I am usually contacted by artists wishing to publicise contemporary new music (understandably), so it was something of a surprise when Brazilian artist Cristiano Varisco asked me to listen to, and write about, his 2013 release, Aline. One of the things I am looking forward to doing when I partially retire next year is having more time to write about historical albums I never got around to reviewing on release, and there are hundreds of them.
Cristiano informs me that the album was reflective of a rupture in his life at the time, the division between the futile standards of the metropolis and inspirational life in the countryside. Indeed, this is very similar to my life. I live in an idyllic part of the UK and love the pace of life here, but since my employer closed all our local offices, travel to meetings (pre-Covid) were all in ghastly carbuncles in city centres. Post Covid, I am now a designated homeworker, and feel so much better for it.
There is quite a lot going on here and, incidentally, you can listen to the whole album on YouTube, and I have embedded this link at the foot of this review. What is acutely clear from the off is just what a talented guitar player Varisco is, a joy to listen to. The frantic mix of Spanish and electric guitar on the experimental Do Cosmos ao Mexico (From Cosmos to Mexico) is a fine example of this.
The bucolic nature of the opener, Solitude 118, is gorgeous, if a little short, with class guitar string picking and a very strong bassline and listening to this was all the persuasion I needed to carry on.
The moods do ebb and flow. Without looking at the titles, you know which refer to the calm, and which to the hustle and bustle of city life. The blues of Pedal da Citade (City Pedal) is dripping with the fear of having to maneuver through chaotic streets filled with cars whose drivers care not a jot for your safety and wellbeing. I get this on the very strong album closer, Ultrajeto (Outrage) as well. There is the Zappaesque eclecticism of Saida de Emergencia which features some blazing guitar work amongst the eight minutes of creative and at times frantic weirdness, although the bass grooves produced would not have sounded out of place on anything Chris Squire produced over the years. Talking of bass grooves, Rosa Cromatica (Chromatic Rose) is infused with them on a jazz fusion track full of intensity and life.
There is the pastoral beauty at the start of O Lago dos Afazeres (The Lake of Chores) with sweet guitar and female voices, interspersed then with some rougher noises and it develops into a sort of Americana piece with screaming accompanying the electric and slide guitar. In this one track, I suppose we get the broad-brush eclecticism I referred to above, and it is certainly different. I like it. We have some gentle psych with a blues infused guitar riff in the wonderfully laid-back Tarde Quente de Inverno (Warm Winter Afternoon). Some of the much shorter pieces simply experiment with noises, and it really shouldn’t work to bring a cohesive whole, but it does. The hand drumming and Latin infused guitar work on Venus is a delight, and the fusion of styles is evident with a more traditional blues guitar appearing in bursts, also evident on the sparser and more experimental Mares & Dunas (Seas & Dunes). The title track has a mournful violin, Latin guitar, and a nice piano segment, and I think this would have benefited from being a bit longer.
It is to be hoped that the talented Mr. Varisco returns to provide more evidence of his talent. I have really enjoyed listening to this smorgasbord of music.
Sophomore album from Pete Trewavas & Eric Blackwood. As can be seen from my review below, I was pretty keen on this - I still am!
Edison's Children burst into the progressive community's consciousness in 2011 with the incredible In The Last Waking Moments. I loved that album, so it was a no-brainer for me to pre-order this when I heard it was being planned.
It is, perhaps, fair to say that that incredible album's main selling point was the inclusion of all of Pete Trewavas' Marillion cohorts, until, that is, people actually listened to it and realised just what a good work it was in its own right.
Trewavas, of course, is also a member of Transatlantic, the exceptionally successful prog supergroup. I love Transatlantic, but, with Edison's Children, I believe that Trewavas excels even that venture, for the simple reason that, with Eric Blackwood, he has found a true musical soulmate, and the pair of them have taken their ideas to music without the confines of a "traditional" band, and the result is a second album which, whilst a natural musical and lyrical successor to its predecessor, takes it to an entirely different level.
The album starts eerily, with chilling Blackwood vocals on Final Breath. Does this signify an end, or merely an ethereal beginning? This moves into Light Years, a natural sequel to much of In The Last Waking Moments. A soul lost, searching, especially in the haunting The Fading, thus setting the scene for the main event, the Silhouette suite, which contains over an hour of epic prog.
