Thursday, October 13, 2011

SOARING, MULTI-TEXTURED

ONE OF PROGRESSIVE ROCK'S MAJOR TALENTS is bass guitarist Tony Levin. He has played with such greats as King Crimson and Peter Gabriel. He is a virtuoso who is content to allow his contribution seek its own level depending on the needs of the composition. His own projects are often edgy and musically invigorating, fusing elements of jazz and world music with straight forward progressive rock. Always creative yet rarely stealing the lime light Tony Levin makes a great contribution to the progressive rock catalog with Shadowland. The sample is representative of the basic feel of the song but misses many of the interesting transitions (sample below):


REVIEW
This song begins with some nice synthesized drum rhythms soon joined by vaulting synthesizer chords that spiral upward in a series  minor/major key shifts. At 1:30 we get some very nice bass drumming with a guitar that begins to shread a bit as the tension rises. Lots of electronic noises are scattered throughout as an electric piano begins to take center stage that slowly intertwines with the shredding guitar. An orchestral sounds is blended into the mix at 3 minutes to fade away leaving the drum doing a lopping, slo-mo, micro-drum solo with a more soaring guitar riff completing the song which ends at 4:57 minutes.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

FULL TECHNO

THIS IS ONE OF CRYSTAL METHOD'S BEST TUNES. It is very techno but has enough texture that it should satisfy most progressive fans. A flaw of some electronic music is that it tends to be too repetitious. This tune dodges that bullet by providing a nice contrast between major and minor keys giving a broader emotional experience. The 30 second sample linked below is fairly representative:


REVIEW
This song starts with a synthesized zinger and some piano notes soon joined by a pulsing synthesizer bass melody. At 1:10 an alto synth line emerges and intertwines with driving drums. At 3:15 the more bass oriented synthesizer returns with some bell-like synths accentuating what becomes a complex rhythmical tune. At 3:40 the song slows down but returns to its more driving beat at 4:20. It finishes up in driving-beat mode with a wildly sliding synthesizer fading out at 5:10 to complete silence at 5:35.

MORE POP THAN NORMAL BUT GOOD


THIS IS A VERY NICELY DONE TUNE by an extremely talented band. It isn't progressive, much more of a pop tune than I usually like, but has been on my play list for a long time and I haven't gotten tired of it. The female vocal is emotional without being sentimental and the lyrics are unobtrusive. It is 3 minutes 20 seconds but I could easily listen to this song for many more verses. What you hear on the 30 second preview is very representative of the entire song.



REVIEW
This song begins with some beautiful, floating piano chords. The female vocal soon enters adding a dreamlike quality. Her voice reminds me somewhat of the singer for 10,000 Maniacs, except I like this woman's voice better. She has the ability to hit those breathy high notes yet can effortlessly reach down deep for the occasional low note. The song has some subtle touches like distant attack-delayed guitar notes. About midway another guitar joins the melody with some soft, relaxing, mandolin-like picking. The lyrics are poetic, unobtrusive, and fit the piece nicely. The music slowly fades away revealing some subtle synthesizer you never noticed was there.

Copyright Brad Teare © 2011

POP PROGRESSIVE

THIS ONE IS GOING TO BE TOO POP for many but it still has a nice progressive vibe (with those great cellos coming in around 3 minutes) and I love the rhythms interspersed with really great vocal and instrumental (like the piano work at 2:30 minutes). To top it all off the drums come in strong at the end.


REVIEW
This song starts with some background percussion, without cymbals, soon joined by piano and more drums and vocal at 30 seconds with full kit coming in at 50 seconds. Some strings enter with moody backup vocals. The cell (or possibly viola) continues to climax as more vocals enter. At 1:25 the song quiets to build again slowly with the drums continuing to hammer out a solid foundation. At 2:20 some nice piano triplets float over the basic harmony turning the song over to the drums and vocals at 2:50 with a slightly hollow but cool vibe. At 3:30 we get some sound effects of a conductor tapping on a podium with a choir joining and doing a short a cappella version of the song (which lasts for 25 seconds). Its a bit of a quirky end to an otherwise fantastic song. I found myself wishing the last twenty seconds was its own song so I could take it out of my iTunes playlist if desired.

THE FISH

I MAKE AN EXCEPTION TO MY NO CLASSICS RULE with the inclusion of this tune. I do so because Chris Squire has brought new life into this rendition of an oldie from the Fragile album fused with On the Silent wings of Freedom from the album Tormato. As noted in the review I dislike the ending series of notes that really mar this otherwise invigorating tune. But I am sure he had his reasons for including it.


REVIEW
This is a live version so the intro has the usual hooting, whistling, and cheers. I assume the first repetitive chromatic notes are being played by Steve Howe (played by Squire on the album). Chris Squire's performance in this song is fantastic and a great example of what he can do with a bass guitar. There is minimal drumming and I do miss Bill Bruford whose work is more organic and less mechanical but the percussion is in the background and not too intrusive. At 3 minutes Squire really gets cooking and he really loves twanging that Rickenbacher. At four minutes he begins a new medley of bass-centric tunes from other albums, this is punctuated by some semi-drum solo licks nicely done. One of the tunes is the bass solo from Tormato (I forget the name) but it is a great performance (with some nice double bass foot work in one case). The song continues to crescendo finishing up with some rapid finger work by Squire. Unfortunately it ends with his incessant, repetitive note-distorting thumping at 8 minutes. I could really do without those nerve-rattling 40 notes. Highly irritating. However it ends reprising The Fish with most of the band joining in the last minute.

BEST BATMAN THEME

I ENJOY A MOVIE SOUNDTRACK ONCE IN AWHILE and this is one of the best I have heard lately. It isn't overwhelming yet doesn't sit in the background, creating a hollow void, like some ambient music. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard have created a solid, full, and completely entertaining musical journey.


REVIEW
This is a subtle addition to the collection of Batman musical scores. It has very dramatic parts but is not as memorable in some ways as other Batman Themes (Danny Elfman's comes to mind). But it has plenty of raw, unfettered drama. There are some really nice crescendos/decrescendos which makes for a lot of variety as well. Overall it is a highly textured piece with a solid backbone of drumming, overlapped by rhythmical string adagios. There are some very nice horns that amplify the strings. A series of great zingers at 4 minutes to 4.5 minutes is a great cinematic conclusion to the piece that ends at 5 minutes.

SAD BUT BEAUTIFUL

IF YOU HAVE A WEAKNESS FOR MELANCHOLY TUNES buy this tune immediately. It is not only slow and powerful it has lyrics to match, being slightly mysterious but suggesting you can feel what is being communicated more than consciously understanding. A perfect tune for a rainy day by the fireplace.


REVIEW
This song starts with some very melancholy piano soon joined by a plaintive, but completely complimentary vocal. The lyrics are mysterious but appropriate for the mood of the piece. It is a very minimal tune with some flute and strings joining in at around 2 minutes. Very non-intrusive bells join in at 2 minutes 15 seconds. This is a simple but powerfully moody and evocative song that I loved the first time I heard it.