|
The Sound of Twelve by Wayne Lytle is one of the strangest but most detailed albums I have ever heard. I would best describe it as an instrumental fusion electronic prog album. Although it is not specifically labeled as prog (it does not have an entry on this site), I think we can all agree it fits the bill with how complex it can get. With how big a perfectionist Wayne is, every second of this album is great. As one of the few people who both knows about this album and is interested in prog, I feel like it is my moral obligation to tell you about it.
A (brief) history
Wayne Lytle was most well known for his music animations he did for various companies. They were fun little songs played by computer animated instruments in dramatic environments. The songs were never very detailed or sophisticated, but they were fun to watch. He started his own company, Animusic, in 1997 dedicated to releasing these videos. They released DVDs Animusic 1 (2001) and Animusic 2 (2006), and even were able to release a Japanese version of the latter. Following the success of these two, Animusic fans awaited the release of Animusic 3, which to this day has not come out. However what was released was The Sound of Twelve, a CD you could get from supporting the development of Animusic 3 on Kickstarter. It was thought to be the soundtrack of Animusic 3 but it turns out it is a completely separate release, intended not to be seen but heard. The music is a major step up from Wayne's usually simple tunes.
Soundtrack:
1. My King An awesome guitar and organ intro. Besides the fact that this is a different guitar sound and obviously a symphosysor, it doesn't sound too different from something you might find in the 70s, and despite it's short length it is a great opening for the album. Nothing too fancy is going on here, but there is a few interesting ideas. Still it suits its purpose as a great opener. (I wish it was more like Go by Asia...) Would fit on any playlist. 9/10
2. Symphonica Here's where you start to get a taste of what this album is about. Strange electronic sounds, symphosysors, and complicated time signatures. This one has a lot of fun back and forth with some strings, a bass, and fast drums. And of course the loud guitar that backs either the bass or strings. Fun to listen to. 8/10
3. EchoKrunch One of the more distinct sounding songs, when I think of this album I think of parts of this song. As time goes on it introduces instruments like a Chapman stick and guitar whines that sound like (dare I say it!) Owner of a Lonely Heart. Great song. 9/10
4. Trimensional Battle A great intro with a synth explotion and guitar rifs. This song has another level of depth, at certain points there will be swordplay sound effects. Now in any other songs these sounds would be annoying, but they really do add to the song the way they were incorporated. 8.5/10
5. Garpledge Some funky bass with a nice beat. The bass starts to go into a synth whine and comes out in kind of an interesting way. Interesting drums towards the end. 7.5/10
6. Emoticondria Has some fun electronic jingle jangle that reminds me of some of Wayne's other work with some guitar synth. I do feel like all these weird sounding names fit well, especially on this song. Cool background synth whines. 9/10
7. Polyannagon Very very well done. Guitar over a really cool fast paced electric pattern. Only annoying part is the vocalizing woman. Love the guitar in this one, in the past songs it kind of had a back seat, now it steps up. At 3:00 it gets pretty good. Gets fast at 4:00 and fades nicely. 9.5/10
8. Time Winder Eh. I feel like this one just copies all the other songs and mashes it together in an okay way. Interesting ideas but they don't really come together as well as they should. Not much to say. 6/10
9. Restival Guitar takes the lead on this one. After 1:17 it fades in a very progressive way playing ambient tunes and bird calls. Then guitar comes in pretty smoothly. 7.5/10
10. Progassaurus AMAZING START! Comes in fast paced and has a lot of good ideas. As we get closer to the end on the album the guitar takes more lead, but this time is paired with a keyboard. It slows down and plays some funky rifs. Best in the album, if you're going to listen to anything listen to this. 9.7/10
11. Victory over Urgency Fitting title. More of a war-like number than Trimensional Battle. Has a good start, but a little too much of the same stuff. Good drums and sounds towards 2:25. Slows down at 3:00, a nice touch. 8/10
12. Fruitful Vision The longest song (7:00... Still pretty short for a prog album though) and a fitting end for the album. Takes a different place and sound, but you will recognize the distinct drums and guitar. Love the guitar at 3:00 and 4:50. Changes pace very frequently, a nice touch. 8/10
Outro
And there it is! The Sound of Twelve. If you are interested in the album art or wallpaper the link is here: https://www.animdirectory.com/downloads/hd-images. You can also contact the Animusic Directory about this album, they know far more then I do. Their website is here: https://www.animdirectory.com/. And with that done, I would love to hear your opinion on this. |