RickyG
03-19-2006, 10:33 PM
I recently got a copy of the new album by ADVENT, "Cantus Firmus". I'm posting a review of it here in the MEMBER'S MUSIC forum, though it's not exactly "Member's Music"..... to be exact we would have to start a forum called "Spouses of Member's Music" as ADVENT is the band of Roan Lady's husband Alan. I don't think anyone will object since this is music that I believe many YES/Progressive music fans will be highly interested in.
So here's my comments:
First off I love the way it starts out sounding like a Gentle Giant album with a wonderful well written "On Reflection" influenced acapella multi-vocal prelude!! After that, without breaking it down into a song by song review, I'd rather just say that it is very impressive how they so smoothly and adeptly incorporate so many classic progressive rock influences: Gentle Giant, Hatfield & The North, Gryphon (yes, Gryphon!), Caravan, Genesis (both 70's & 80's era sounds), Anthony Phillips, National Health, plus a few etcetera's that I can't think of at the moment. Often all in the same song!! The lead singer is often very reminiscent in vocal tone and style of Richard Sinclair.
At times soaring at times intimate, other times complex and contrapuntal, and other times spare and simple. Really well written and well produced and performed. Mature accomplished music. I don't hear it as music that chart's new territory necessarily, but music that explores classic realms in respect and tribute to the forms and the formers. Music that wears it's influences proudly while maintaining it's originality of melody and arrangement.
I particularly enjoy Alan's beautiful acoustic/electric multi-guitar instrumental, "Remembering When", for the duration of it's four minutes, but am ever so slightly disappointed when it fades out, leaving me feeling there was more of the arrangement to be explored. Not dissapointed in the music by any means, just feeling maybe they cut themselves a bit short on a great piece.
The music then kicks into a Gryphon/Giant baroque-prog themed piece called "Ramblin' Sailor". An 18 minute opus somewhere in the Gryphon "Midnight Mushrumps/Raindance" & Giant "Last Voyage/Talybont" sector of the musical universe.
Ten pieces of music total, eight album cuts plus two bonus tracks, so there's plenty I haven't mentioned specifically. Definitely an album I'd highly recommend for fans of the kind of music I referenced.
The only occasional lull in the proceedings is that sometimes the music slows down a bit too often for my tastes. I like slow tempo and intimate moments for sure and this album has some beautiful ones, but there are times when they seem to be building up toward something then take it back down before getting where I wanted them to go! So it's that balance of energy and motion - which I can relate to as a creator of albums - that can be an elusive thing to get completely right all the time. Other ears/minds will hear it differently no doubt. And to be completely honest, except for YES, GONG and occasionally Gentle Giant, I rarely listen to the "classics" anymore, so this album is a revisiting of concepts and styles from another time in my life, and maybe if I was more often in that state of musical mind I would be more completely with the intended flow of it. But again, this is new music, it is inventive, fresh, melodic and extremely well played and arranged. Well worth looking into....
Visit their website here for more info: ADVENT. (http://www.adventmusic.net/home.html)
So here's my comments:
First off I love the way it starts out sounding like a Gentle Giant album with a wonderful well written "On Reflection" influenced acapella multi-vocal prelude!! After that, without breaking it down into a song by song review, I'd rather just say that it is very impressive how they so smoothly and adeptly incorporate so many classic progressive rock influences: Gentle Giant, Hatfield & The North, Gryphon (yes, Gryphon!), Caravan, Genesis (both 70's & 80's era sounds), Anthony Phillips, National Health, plus a few etcetera's that I can't think of at the moment. Often all in the same song!! The lead singer is often very reminiscent in vocal tone and style of Richard Sinclair.
At times soaring at times intimate, other times complex and contrapuntal, and other times spare and simple. Really well written and well produced and performed. Mature accomplished music. I don't hear it as music that chart's new territory necessarily, but music that explores classic realms in respect and tribute to the forms and the formers. Music that wears it's influences proudly while maintaining it's originality of melody and arrangement.
I particularly enjoy Alan's beautiful acoustic/electric multi-guitar instrumental, "Remembering When", for the duration of it's four minutes, but am ever so slightly disappointed when it fades out, leaving me feeling there was more of the arrangement to be explored. Not dissapointed in the music by any means, just feeling maybe they cut themselves a bit short on a great piece.
The music then kicks into a Gryphon/Giant baroque-prog themed piece called "Ramblin' Sailor". An 18 minute opus somewhere in the Gryphon "Midnight Mushrumps/Raindance" & Giant "Last Voyage/Talybont" sector of the musical universe.
Ten pieces of music total, eight album cuts plus two bonus tracks, so there's plenty I haven't mentioned specifically. Definitely an album I'd highly recommend for fans of the kind of music I referenced.
The only occasional lull in the proceedings is that sometimes the music slows down a bit too often for my tastes. I like slow tempo and intimate moments for sure and this album has some beautiful ones, but there are times when they seem to be building up toward something then take it back down before getting where I wanted them to go! So it's that balance of energy and motion - which I can relate to as a creator of albums - that can be an elusive thing to get completely right all the time. Other ears/minds will hear it differently no doubt. And to be completely honest, except for YES, GONG and occasionally Gentle Giant, I rarely listen to the "classics" anymore, so this album is a revisiting of concepts and styles from another time in my life, and maybe if I was more often in that state of musical mind I would be more completely with the intended flow of it. But again, this is new music, it is inventive, fresh, melodic and extremely well played and arranged. Well worth looking into....
Visit their website here for more info: ADVENT. (http://www.adventmusic.net/home.html)