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December
27, 2002 12:00 p.m. By S. T. Karnick |
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o a person who thinks that music should be beautiful as well as
meaningful, the past couple of years have brought a good deal of hope,
especially in the realm of popular music. As
I've noted, the music industry tended to shun melody — and both sonic
and lyrical beauty — during most of the 1990s. Melody and intelligence
were often shoved to the back of the line in favor of rhythm and expressions
of passion.
The emotions the music evoked, moreover, were by no means lofty ones, as a rule. Instead, the music and lyrics commonly evoked primal passions such as anger, lust, and the will to power among rappers, and mournfulness and yearning among the adult contemporary set, with the grunge acts and Lilith singer-songwriters madly alternating between spleen and melancholy. Of course, some artists did make good music both within and outside these styles, but on the whole the 1990s were, from a point of view that places beauty among the top aesthetic considerations, the only truly depressing and largely uncreative decade in American music during the past century.
It was only to be expected, of course, that such dreary stuff would pall soon enough, and it did exactly that. As a consequence, in the past half-decade melody and beauty have become increasingly apparent in English and American popular music. Popular bands such as Barenaked Ladies, Green Day, and Dave Matthews showed that audiences were eager for music that tried a little harder to please while not stinting on either rhythm or passion. Above all, melody made a comeback.
The year 2002 continued that trend and solidified it. Strong new releases from critical and audience favorites such as Moby (18), Weezer (Maladroit), and Wilco (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) showed that intelligence and artistic passion can coexist and create popular works of serious beauty. In addition, numerous performers of previous artistic generations seemed rejuvenated. Mick Jagger's Goddess in the Doorway was by no means nearly as strong musically as the average Rolling Stones album — or even a below-average one — but the lyrics showed a maturity, intelligence, and open spirituality that make the disc a worthy if rather offbeat addition to one's Stones collection.
Bryan Ferry's Frantic reviewed the many musical styles he has employed during his three-decade career, and was his strongest album in two decades. In Heathen, David Bowie combined his pop and avant garde sides in a critical, musically impressive tour of the modern world. Tom Waits released two of his best albums. In Alice, he set romantic, tender lyrics against rather melancholy music, whereas in Blood Money he ironically contrasted bleak, depressing lyrics with somewhat more-upbeat tunes. ELO cofounder Jeff Lynne finished George Harrison's posthumous album, Brainwashed, with evident loving care, and the result is one of Harrison's best releases. With When I Was Cruel, Elvis Costello returned to the form and style of his classic late'70s releases, creating a powerful album that was angry, witty, and musically direct. In former King's X guitarist Ty Tabor's second solo album, Safety, the composer largely puts his heavy-metal past behind him and lets his Beatle influences come fully to the fore, showing more clearly than ever that he is a terrific composer with a bounty of catchy melodies at his command.
Although Tabor has left for poppier pastures, there is much interesting ferment today in the metal realm. Certainly the older styles — speed metal, death metal, and the like — are still around and, to my mind, still boring and infantile; but the positive influence of progressive metal is spreading. Two progressive-metal albums tied for my pick for Metal Album of the Year. Symphony X's Odyssey, with its musical complexity, thoughtful lyrics, and 20-minute-plus title song, is one of the most impressive metal releases in years. The Metal Opera, Part II, by Avantasia, an all-star band led by Edguy vocalist Tobias Sammet, is equally dazzling. Ten vocalists, led by Sammet, play different parts in this continuation of the lead singer's metal opera, the lyrics of which seem to have been influenced by Orpheus and Euridice, The Lord of the Rings, Wagner's operas, and, above all, the Bible.
The instrumental album of the year is a relatively easy choice: CG3+2, by the California Guitar Trio with Tony Levin and Pat Mastoletto. The disc has unusual, captivating rhythms from King Crimson's drummer and erstwhile bass player, great attention to melody, complex interplay among the instruments, and huge guitar virtuosity. Honorable Mention goes to the Chicago-area band Fluid Time, with its two live albums of excellent modern jazz fusion suffused with progressive-rock influences, For the First Time and Served Hot Live. Yes guitarist Steve Howe's Skyline amply showcases his mind-boggling skill on the guitar but is occasionally a little too mellow and New Agey for my tastes, though those looking for creative, genial, but slightly less challenging instrumental music will find it very appealing.
