ANDROID DOMINA

Though Japan have a wide and rich prog rock scene, Ars Nova was the first japanese prog band i ever heard anything about and the more i learned about this band more i liked it. Eventually, i found this album, Android Domina. It drew my attention not only because it is an Ars Nova album, but also because of its porn cover, where both keyboardists, Keiko Kumagai and Mika Nakajima, are wearing bondage clothing and doing a sexy pose (note: the cover of the album i have is not the one that is in PA).

When i checked the music inside the album i was both very content and discontent. I was very content because the music is very good, à lá Ars Nova: powerful dual keyboards (something that only Ars Nova, as far as i know, does) with big ELP influences (though the bass part here was made by a keyboard), but without sounding derivative nor emulative, something they have being doing since The Goddess of Darkness. Another good point here is that, for the first time, there were vocals with words in their music, something they never made before (maybe Keiko is learning more than basic english now, but who knows. . .).

However, besides the good points, there is something i just hated in this album: there were many cracks and some background hiss through the whole album. That just cannot happen these days, when technology in the mastering, mixing and recording process made fixing those inconvenient noises so easy and cheap.

Although those noises were a problem in a time where high definition is the rule, the music mostly overcame it. the highlights of this album are: Android Domina, All Hallow's Eve and Bizarro Ballo In Maschera. Actually, a big part of the cracks and hisses are in the song Android Domina.

Grade and Final Thoughts

A nice album with very good songs and a bondage pin-up cover, enough said. 3 stars, that's it.

EDIT: I have been listening to this album a lot in the past couple of months and i reached the conclusion that i have overrated this album. The production and mixing problems they have here (the hisses and cracks) are just unacceptable with our current technology, so I downgraded Android Domina from 4 stars to 3 stars.

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