Metamorphosis

Nobody Cares (Suisa/Galileo) - 2003

The drums, while rhythmically natural, still sound artificial and tinny. The production leaves much to be desired and the cover art is disconcertingly homemade. And yet something kept bringing me back to “Nobody Cares”, the second release from Metamorphosis. The music falls somewhere between Pink Floyd and “Ammonia Avenue” period Alan Parsons Project, with wide and uncluttered soundscapes (sometimes uncluttered to a fault). Lead singer, keyboard and drum programmer Jean-Pierre Schenk’s voice sharply recalls Richard Wright and guitarists Giova Esposito and David Grillon work the solos very much as David Gilmour or Ian Bairnson would, but make no mistake. This is not a tribute band.

Songs like “Home Again” and the piano-driven, hypnotic “Silence” break through all the shortcomings and even show a level of do it yourself charm that is usually bled out of more overproduced fare. Yes, the opening “Looking For Somewhere” has a middle portion begging for either a solo or some editing, but look past that stuff and you’ll find the modern equivalent of a classic rock disc, full of excellent playing and darn-near-addictive tunes.

But JP, next time… You need a better graphic designer. Seriously, contact me. I’ll do one up nicely for free!

Mostly Autumn
Live At The Grand Opera House (Classic Rock Legends) - May 25, 2004

I wish I had a SACD player. The British group Mostly Autumn present their homecoming concert on this hybrid release, mostly with material from their excellent studio disc “Passengers”. While often cited as very Floydian (What’s going on, Dunphy? A theme review column?) Mostly Autumn strikes me more for the Celtic influences that pop in here and there, the strings, the uilleann pipes and whistles, Angela Goldthorpe’s flute and recorder (making Ian Anderson smile, no doubt) and Heather Findlay’s evocative voice. Sharing the spotlight with her, Bryan Josh has a strong, solid voice and he plays the hell out of his guitars.

Really my only reservation about this live recording is the cover of “Comfortably Numb”. It just doesn’t work so well beyond the classic Wall-era Floyd line-up, as I even have my beef with David Gilmour’s subsequent reiterations. But aside from that very subjective opinion, Mostly Autumn plays rock and lovely with equal skill and that’s why I wish I had a SACD player. It’s not often that I feel a live recording really needs the immersion qualities of multi-channel sound but as great as the two-channel sounds are, I still felt like I was cheating myself out of a richer listening environment.

Recommended for all but certainly recommended for those not as technologically challenged as I. Let me know how it sounds and make me jealous.

www.mostly-autumn.com

Chain
Reconstruct (Progrock) - 2004

Designed as a sort of tribute to wildly imaginative author Douglas Adams, a specific literary voice the world is poorer for having lost so soon, Chain misses an essential point in the public attraction to Adams ’ work.  Sure, he was insightful and, sure, he could incite riotous thoughts but he did so with a space-cow launched by a cannon with the motto “satire” spraypainted on its belly.

The band, with excellent musicians all around and specifically the writing team of singer Matt Cash and guitarist Henning Pauly, can rock pretty hard and confidently. They can also noodle in a skilled, jam-band manner… But theirs is not satirical at all and the inclusion of Adams , quotes sampled from his “Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy” audiobooks, adds an incongruous flavor to the mix.

I can’t put my finger on what approach would have been better – no samples to throw off the listening mood or kept samples with a lighter, less maestro-like musical bent, but what do I know? You might find these two tastes taste great together, but I found it more satisfying when the chocolate and the peanut butter were separated. Three stars for both being good stuff, though.

Keeping with the theme, Douglas Adams was himself an accomplished guitarist and was thanked in the liner notes of Pink Floyd’s “The Division Bell”.

Chain

Fearful Symmetry

A Loss of Balance (Serpent Media) - 2004

This one is tough, and I was on the brink of avoiding it altogether for two important reasons.

The first is that it is MusicTAP’s general policy to not run negative reviews. Why fill your time online with a rumination of something that we didn’t warm to? We stick with what we’ve liked and, occasionally from the outside, things tend to look like we love every thing we listen to. It’s not true. Sadly, I’m about to prove that.

The second thing is that Fearful Symmetry is the new project fronted by former Deliverance singer/songwriter Jimmy P. Brown, a guy I have great respect for. He’s known for backing up some seriously tough riffs and foreboding sounds with lyrical truth and, often, a tenderness that was anathema to his peers. It’s that tenderness that is missing from “A Loss Of Balance”, a cold disc of songs driven exclusively by keyboards, extremely cryptic lyrics and a noticeable lack of strong, memorable melodies. The closest relationship would be to Gary Numan’s most recent stuff on the Cleopatra label, working a techno-goth angle with emphasis on the chill factor.

This is all acceptable if it is going somewhere, but I can’t find the through line, not even with the cover of the Psychedelic Furs’ “Love My Way”. One of the things I always look for in any disc I review is that one song that demands to be replayed, the tune that welcomes me back and suggests I try the whole thing out again. I can’t find that tune on “A Loss Of Balance”. In fact, the overarching statement I got from it was, “Get out. You are unwelcome here.” And as a fan of Brown’s work, it kind of hurt that his music would alienate me as completely as it did.

I really don’t have any clever summation here. If this kind of sound seems right up your alley, give it a try and that’s as much as I’m going to say right now.

Scorpions

Unbreakable (Sanctuary) - June 22, 2004

When I review discs from bands that were big in certain musical periods, I usually throw in the caveat that “if you are not a fan of this type of music, you may not dig this comeback”. I’ve said it for various genres of music but there are few that have so drastically changed their m.o. than hard rock/metal.

Think back, if you would, at some of the biggest of the 80s: AC/DC was the personification of blues-based self-destruction, Judas Priest and Ozzy dabbled with the dark side and Def Leppard skirted that demarcation between rock and pop (“Photograph” is a master class in power pop), but Scorpions were all about hedonism. Their songs reveled in lust and drink and having a good, hot time at any cost and it worked. But that’s 22 years since their heaviest offering, “Blackout” (Oh Lord, how old I feel!). Does that schtick still work in the new millennium?

Luckily, we don’t have to find out, because the Scorpions found on “Unbreakable” are a little older but much wiser. Yeah, they still like to party a bit, but songs like “New Generation”, “Love ‘Em Or Leave ‘Em” and “Through My Eyes” are perfectly willing to work without pretending they’re products of a passed time. Specifically, “New Generation” hands the torch off with lyrics like “Here’s come the new generation, you are the only ones who can make the change”. Occasionally they miss the mark, specifically with the song “Maybe I Maybe You” that just didn’t do much for me, but mostly they acquit themselves well. Rudolph Schenker still is an underrated guitarist and time hasn’t diminished Klaus Meine’s distinctive voice.

Is this the model of modern hard rock or metal? Honestly, I don’t see the tattooed and pierced youth of America suddenly embracing Scorpions as their own all over again. However, I do think that they wouldn’t mind listening if it happens to be on. And I think the longtime fans will appreciate the band’s growth rather than the stereotypical picture of a thirty year old band pretending they’re still in the teens.

www.the-scorpions.com