The Debut Album of the Year is The Cold Light of Darkness, in which the English band Tr3nity tells a downbeat tale of a girl being brought up in a family marred by parental drug abuse. The band refuse to let this become depressing, however, providing inventive, complex music reminiscent of 1970s Pink Floyd, though with rather more acoustic passages which give the album a pleasing amount of musical variety and musically evoke a better, more pastoral world that this child may someday hope to reach. Chris Campbell's vocals are expressive without ever becoming over-dramatic, and Rob Davenport's guitars and Paul Gath's keyboards are superb. Although it deals with an ugly subject, this is a lovely album.
The runner-up Debut Album of the Year is a real dark horse. Tales of Power, by Arabesque, a progressive-rock group from a working-class suburb in Pennsylvania, was recorded 29 years ago but never released until this year. It was well worth the wait. The complex musical arrangements combine Anglo-style progressive rock with Canterbury-style English-jazz fusion and traces of psychedelia, and the album consists of seven ambitious and successful compositions. Budd Kelly's lead vocals are powerful and moving, and the band shows real instrumental virtuosity, especially in Kelly's keyboards and Tom Ketterer's bass. The recording quality is not as good as in most current releases, but the music more than makes up for that.
Nearly as good, and also earning highly Honorable Mention, is Book of Dreams, the initial release by the Italian progressive band Mangala Vallis. It is a concept album based on the works of Jules Verne. The songs are long and alternate skillfully between acoustic and electric passages. The sound is a little too reminiscent of Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, but done excellently. The band shows great potential and needs only to develop a more distinctive style, which seems very likely to happen. The American band Farpoint has created a similarly promising album in First Light. The songs are in the progressive rock mold with strong American folk elements, an unusual combination given that the folk tradition evident in most progressive rock is English. The band has a terrific female vocalist, but unfortunately she is matched with a less-effective male singer, a deep baritone that simply doesn't fit with the elegant, nuanced style of music the band plays.
The year's Best Concert Album is Pendragon's Acoustically Challenged. Pendragon is one of the top progressive bands of the past decade but is nearly unknown in America. For this album, the band stripped its sound down to just two guitars and a set of keyboards, for a Polish TV audience. The austere arrangements show the importance of the band's strong melodies and lyrical concepts. Honorable Mention goes to Kansas for Device Voice Drum. Nearly three decades after the band's debut, Kansas has numerous admirable songs in its repertoire, and the musicians have always been highly skilled and inventive. Former band member Kerry Livgren's thoughtful lyrics are a nice bonus, and lead singer Steve Walsh's voice is better than at any time since the group's 1970s heyday. All of that makes for a terrifically entertaining and sometimes moving concert, which was released both on CD and DVD and is well worth having in either form.
In the progressive rock world, there was a huge amount of excellent music released in the past year. This musical style really appears to be ascendant right now. I can recommend many albums in this category, among which are the following, roughly in ascending order of quality — but note that even the first-named among these are splendid albums with much to offer the discriminating listener.
Magellan's Hundred Year Flood is a moving concept album dealing with the death of lead singer Trent Gardner's older brother, who was killed in the Vietnam War. Raising the Mammoth, by another Trent Gardner band, Explorers Club, is a delightful return to 1970s progressive rock in all its gargantuan glory. Karnataka's Delicate Flame of Desire is a lovely album matching lustrous female vocals with masterful, folk-influenced progressive rock. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, the latest from Dream Theater, is an ambitious double-album set that, although not as good as its classic predecessor Scenes from a Memory: Metropolis, Part 2, successfully combines serious lyrics and intense, complex, progressive-metal music.
In Porcupine Tree's In Absentia, Pink Floyd meets Radiohead and Metallica. That may sound like a recipe for a mess, but singer and lyricist Steve Wilson's compositions and the band's instrumental skill make it work. Less overtly progressive than some of PT's earlier albums, it is probably their best work to date. The band opened for Yes on its recent tour, and In Absentia was released on a major label (Lava/Atlantic), all of which suggests that PT may be the first band in many years to break out of the progressive-rock ghetto into the mainstream.
