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: : Progressive Rock Covers : :
Progressive Rock
Covers is a sampler issued by Musea Records, where various artists cover
versions of more or less well known progressive related songs that has
been lifted from previously released albums from these artists issued by
Musea. In addition, one track has been recorded especially for this
album - the last track by Thierry Crusem.
For those unfamiliar with Musea records, they are a French based record
company that has existed for 20 years now, releasing lots of prog music
on a non-profit basis; where a large group of volunteers and, for some
years, a handful of employees has seen to it that prog music has been
available.
Musical styles on this album are plentiful; as this is a sampler. But
the keyword here is retro; old tracks given the runaround seldom makes
for modern sounding music. So this release is aimed towards listeners
fond of the sound of yesteryear.
Reviewing a release like this is not easy by far. Some like cover
versions of tracks to be as identical to the original as possible,
others like them to be vastly different from the original. And most
people compare any cover to the original and make their judgment that
way.
Personally I don't
belong to any of these schools; I prefer to listen to the songs and find
out if they are good or not on their own terms. And how I see this album
is based on those premises.
Lowdown on this sampler - in my opinion of course - is as follows:
: The Brilliant
Blue Shift -
Immigrant Song. Floating synths, some carefully inserted electronic
effects and intense 70's hard rock riffing and rhythms makes this a
standout track.
: The Very Good
Quidam - Child in
Time. Live version with female vocals, floating synths, flute solo and
guitar solo. Starting out mellow and ending up as an epic track, without
ever being close to hard rock. Original and entertaining.
Halloween - House
with No Door. Female vocals and piano in a live setting, emotional vocal
performance and well played piano creates a vital and emotional ballad.
Now - Kashmir.
Floating synths, controlled vocals and crisp undistorted electric
guitars are the main elements of this song, as well as sections with
multi-layered vocals. Controlled and refined; but at 14 minutes plus a
bit too long.
Dificil Equilibrio
- Dynamite. Fast, frenzied and totally spaced out, with repeated shouted
lyrics, sax riffs, synths and guitars hitting hyperspace in a
psychedelic explosion. Intriguing.
Visible Wind -
Strange Days. Dark male vocals and echoing guitars creates a haunting
mood, good riffing in the chorus before switching to garage rock for the
instrumental middle parts. Interesting.
: The nice
Pangea - Time.
Starts off with modern cold synths and metal-inspired riffing in the
background, before switching over to 70's prog-rock guitars with ok
vocals and a modern sounding floating synth in background. Nice tune,
but makes no great impact.
Ars Nova - Bird's
Medley. Bombastic and epic sounding synth barrage as ELP and others
specialized in 3 decades ago. Well played and performed, ok tune.
London Underground
- Travelling Lady. Weezy hammond and flute central in this track.
Rhythms are simplistic, vocals slightly distorted, and a long hammond
solo followed by a saxophone sole dominates the track. Nice.
Thierry Crusem -
Exile: Punk-inspired riffing, hammond organ, rumbling bass guitar and
good soulful vocals. Sounds better than you could expect, but not good
enough to really make you take notice.
: The bad
Gerard - Toccata.
Bombastic driving rock with a modern tinge to guitars as well as
instruments. Lots of soloing gets tedious though, especially the longer
drum workouts. Not my cup of tea.
: The awful
Twenty-Four Hours
- Darkness 11/11. Whatever this band is trying to do is killed by
extremely sharp drums being placed way too far up in the mix here.
Listening through this track is hard; I got a good headache after this
one. For specially interested only.----
All in all a
rather nice album; probably most of interest to people appreciating
cover versions to sound a bit different from the originals. The album is
available for a bargain price; which is a good thing for anyone
interested in purchasing this release.
Rating: 7 (out of
10)
Reviewer: Olav Björnsen
: : Visit the Artist’s
Website :
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: : Discography : :
Numerous titles each year - too many to list here
(Review also being shared at www.progressiveears.com) |
