SECONDS BEFORE LANDING II

Seconds Before Landing has a prog soup whose ingredients include electronica, smooth jazz, and the dark sides of Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver, and Wilco. The bands philosophy on their second release seems to be to throw everything they've got at the wall to see what sticks, and most of it does. All of this works to a theme of dystopia, but it doesn't always feel that way. "Hey Dad" and "My Perfect Girl" feel like missteps, but otherwise we have a good album chock full of ideas and directions, even if the theme suffers a bit. From the jazzy "Big Train", to the Gregorian-esque vocals opening "The Great Deceiver", followed by a wailing guitar, to the claustrophobically self- loathing "Don't Want To Feel This Way", to the nice electro-prog of the other good tracks, there's plenty to love here, and the album works in the end. If you loved "Corvus Stone II" and want a new and different buffet, try this obscure record out.

Composer, singer, drummer and midi player, that is the description John Crispino's name has on the album II, the second release of his personal project Seconds before Landing. On the album he gets the assistance of Steve Schuffert on guitars, JD Garrison on bass, Jamie Peck on piano, saxophone and flute, and Maurice Witkowski on acoustic guitar.

With a line up like that, there is a hint that this could be a jazz rock influenced release, which was also the indication the first track Big Train gives. However, besides the opening track, the only one that confirmed my expectations was Silent Bird, while the rest of the album has a more electronic and midi ring to it. That is not necessarily bad, but also not entirely my cup of tea - I prefer interplay between instruments over midi sounds.

However, there is still a lot to be found on this album for people who have a different taste than mine, and quite a few of those exist. The track Hey Dad for example is clearly influenced by Pink Floyd, think of tracks like Hey You or One of My Turns. Interesting detail in this respect is that the engineer who joined Pink Floyd at the release of The Wall, Andy Jackson, also took care of production for this album.

Two other highlights are The Great Deceiver and My Perfect Girl. The former is a rocky track, with a pulsing bass and a frantic guitar, with vocals that contain a slight hint of Alice Cooper in the vocals. The latter is darker and more industrial, reminding me of Transport Aerian.

Other tracks are more electronic, even ambient, and as said, not really my thing. This type of music has the habit of becoming slightly repetitive and makes me get distracted from it. However, this style does have its fans, so with a 'try before you buy' stamp on it, I'm sure this will still reach many satisfied listeners.

Also published on my blog www.angelosrockorphanage.com

US project SECONDS BEFORE LANDING is the creative vehicle of composer and musician John Crispino, and came to prominence in 2013 with the release of their debut album "The Great Deception", from which the song and accompanying video for the track Welcome to the Future in particular was taken notice of. "Seconds Before Landing II" is the second album to be issued under this project name, and was self-released towards the end of 2014.

Those who treasured the debut album by this project is in for a slight surprise on this second album by Crispino and the musicians he have chosen to work with here, as he has chosen to move away from the the dark, oppressive atmospheres of the debut album. Not that this is a light and jubilant production per se, but it is a different one, where the darkness in mood isn't as totally dominating. In fact, opening cut Big Train is a fairly positive and jubilant affair, revolving around a beefy hypnotic bass groove, elegant rhythms and a subtly jazz-oriented recurring saxophone solo. A songs you can probably dance along to without any problems at all.

It doesn't take Crispino all that long to move towards landscapes rather more familiar though, with the darker and distinctly Floydian Hey Dad. While not as dark and oppressive musically as the material on the aforementioned debut album, the lyrics are far from light in spirit, with a chorus section that in words and expression most certainly gives life to someone's inner, tortured demon.

As this production unfolds the songs does seem to follow some set patterns. Lyrics dealing with darker topics is a recurring feature, where especially the one describing how it is to live when suffering from anxiety attacks on a regular basis, Don't Want To Feel This Way, presumably will be a heart-wrenching experience for many. The lyrics on this one for the greater part expressed by way of what sounds like the sampled, spoken words of a woman, which is either someone giving us a glimpse into a tortured mind or someone acing an actors voice performance with an award quality performance.

Musically one set of songs blends fairly sparse, electronic, voice and rhythms driven passages with more elaborate sections that channels the inner Pink Floyd of the creator quite nicely, while the other set of songs alternate between being atmospheric laden electronic mood pieces musically and at least on a few occasions of being closer to what one might describe as electronic rock. The subtly jazzier landscapes explored on opening cut Big Train returns as well, with the funky undercurrents that is a central premise on concluding track What Chu Do, a song that takes this album experience full circle, book-ending this production with a similar mood and spirit as found on the opening track.

The manner in which Crispino blends electronic textures and effects with various forms of rock music, with a certain emphasis on sounds and arrangements comparable to Pink Floyd, is as intriguing as on the first album, although not quite as bleak and oppressive. The more playful material here channels more of the character and style I associate with guest musician Trey Gunn, a musician that have proven on multiple occasions that he isn't a stranger in landscapes blending electronica with rock music and who fits quite nicely into Crispino's musical universe. Those fond of music of this kind, that use electronic effects and textures both in a mix with rock music as well as in occasional purely electronic dominated excursions, should feel right at home with the music on this production.

I'm not sure where I got this 2014 release from, but I'm going to blame Olav, as he appears to be the logical source. I can't find anything in my emails or PA messages, but I did grab a whole load of albums from him to review so it was probably included in that group, which is a shame. I always prefer my music to be played by musicians, which is one of the reasons why I have so many issues with modern pop music and the use of studio trickery to get vocals on pitch, so to come across an album where it is electronic, poppy, with a few hints of jazz here and there, then I must confess that it really isn't the sort of thing I really want to listen to. John Crispino managed to get the likes of Trey Gunn and Tim Bogert to collaborate on the debut, but for one reason or another they're not on the follow-up. When the album is good, such as on sections of the Floydian "Hey Dad", then it is very good indeed. Unfortunately, those instances are very few and far between, and I soon found that I was checking the track listing to see how much I had to suffer before I could honestly say that I had listened to the whole album at least once. There has recently been a third release, but if it is anything like the second then it isn't something I will be searching out in a hurry.