The first segment of this introduces us to Henry Rogers (he of DeeExpus and Touchstone fame) on drums, who features in much of the suite, and a welcome addition to the fold he is, too.
For me, one of the great differences on this cd to the first album is the exquisite orchestral programming set by the two, although, as before, it is the guitar work which leads and shines. Para glider, synth, electric, bass, rhythm guitars and Oud blend together, combined with intelligent orchestration and drums, to create a landscape quite unique.
From the start, the whole piece screams atmospheric, creating a dystopian vision unlike any from any other act I know.
It is not, I feel, appropriate to interrogate every single piece of the suite, because it demands listening and appreciating as a whole, rather than as separate track listings.
Another interesting, and very welcome, feature of this work is the inclusion of album artist Wendy Pastore's haunting high vocals, and I, for one, would really like to hear more of her in future releases. The artwork itself, by the way, is stunning, to the point that, in my opinion, merely downloading a digital file would be a crime against art itself. It is utterly beautiful. On Where Were You, which features at its vocal heart a delicious Trewavas triple lead vocal and a plaintive Blackwood "chorus", Wendy creates such an atmosphere. With this, the background news anchor, interviewee, Eric's lead, and the atmospheric soundscapes, this is about the best space rock you will have heard since Floyd were at their peak. Until, that is, you come to Welcome to your Nightmares....
Talking of which, this album, as with the last, cannot be pigeonholed into any particular prog sub-genre. There is too much going on. Some have suggested calling it "Haunting Prog". For me, there is no need for an artificial label, it can merely be called.......Edison's Children. That is enough. Sure, on The Seventh Sign, there is a very knowing, and loving, nod to the bombastic sound of Genesis circa Wind & Wuthering (and Blackwood's lead guitar break on the final part, by the way, is up there with any Hackett effort of that time), alongside spacey, dreamy, heavy, and symphonic prog, but it refuses to be pigeonholed, and therein lies its genius. Take The Longing, which has a subdued, sad vocal passage to begin, but moves effortlessly into a full blown heavy prog track, with Blackwood, especially, cranking up the vocal pressure, and then, we have The Morphlux, which, on first listen, is quirky, but is, in fact, rather scary. What is a Morphlux? I know not, but I do know that these spiritual entities take me back to those golden days of sitting behind the sofa when the scarier monsters on Doctor Who came on, and the music accompanies the nightmare vision perfectly. They come back for more helpings.....gulp.....
As with the first album, it is left to the listener's imagination to garner its meaning. The I Am Haunted section, especially, puts me in mind of a recurring dream/nightmare I have. At my local golf club, there is a stray dog who spends his day following players. He is no trouble whatsoever but does get a little agitated as dusk approaches. My dream has deceased players teeing off to play in the dead of night, when all is silent in the beautiful Welsh countryside, and the dog follows them at night. When they have finished playing, they simply look confused, as if they know they should be elsewhere, before disappearing to return on the following dream. Strange, but true!
I Am Haunted is a pure heavy rock track, but even this pales into heavy insignificance when compared to What Did You Want, a Trewavas dominated track which blows so called prog metal bands into Kingdom come. Hard, pulsating, and damned heavy.
It all builds up to the finale of the final two pieces, especially Music For The End Credits Of An Existence (is this the end?). On the debut album, the services of Marillion were utilised as the album built up to The Awakening. On this, no such assistance is required, because the guitars, programming, and drums of three special musicians unite to create a glorious noise, layered with sound perfectly mixed by John Mitchell. On this, every single eclectic mix of progressive rock music is witnessed. At once symphonic, then heavy, then pastoral, but overall simply beautiful, this is an instrumental track to die for.
And, to close, The Clock Strikes November, with the final nightmare of our hero morphing into a Morphlux, and the promise of a further sequel to his nightmare of time and space.
I can't wait.
This is another amazing piece of work by two very special musicians, and their helpers both musically and at the mixing desk (take a bow Jakko Jaksyzk, John Mitchell, Robin Boult, and Mike Hunter), and I really cannot recommend it highly enough.
