ΔΙΣΚΟΚΡΙΤΙΚΗ

REDEMPTION - "SNOWFALL ON JUDGMENT DAY"
by George Georgiou (song292@yahoo.gr)




Los Angeles progsters Redemption release their third full length album "Snowfall On Judgment Day", flowing in the stream of their increasing fame. Standing in a musical field that crosses every new second with a view to become more familiar and predictable, Redemption carry the heaviest and most exact weapons they can handle. Based on a deep production with separate corridors for the limits of their instruments, they end to an almost perfect balance so the ebbs and flows of their songs have a natural flow. Frontman Ray Alder (Fates Warning vocalist) finds new paths according to the age of his voice with no lack of the sentiment we were used to sniff from him. "Snowfall On Judgment Day" is a technical journey of songs dealing with personal relationships, inner dilemmas and emotional struggles, and Alder's voice knows all these familiar steps to turn the final result into a sentimental footprint strong enough to last for long.
Tracks like "Black and white world" and "Love kills us all/Life in one day" build that kind of epic emotion larger than life, that kind of cinematic impression that finally pushes you to chase the best out of life. James La Brie on guest vocals in "Another day dies" adds another valuable card for every devoted prog-fan or DreamTheater follower but the song mostly melts into indifference. Redemption's skill for catchy tunes shines impressively in tracks like "Walls" or "Peel" when every single trick of technical orchestration gently obeys to the purpose of melody itself... And this is in fact the bridge between Redemption's two basic influences, the detailed, mechanical orgasm of DreamTheater's playing and the melancholic weight of memories from mates Fates Warning soundscapes.
So, here they are, placed in the limited area of ourdays choices and it looks like they have almost made up their minds to give their own survival fight having all the necessary accessories of modern extreme exact playing but above all the importance of melody itself. Only time will tell if they will gain fame and commercial success like top sellers DreamTheater or stand just respected in their own private circle like gigantic Fates Warning...

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PREFAB SPROUT: "LET' s CHANGE THE WORLD WITH MUSIC"
by George Georgiou (song292@yahoo.gr)




Life always used to be cruel... or as Paddy would probably say 'DNA or GOD always used to be cruel...' But to be honest, even a generous, patient, unknown god in a distant solar system would be jealous of an ambitious young singer-songwriter with a special bittersweet muse, helping him fly eccentrically over the cheap boredom of cursed human nature. Paddy's blessed blasphemy and healthy cynicism led to some of the most unusual pop anthems of the 80's. Who else would dare to write a well crafted pop song for chess champion Bobby Fisher, or name a nostalgic train of thoughts with the title "I never play basketball now" in his first long play attempt? PREFAB SPROUT were for the charts an attractive pop band with the Midas touch, but Paddy Mc Aloon had always been for his faithful followers a Fred Astaire of words... Offering masterpieces like "Steve Mc Queen" or "Jordan:The Comeback", but also excellent noiseless wagons of melodies, worshiping golden details of the unimportance or poetic shadows of human weakness like "Protest Songs", Paddy was born guifted to heal the ugly corners of life. But DNA or GOD could never forgive his lustful haughtiness for life especially after the triumph of "Jordan..." The merciless march of time brought a series of health issues, including vision and hearing problems. Paddy had retinal detachments in both eyes and a sever bout with tinnifus, which has left him virtually unable to carry on as a recording artist. This fall of health confidence lurked somehow in the moods of their last albums, "Andromeda Heights" and "The Gunman And Other Stories", but was deeply unfold in Paddy's personal recording "I Trawl The Megahertz". Today he is 52 years old, so far away from that ambitious, fearless young boy, mysterious and earthen at the same time... "Let's Change The World With Music" was in fact about to be their next album after "Jordan..." Now, 17 years later, the dust is enough and the tapes have been disinterred and spruced by the engineer Calum Malcom. The "new"- old Prefab Sprout album has the blessed mission to keep the world turning with Paddy's necessary, luxurious voice and spirit. Even if DNA or GOD have punished him so hard, he sings in wisdom for his constant antidote "music is a princess, i'm just a boy in rags..."