one factor present which, to my mind, prevents it from being a truly excellent album and into the realms of a very good one, and that is the production. It is, to be very blunt, extremely disappointing, virtually drowning out a wonderful vocalist at times, and, even with a state-of-the-art home cinema system as we own, making the listener have to work far too hard to appreciate and differentiate between the very solid, complicated, instrumentation prevalent. It really must improve on future releases.
This is a good album which promises much, and one which will be liked by prog fans who appreciate classical elements to their rock, folk fans, and also, dare I say it, those who also appreciate their prog delivered in more time accessible smaller chunks.
Lastly, I would record my appreciation to Dan Britton who kindly provided me with a copy of this CD.
FOURTEEN TWENTYSIX - LIGHTTOWN CLOSURE
Project by Chris Van Der Linden which had one more outing in 2012
The first "proper" album by Dutch outfit, Fourteen Twentysix, essentially a solo project by Chris Van Der Linden, with a little bit of help from his friends, this is an impressive work, and one that grows on the listener with repeated turns.
Van Der Linden is a very talented musician and vocalist, and the mood of the work is amply set by the very strong opening track, AM. A lovely acoustic intro gives way to a deeply melancholic vocal set against pounding bass, drums, and interesting effects. Very atmospheric, it has that quality so often missing in many efforts, that of drawing the listener in more deeply and experiencing, rather than merely hearing, and you don't actually realise that you are listening to two separate tracks when After the Storm begins, as it is a continuation creating, in effect, one long piece of music of over seven minutes duration.
The dark bass and vocals continue on Closing Hours, backed by more key effects and a nice rhythm guitar, but the centrepiece, for me, is the fantastic drum work, all of which on the album were recorded live. A nice track which puts me in mind of not just Steven Wilson (whose influence is everywhere), but also U2 in their more melodic and moody moments.
Gone Today is still dark, but in a more commercial fashion. A lot of music is packed into less than four minutes here.
My personal favourite is Tonight I, which shows incredible maturity, and is, I very much hope, a foretaste of a long and successful career. Lyrically, I take this as a doomed love affair, or the breakdown of a close relationship, and the guilt and regret that such breakdowns inevitably bring. Once again, the drums are used as almost a lead instrument, with some emotional guitars and keyboard effects backing up to create a lush, moody soundscape. I guarantee you will fall in love with the instrumental section which breaks in at four and a half minutes into the track. It's a very clever track which reminds me very strongly of Crimson or Van Der Graaf at their most inventive, but without the left field cacophony accompanying.
Signals In The Sky is the second longest track on the album, weighing in at a little over eight minutes, and is again a deeply mature and moving piece of music, and one that takes you through the emotional handwringer somewhat. This, perhaps more than any other track, showcases a unique talent in making dark music strangely and refreshingly uplifting.
Descending continues the feel of what preceded, but is, I think, certainly vocally, less interesting, certainly at the outset. A little too sparse to be wholly effective, it is a track which, certainly on the first few listens, has one losing concentration and attention prior to the denouement, which repeats the trick of preceding tracks in dragging you back and creating a lush sound.
White Paint is a deeply beautiful and, I feel, personal song. Anyone who has suffered a deep relationship or love falling apart will agree that not even White Paint can cover up the hurt, the darkness, and when he sings about the look in the song target's eyes, you can see them as deeply hypnotic and special to the writer. It is another quite sparse track, but this pulls off the difficult trick of keeping you engaged, and that is all down to some great vocals and guitar work.
The album closes with the longest piece, Lashes, which is over nine minutes long. It basically pulls together everything on the album, the moods, textures, effects, pulsating rhythm section, and mournful stories, into a very effective epic, and as the last bars fade away, you feel quite exhausted, but also very mindful of the fact that you have experienced a very deeply personal and emotional piece of music.
This is not an album to review after a mere couple of listens. It is not an album that you will particularly enjoy first time around. It is, though, an album which rewards a great deal of patience, and which grabs you as the product of a very talented writer and performer who can take you to a place from which it is difficult to extract yourself. You literally end up living the album, and that is no small praise for an artist most will not have really heard of. I predict that the next full album will blow us all away based on this very impressive debut.
NICK MAGNUS - CHILDREN OF ANOTHER GOD
Very good album from Enid & Hackett collaborator.
This is a pleasant surprise, and one of the highlights of 2010, a year which, musically, is shaping up to be a very good one.
Magnus was at the back of my mind as a former keyboard player with Steve Hackett and with his time with The Enid, but I wasn't aware he was recording as a solo artist until I saw reviews for this album.
To be honest, I took a punt and brought this album solely because the great Hackett brothers themselves feature largely on this work, and, given I have all of Steve's solo work, I figured that I would get this by way of completing his work.