It is, by far and away, the album of 2013.
Indispensable, and an absolute must buy for all progressive rock fans. The future direction of quality prog rock is enclosed in this album, it is as simple as that.
STEVEN WILSON - THE RAVEN THAT REFUSED TO SING (AND OTHER STORIES)
There was once an album called The Incident, by a band called Porcupine Tree, a band above all others I regarded as being at the vanguard of the latest wave of quality progressive rock, taking the genre into the new millennium and beyond. It was an album that I loathed, and felt, well, pretty let down. It was derivative, and one long tangled mess, in my opinion. The love affair was beginning to end.
As it happened, this was the last PT album released. I purchased Wilson's Insurgentes, the debut solo release, and found it quite excellent at the time, although, tellingly, it has not been played for a long time. I did not bother with the follow up. The love affair was most certainly at an end.
However, when some pretty respected people rated this album as a masterpiece, with some stating it was the best prog album of the past 40 years, and when more than a couple of friends whose opinions I rate highly, mailed me to insist that I got The Raven........simply because it was awesome, well I could not resist.
I took my time. This album was released in 2013 and made several critic's album of that year. The accolades are well and truly deserved, and, in fact, the only confusion I have over reading the myriad reviews are those questioning Wilson's motivations in making this album. Aside from being sweet nothing to do with us mere hacks, I believe the answer is fairly straightforward. The motive was to make a fantastic album which not only sounded rich, took his band forward, but also took into consideration the number of influences garnered from being deeply involved in remastering classic prog albums, and blending them with the modern rock movement of which Wilson is such an important part of.
Opener Luminol is a track that has those influences right there in your face. It is so Crimson that it even utilises the Mark II Mellotron that belonged to Uncle Bob and cohorts. It is a track that features sumptuous use of said cranky old machine, and delicious flutes, sax, and clarinet from Theo Travis, who would surely have recognised the Fripp influence from his work with the great man. Also, a special mention here to the thumping bass par excellence by Nick Beggs, who excels throughout. Here, surely, is a man who, above all others, has well and truly escaped from his musical beginnings.
Luminol sets the scene for all else that follows. Not in the influences, per se, but in the sheer breathtaking excellence of a group of musicians who lovingly back their leader's vision of a collective of clever, intricate, and sumptuous musical pieces. Take the second track, Drive Home, staggeringly described as boring by another reviewer. Well, if a delicious ballad, featuring wicked guitar lines and sympathetic vocals delivering a song of redemption is boring, then give me boring any day. I regard it as being quite exceptional, a word, by the way, which amply describes the incredible guitar contribution of Guthrie Govan.
Those are the opening delights. I am not going to deconstruct each and every track, because to do so would, I feel, really take away the whole point of this album, a collection of interesting, really rather introspective, and, above all, intelligent songs that demand listening to as a whole, and burying yourself in the wonder of sounds that range from the symphonic, lush, early Crimson period, through to the jazzy, hard fusion of later Crimson, to some of the rather lush melodic PT sounds which drew me to that band in the first instance, and thence to very classy, and pounding, heavier passages. Most of all, though, this is the vision of a unique talent, one Steven Wilson. No two tracks sound alike. Contained within each track are passages which utilise the vision and myriad influences at play, and it is fair to say, make this an album which demands careful listening, and repeated listening which brings its own reward. Naturally, of course, the production is top notch. Simply listening to the beautiful, Mellotron soaked, lush feel of the marvellous The Watchmaker's early instrumental passages on my brand new sound system, and every single note from every single instrument is so crystal clear.
This is an album which should be in the collection of every single reader of this review who considers him or herself to be a progressive rock fan, because this album, quite simply, is the epitome of how this genre should sound in the second decade of the 21st century. A fusion of the best of the old and new, but tellingly unique, and a collective of great individuals at the top of their game.
I love it. A masterpiece. The love affair is back on, with a vengeance.
Now, then. What was the name of that bloody album I really did not like too much.......?
BIG BIG TRAIN - ENGLISH ELECTRIC PART TWO
The follow up to the extremely popular Part One, this has, latterly, been re-released as a double cd, with new tracks, and, perhaps, is probably best listened to as part of a whole, rather than separate to, its predecessor.
