MOMENTS OF CLARITY

Soon after ''Purity and despair'',multi-instrumentalist Steve McBabe proceeded on the recordings of the 11th studio album of Elegant Simplicity in just seven years-time with some significant changes.Gone are Peter J. Douglas and Gilbert Ross,who helped Steve on drums and bass,and this time he collaborates with bassist Ken Senior (of Parallel or 90 degrees fame),using not his bass abilities but his voice and leaving the whole instrumental side of the project apart.

Musically the album follows the succesful path of the recent future.Very melodic progressive rock,alternating between keyboard- and guitar-based themes with scarce flute passages,close to the likes of CAMEL and PINK FLOYD.McBabe's guitar style remains the center of the album with some excellent soloing throughout,keyboard work changes from analog ones (light mellotron and atmospheric organ) to mellow piano parts and flashy synths.Drums are again a main problem,too mechanical with a standard programming,leaving a cold feeling.Senior's lead voice and backing vocals are too carefulmquite decent though,adding another dimension to Elegant Simplicity's music.

I will say this again.This artist deserves some more attention.Of course the frenetic rhythms of producing albums prevents him from creating a masterpiece,but ''Moments of clarity'' is (for one more time) a very good album of melodic progressive rock,close to the quality of full bands.Warmly recommended.

'Moments Of Clarity' was released in 1999. Steven again changed the line-up deciding to play all of the music himself but bringing in Ken Senior to provide vocals on five of the seven tracks. The vocals seem quite upfront, with little in the way of reverb and it is as if they have been put this way to bring 'honesty' to the piece. It may seem a strange thing to say, but that really is the best way that I can describe it. This is not an album to play when you are feeling depressed, as while the music is often quiet and dreamy the lyrics are telling some harrowing and indeed insightful tales, which gives us the clarity of the title. I am not sure if it is intended as a concept album but certainly it can be taken as such. It is an album about loss and despair, even about having to sit by the side of a loved one and agree to have the life support machine turned off and watch the light go out as they die. While there are some Camel-esque moments, this album is much more influenced by Floyd and even though it has a depressing subject matter I found that this is an album that I enjoyed immensely.

Originally appeared in Feedback #70, Oct 02