Architect of Light, by the English group Elegant Simplicity, is a concept album (about God, no less) in which multi-instrumentalist Steven McCabe unrolls an astonishing variety of sounds and melodies and weaves them into long and complex songs that continually surprise and delight. In "A Crack in the Ice," for example, McCabe moves from a charming, medieval-styled passage combining flute and a vibes-like keyboard, over to a folksy vocal section, classical-style keyboards, spoken-word background sounds reminiscent of Pink Floyd, a blues-influenced guitar solo, and an enchanting synthesizer solo, all with equal skill.
King Crimson's new EP, Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With, is a release to be quite happy with. Recalling the band's past glories while breaking new ground in just over a half-hour, the disc is a worthy addition to the band's repertoire. I Move, by the New York band Izz, is as progressive as King Crimson and nearly as peppy as Barenaked Ladies, with serious, mature lyrics. It's a perfect blend of pop-music buoyancy and progressive intelligence.
In creating The Hound of the Baskervilles, based on Arthur Conan Doyle's famous Sherlock Holmes novel, keyboardists Clive Nolan and Oliver Wakeman collaborated with an impressive roster of guests. Former Yes and Flash guitarist Peter Banks, Pendragon bassist Peter Gee, Ayreon guitarist Arjen Lucassen, and vocalists Michelle Young, Tracy Hitchings, and Bob Catley all contributed, and the album is narrated by English actor Robert Powell. The music and lyrics both masterfully convey the sinister, ominous atmosphere that suffuses the book, but without ever becoming oppressive or depressing. Quite the contrary, in fact: just as in the book there is always the sense that Holmes will bring order in the end, Nolan's and Wakeman's music imposes order on the highly emotional story line. It's just a delight to listen to, and like all of the following records, well deserves Honorable Mention in the Album of the Year category.
Pain of Salvation's Remedy Lane is the fourth album from the Swedish band led by singer Daniel Gildenlöw, one of the best vocalists performing today. It is a concept album that seems to be saying something positive about personal problems and religious faith, but without being at all obvious or preachy. As with the band's previous albums but more so, the musical style ranges from powerful metal to delicate acoustic passages displaying strong medieval influences, all composed and played with impressive confidence.
Two of today's most popular progressive bands released new two-disc albums this year, and they are both ambitious recordings that one can imagine listening to for many years to come. The Flower Kings Unfold the Future, which I reviewed recently Snow, which I reviewed earlier here, is a highly ambitious concept album that is by turns dramatic, catchy, spiritual, and profound, and sometimes all of these simultaneously. As I noted in my review, it is art.
Like Spock's Beard, the Pennsylvania-based band Echolyn has been releasing progressive rock albums since the early 1990s. The band's latest, Mei, is a single song of nearly fifty minutes' duration, but it never becomes dull. The band, known for its frequent use of odd time signatures, exotic chords, and difficult vocal melodies, injects so much variety into the composition, while tying the various strands together so skillfully, that it all works somehow. The band describes the album as "a combination of Jack Kerouac's On the Road and Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy," and as a pilgrim's journey, a song of redemption, and a love song. Judging by the lyrics (which are not in the CD jacket but are posted on the band's website), that seems a pretty accurate description, though as always with this band the lyrics are rather elliptical, requiring the curious to dig a little in order to gain a full understanding. This album challenges the listener, but repays accordingly.
My choice for Album of the Year is Lex Rex, by the Tennessee progressive-rock band Glass Hammer, which I reviewed recently here. A concept album telling the story of the Roman centurion whose spear pierced Christ's side on the cross, Lex Rex has all of Glass Hammer's great virtues in one neat package. It combines a strong, moving story with redemption as a central theme; interesting, complex, compositions; extraordinary musicianship; and a large dose of Chesterton-like good cheer. Lex Rex is a mature, intelligent album that seems destined to stand the test of time. It well deserves the honor of being named Album of the Year.
— S. T. Karnick is editor in chief of American Outlook magazine, published by the Hudson Institute.