I am, though, probably, one of the few who rather prefers this to the first English Electric album. This, I suppose, is because I am a bit of a sucker for exceptionally well produced, and played, melodic progressive rock. Some may call it "commercial" (not a helpful word, because, at the end of the day, all acts want to be commercial, i.e. sell a few copies). I simply call it gorgeous and pastoral, and it has, to me, far more of the feel and structure to it of the exceptionally beautiful The Underfall Yard.
It does not have on it a track of the sublime perfection that is Judas Unrepentant, but, then again, I would struggle to name but a handful of albums in recent years which did. What it does, though, is bring storytelling, in a lush musical environment, to the forefront, and BBT are to be congratulated on this.
Opener, East Coast Racer, and Swan Hunter, especially, carry on the band's fine tradition of addressing social, historical, and, yes, nostalgic issues from an England which simply no longer exists, no matter how much many in rural England, especially, might wish it to be so. The brass and string on East Coast....especially bring that evocative feel to the forefront, and David Longdon is perhaps the only vocalist in the world of bringing such a picture to life, and how well he does it.
Swan Hunter is rather interesting from a personal perspective, because my grandfather worked there before joining the British Army. I am, though, rather surprised that no other reviewer has picked up the fact that, far from being some sort of Genesis influenced clone, this track screams out Crosby, Stills, and Nash in its conception, thoughts, and execution. If this was not written as a tribute to that great trio, then I am so far off the mark as to probably never bother reviewing again. It is, by the way, as lush as it sounds, quite superb.
The whole feel of this album is that of a band that are deeply comfortable in making music that engages the mind and is far more complex in its playing than strikes one in the first few listens, one of the reasons why I have taken an age in reviewing it.
There is not one weak track on this work, and I, for one, really welcome the Hedgerow Revisited wonder that is The Permanent Way. It is the perfect accompaniment to that marvellous track, and both should bookend the whole work. Dorset itself is brought to marvellous life.
I regard this cd as being superior to the first part, which I still find to be too inconsistent to merit a masterpiece rating. This is consistently excellent, the harmonies, lyrics, lead vocals, and musicianship, including the wonderful guest spots, combine to create what is perhaps the finest folk influenced album in many a year. I do not kid any readers of this review when I say that Ian Anderson himself would have struggled to create such a landscape as this in the heady days of Songs From The Wood or Heavy Horses. This is the sound of an English band at the top of its game. Simply listen to the pastoral beauty that is Keeper of Abbeys, and never fail to be moved by the lead guitar solo that bursts onto your consciousness to remind you of folk rock at its best.
After many listens, I believe this trumps the first part, and can only struggle to find any faults. This album brings a sheer joy of life and a beautiful country to your speakers.
MARILLION - BRAVE LIVE DVD
Brave the album was originally issued way back in 1993 and remains to this day a towering work of emotion, imagination, and sheer and utter demanding storytelling, so when the definitive live version was promised by the band in 2013, this was a must buy for me.
You know, one of the strangest, and, indeed, most unfair criticisms of Steve Hogarth as a successor to Fish as lead vocalist is that he somehow lacks the theatricality and showman style of the giant Scot, that somehow he is not quite "prog" (however you define that!). Well, this DVD, recorded live at the Netherlands Marillion Weekend in 2013, should put all such comments and points into the dustbin of oblivion.
This performance drips with emotion. It is a theatrical performance that simply oozes feeling and tells the tragic story of the young lady who threw herself from Bristol Suspension Bridge (based upon an actual incident that H had heard on the radio one day), so much so that, really, by the end, you are exhausted.
From the opening strains of Bridge, to the incredible noise created by Living With The Big Lie, Hogarth ripping the heart from flowers in Runaway, the descent into drug induced horror that has him made up with pigtails and lipstick, to the crushing emotion of Hard As Love, the empty social agency "help" of Hollow Men, the swanking of Paper Lies, right to the shockingly emotional Brave and The Great Escape, with candelabras duly lit and extinguished in honour of the dead girl, this really has it all.
