OUT TO SEA 2

Fernando Perdomo is a Crossover Prog multi-instrumentalist, currently living in the LA area, with quite a variety of albums with different styles. In 2018, he released an album "Out to Sea" which was quite well received by critics and fans. On that album, he had several tracks that paid homage to older progressive acts like Peter Banks, Focus, John Wetton, Curved Air and Nektar. In early 2019, he has released "Out to Sea 2" which doesn't name any specific acts, but is supposed to follow in the same footsteps of the previous album.

There are 15 tracks (plus 2 bonus live tracks) on this album and none of them go over the 5 minute mark. Perdomo plays almost all of the instruments on this album except for some special guests on specific tracks which are listed in the credits.

The introductory track "Two" is like a fanfare to the album with a guitar theme in 5 / 4 time and "Super Woofer" follows that with a driving 7 / 8 rhythm and more melodic guitar. "Boing" continues in this fashion with another hard rocking instrumental led by guitars.

"Theme from 'Dr. Leisure' " is more of a fusion style with an old theatrical 60s or 70s theme song style created by keys and guitar. "Beautiful", as the title suggests, is a more romantic and mellow style in a loose waltz meter. It is again mostly led by guitar, but a sexy trumpet joins in later. Light the fire and snuggle up on the couch. "Five Four" is another fusion style with guitar playing the melody. The main theme is in 5 / 4 as the title suggests, but most of the track is in standard meter.

"Stairway to the Sea" is a standard instrumental rock ballad style track, "Your Precious Echo" is simply a slow solo electric guitar with echo reverb and sustained chords on keyboards in the background. "Saturday Night" is a standard rock track with a riff that really isn't as memorable as it tries to be. "The Angels or Ardent" is another mellow waltz style track this time with a soft shuffle of percussion and the typical atmospherics. "Seven Stars" is a bit better with a moderate tempo and better improvisation that doesn't just follow the melody as on many of the previous tracks. The guitar is somewhat heavier here, but not over-the-top.

"Arturius" actually sounds a bit different in that it is led by keyboards with a fast arpeggio and also playing the melody. However, nothing else stands out as it is standard instrumental pop. "The Stratosphere" is a mellow jazz number led by guitar playing simple melody with the occasional jazz chord. "Flying to Utopia" starts with a fast drum opening with the guitar joining in later. Synths give it an airy feeling. There is even time for another drum solo to be packed in there later. The track almost gets stirring, but instead it decides to fade out. "The Victory" doesn't sound very victorious as it is a soft jazz fusion track that intensifies a bit at the end.

Two live bonus tracks follow that were originally on the first "Out to Sea" album; "Angel" and "The Architect (Tribute to Peter Banks)".

There really isn't much on here that screams Progressive Rock. It is mostly made up of quick instrumental tracks, some of which sound similar and don't have much development. Except for a few non-typical meters on a few tracks, this is pretty much just instrumental rock/pop. If you like that style, then you are in luck. But as far as being progressive, it never reaches that any groundbreaking level or unique sound. Most of the tracks are led by guitar, but the style of playing doesn't really sound much different from other instrumentalists out there. The production is great however.

Fernando's 2019 release is a sequel to the album before last, 'Out To Sea', with the artwork also being very similar indeed. There are fifteen studio songs, where for the majority Fernando provides all the music, although there are a couple of guests here and there, while the last two songs are live versions of songs which appeared on the original album. Overall this is a really well-recorded instrumental album, with guitar front and centre, but the songs seem to follow a similar format throughout, with the lack of spark and imagination one would want from someone who is obviously so gifted. It is not a bad album as such, but it doesn't contain that element which repays repeated listening. The songs are generally quite short, with few stretching to four minutes, so he tends to keep things choppy and hard and keeps them concise and tight as opposed to letting them breath and stretch out. When he lets himself develop material then it starts to get interesting, but the overall feel is that this is a safe album in many ways, one which will please his fans but probably not gain him many new ones. Some, such as "Theme From 'Dr Leisure'" should have been left in the studio, as it is just to twee and repetitive to be of interest. I am sure if I knew the original, I would find it to be a marvel, but to me it sounds like cinema advert music which probably isn't what he was going for. Of his two most recent albums I know which one is going to get far more play, and it isn't this one.