I am, though, exceptionally happy to report that this album is not a Hackett lite project. This is very much the work of an extremely talented songwriter and musician, who just happened to have some exceptional guests appearing with him.
Of course, you can hear similarities. The opening track, for example, which is also the title track, would certainly not sound out of place on any Hackett solo work.
The instrumentation throughout is excellent, and this is very much reflected in the instrumental Twenty Summers, which has some very good interplay between percussion and keyboards. Magnus is a very good keyboard player; of that you can be sure. This is also evidenced on Crimewave Monkeys, a track which is reminiscent, to me, of Genesis circa the self-titled album and, maybe, Abacab. Certainly, the dark feel of this track would not feel out of place, and this is easily the closest Magnus comes to sounding like Banks on the album.
There is only one track more than eight minutes here, and that is the title track. The rest all come in at less than seven and a half minutes, and with the shortest, Identity Theft, which has vocals by Magnus himself, there is almost a commercial single waiting to come out. Unfortunately, it is pleasant, without being essential.
The remainder of the vocals are handled by Tony Patterson, Pete Hicks, Andy Neve, and Linda John-Pierre. The latter sings beautifully on The Others, accompanied by delicate and understated acoustic guitar, keyboards, and orchestral simulation. This is, perhaps, the highlight of the album for me, and I will have to explore more fully this lady's work, because she is a huge talent. The chorus is uplifting and sumptuous, and we are treated to Hackett magic in the electric solo. The Hackett solo in Babel Tower is also magnificent.
Other reviewers, by the way, have compared Patterson to Gabriel. I suppose this is true in the almost Lamb like passage in Babel Tower, but, when he sings normally, as it were, there is not really much comparison. He is good enough in his own right to stand alone, anyway, and this is definitely witnessed in the album closer Howl The Stars Down, on which he shines.
All in all, a very good album, thoroughly enjoyable, and a clear attempt to appeal to a wide range of symphonic prog fans, whilst also wanting to pick up those who enjoy the lighter market.
PANIC ROOM - SATELLITE.
An extremely good album which is still played regularly by me, especially the wonderful title track, a playlist favourite.
Welsh bands will, of course, always pique my interest, and Panic Room have been born from the ashes of the breakup of perhaps the archetypal modern Welsh prog band, Karnataka. I haven't got around to buying their new effort yet, but I've given this one a few listens now, and it gets better and more satisfying every time.
The fulcrum of this band is Anne Marie Helder, who will also be familiar to fans of Mostly Autumn. Her vocals are fantastic throughout. This is particularly true on the wonderfully melancholic track The Fall. The acoustic guitar and Helder combine beautifully on Sunshine, a track which strikes me as being the perfect love song for a Sunday morning.
A lot of this album is extremely commercial and easy to listen to. This is not to denigrate it at all, quite the opposite.
The musicianship is exceptional throughout. There are some throwaway moments, particularly Picking Up Knives and Black Noise, both of which sound to me to me to be classic filler tracks. They are not bad, just forgettable. However, the bulk of the album is solid throughout, and there are also excerpts of great humour, especially I Am A Cat. The cat, sadly, remains uncredited for his/her contribution!
There are also moments of what we would describe as classic prog, and the highlight here is Dark Star, which features some wonderful organs work by Jonathon Edwards, a la Wakeman in his pomp.
The highlight of the album, though, and worth the entrance fee alone is the title track. An incredible piece of music, at turns dark, melancholic, and beautiful, it all builds up to a hugely moving and powerful chorus, showing the singer at her absolute peak. Exceptional bass playing especially from Alun Vaughan, this is, from the start, a true toe tapping prog/pop classic weighing in at over eight minutes long. If only radio stations were prepared to still play singles that long. I dare you not to sing along to Ann Marie with your arms outstretched!
This is a very good album, and one to consider purchasing for those of you who are prepared to enjoy prog in its lighter form.
UNITOPIA - ARTIFICIAL
Aussie outfit who released one further album in 2012 and have not been heard from since.
I bought this album based on the 2010 best albums of the year chart. I had, to be honest, never heard of them before. I'm glad I did.
This is a very satisfying slab of modern progressive rock, and nice to see a band from Australia.
There is all sorts here, including probably the finest Beatles tribute and influenced track I've ever heard in Nothing Lasts Forever, some beautiful melancholy on Reflections, a satisfying epic track Tesla. In fact, my feeling listening to this album is that they draw their music from a wide range of influences, and have produced an extremely easy album to listen to, which, in my book, is absolutely no drawback at all.
At turns melodic, at turns jazzy, certainly on Rule Of 3's, at others powerful classic rock, with a fine vocal performance from Mark Trueack.
I will certainly be exploring the other works by this band.
One of my pleasant surprises of the year.