At the close, Hogarth States to the audience that all that preceded was a little bit "bleak", and explains the uplifting tale that is Made Again, which features at its heart representatives of over 200 countries, with their flags, singing along live on stage.
But, unlike the days of yore, this is not only about the lead man, as good as he is, because this band have matured into probably the best live act playing progressive rock in the world. I mean that, they are that good. Trewavas and Moseley form an incredible rhythm section, with drums and bass quite simply thundering all the way through. Mark Kelly's keyboard work is never anything less than incredible, and, of course, we have, in Steven Rothery, a man who not only makes a guitar sing, but makes you cry with joy when you hear the thing.
The performance of Brave is, indeed, the definitive one, as it says on the DVD cover, and, as such, is utterly essential, and a masterpiece.
That, though, is not all. We also get a second disc, with a trip through the band's vast repertoire. It is great to see tracks such as Rich and The Damage get an outing. The former I have only seen live once, on the album tour. The old favourites from the Fish era are Warm Wet Circles and Slainte Mhath, both of which H has really made his own. Elsewhere, we have the staggering Out of this World (the extras also have a film of this), Seasons End, The Space, and the usual crowd pleasers such as Hooks in You and Cover My Eyes. All of these are played with sheer gusto, and you wonder just how this lot manage to do this length of gig three times over the live weekends.
The second disc is merely excellent. So, how to rate it overall? Well, I must say that if you are a fan, this is a must buy, it is indispensable, simple as. If you want to explore the band, or want to go back after an absence, look no further than this. It is wondrous.
Marillion on this show just why they are still in the Premier League of prog rock after more than 30 years of existence now. It is because they can play. It is because they make meaningful music. It is because they have a bond with their fans like no other act.
It comes extremely highly recommended.
FISH - A FEAST OF CONSEQUENCES
A Feast Of Consequences is the first album by the great Big Fellow in six years now, this owing to a combination of well documented personal and health issues. Thankfully, the throat problems that threatened to scupper his career appear to have been sorted out completely, and the only real thing you notice listening to this, as compared to earlier works, is the fact that his range has narrowed somewhat, although this, of course, could equally be due to advancing years. This is most noticeable on Other Side of Me, which is delivered in almost a monotone for much of the track.
Does it render this work a disappointment? Not a bit of it. This is a mature album, showcasing a unique talent, so much so that the disappointment of horrors such as Songs From The Mirror are now all but a distant memory. This is the continuation of a run of form that started with Sunsets on Empire and included the exceptional Raingods With Zippos and the immediate predecessor, the hugely enjoyable 13th Star.
The subject matter is familiar to all those who, like me, have followed Fish from the very early days, this being war, the futility of war, the political issues behind such tragedy, but, of course, never forgetting the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.
The music itself ranges from the thoughtful and subdued, as witnessed by the opening epic Perfume River, to the type of pop/prog which he almost made his own in All Loved Up, and the epic suite, this witnessed by High Wood, a five part musing on the sheer futility of it all. Amongst all of this are two quite sumptuous ballads, my favourite being the astoundingly gorgeous Blind To The Beautiful, a paeon to the heart wrenching loss of faith in life and beauty itself. The lyrical point of the whole work is best represented by the powerful title track.
Another noticeable thing about this album, to me, is just how much better Fish is when he is surrounded by cohorts he trusts and likes in what would, anywhere else, pass as a regular band. Robin Boult returns, very well indeed, on guitar, to join Steve Vantis on bass, Foss Patterson on keys, and the wonderful Gavin Griffiths on drums. Together, this bunch make a tightly knit troupe, and the well-produced album is completed by the extremely powerful backing vocals of Elisabeth Troy Antwi, whose performance on the evocative Great Unravelling is simply brilliant. And we also have a wonderful set of artwork by the legendary Mark Wilkinson. Happy days!
Fish has, here, produced a powerful, and wide ranging, album, one that definitely appeals strongly to old boys such as I, but would, I feel, also be a decent introduction to those reading this review who might want to explore what a good, intelligent, modern rock album, with a range of tone and depth, might sound like. The aforementioned High Wood suite is the best example of how a progressive rock epic should sound, ranging from hush to toe-tapping, tub-thumping rock, from pastoral, Celtic fused folk, to lush keyboard led symphonic sounds. It has it all.
It should also, by the way, really now scotch all the nonsense I still read from those who wish for a return to Marillion. They are doing nicely without him, thank you, and, you know what? So is he without them.
An excellent album, and very strongly recommended.
HAKEN - THE MOUNTAIN
If you haven’t heard this before, forget any preconceptions you might have. This is far more than a simple “heavy prog” album, it is essentially an art rock album, and a damned fine one at that. Very eclectic and very good.
t - PSYCHOANOREXIA
Dense, complex, melancholic, and a damned fine album. To quote the man himself; Art is a bitch, and so is literature – and music. They always present us worlds well out of reach – pipedream kingdoms of epic journeys, heroism, boundless yearning and lots of all the things we are, well, let’s face it, not. Art is, insofar, simply destructive for your everyday middle class John Doe. It makes him long for things he neither really wants or needs: danger, uncertainty, lovesickness, bleeding hearts, je ne sais quoi. – t on anti-matter poetry. The track below, The Irrelevant Lovesong is simply stunning.
RIVERSIDE - SHRINE OF NEW GENERATION SLAVES
A really strong album from the Polish band which resonated very strongly with me given the themes of losing control of life to work and technology. There are strong shades here, understandably, of the Lunatic Soul project. This year’s appearance at Cruise To The Edge makes me hope that we will be getting some new music in addition to the live album in the not too distant future.
COMEDY OF ERRORS - FANFARE & FANTASY
Disappointing fare.
I purchased this early last year, mainly because some of the reviewers I most respected were positively raving about it and compared this Scottish outfit to a certain Mr Dick era Marillion. However, owing to a combination of factors, it found itself after a couple of listens consigned to the cd shelf, not to be heard again until the last week, or so. I picked it up again to remind myself of the reason it went away, unreviewed.
Firstly, let me say I do not really get the Marillion comparison. Indeed, on parts of the (overly) lengthy opener, Fanfare for the Broken Hearted, Joe Cairney reminds me far more of Ian Broudie, he of Lightning Seeds fame, and this is not meant disrespectfully, either. For most of the remainder, the Pendragon influence is so abundant, I had to remind myself that I hadn't put on an old copy of The Jewel or Kowtow by mistake. The opener reminds me as to one of the main reasons this cd was put back on the shelf. It is well played, suitably moody, and bombastic in parts, but awfully formulaic as well.
Something She Said wears its early 70's influences on its sleeves and is noteworthy for Banks-esque keys a la Trespass, but also, and mainly, a rather beautiful lead guitar by Mark Spalding. My interest began to be slightly more piqued by this track, because it did rather take me back to those halcyon days in the 1980's when first hearing Pendragon and IQ.
Indeed, that is really what I take from the remainder of the album. It is most clearly a work of passion, well performed, and well produced, from a band who take as their lead the artists we now call neo-prog, but were, at the time, merely at the vanguard of a prog rock revival. I was there and loved every second of it. What I feel with Comedy of Errors is that they have merely put out better produced stuff, not surprisingly given the 30-year gap, but there is absolutely nothing here which inspires or moves me. It is neo prog by numbers, albeit well filled in numbers. Take The Cause, a track which opens with huge promise lyrically and musically with a heavy hint of Celtic imagination and atmosphere, which, sadly, descends into something that can only be described as the noise of a band trying to out Trespass Trespass. When that passage morphs into a gorgeous lead guitar burst, I really found myself wishing as to what this band would sound like as a truly original outfit, because the nucleus is most certainly there, and this track proves it. Oh well, it took Pendragon a good three albums, I suppose.
Back on the shelf, I am afraid. This is a perfectly good album, which you will find yourself thoroughly enjoying when playing, but a masterpiece? An album which is going to take the genre to ever new heights? No, not a bit of it.
WILLOWGLASS - THE DREAM HARBOUR
The project by the talented multi-instrumentalist from Yorkshire, Andrew Marshall. Whilst it is fair to say that fans of favourites such as Anthony Phillips will find much to enjoy here, it is also the case that this is unique enough to stand out.