MISTER ROBOT

This album is notable different than "Fables for Robots" (That one reminds me of Mike Olfield) . This time, every song sounds different form the rest of the album. There are energetic songs (Awakening), ethereal themes (A bedtime story), even pop melodies (Landscape to order, some sung sections), all of them with great musical arrangements. Long songs (almost epics) are my favorites and are clearly more elaborate. Ruzakin seems to feel OK playing all instruments. He is great on guitars and keyboards (and he plays so many of them) , maybe someone could help on bass and drums. Completely sung in Russian? I don't care, I'm not a native English speaker.

Since the release of the first album Mister Robot, I have not recognized a single new artist from Omsk. Apparently, Aleksei does not know them either, otherwise he would have invited someone to his project, which would definitely not hurt him, but on the contrary would only unload and give him the opportunity to focus on other things. The music has become a little simpler, although it has not lost its compositional and instrumental and melodic quality. The vocals have become more confident, but the sound of the album has not become better, which can certainly become one of the growth factors in the future. I also hope that some simplification of compositional structures will not become a trend for this undoubtedly talented artist. More Russian prog!

A fine second effort from young Russian solo artist Aleksei Ruzakin--follow up to his surprising and excellent 2020 debut, Fables for Robots.

1. "Sleep (Inside a Dream)" (1:20) opens with a keyboard and guitar that sound like they come straight out of a 1980s New Age album by GOBI or the Brothers Gordon. But it's nice. (4.25/5)

2. "Awakening" (7:54) Quite an impressive little multi-part mini-epic--great keyboard, guitar, and vocal work. The drums and sound engineering fall short of the standards established by the above, however; the instruments feel too starkly separated; there needs to be better blending and mixing of the sound fields of the individual instruments. A little TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA-feel in the second section. (I wonder if he knows--and likes--the loud scraping sound of his picks hitting his guitar strings with every pluck.) I LOVE that Aleksei has decided to sing in his native tongue! Probably the most mature sounding song on the album. (13.25/15)

3. "Return" (11:27) some cheesy, outdates sounds given to two-chord strumming rhythm guitars, drums, and even the vocals--though, again, I really appreciate Aleksei's voice and the fact that he has courageously chosen to sing in his native Russian. The bass lines are also rather rudimentary--and thin. The highlights are all in the individual soloing keyboards and electric guitars. (17.33/20)

4. "Eternal Procession" (5:02) a nice little filler that almost feels like an study of Mike Oldfield guitar tones and styles (which he performs and engineers wonderfully), but otherwise feels under-developed. And, wouldn't it be nice if that flute solo were an actual flute? My second favorite song on the album. (8.67/10)

5. "Landscape to Order" (9:19) multiple keyboard flutes and complex Spanish guitar play open this one before drums and jazz fretless bass enter to support Aleksei's dynamic vocal performance. His vocal style reminds me tremendously of that of Polish band Lizard's lead singer, Damian Bydlinski. Great melodies! Though the song flows very much like a pop song, it has some truly wonderful (and spacious) performances from the instrument components (though I'd throw out that fifth minute). The most polished and cohesive song on the album (despite the incongruent fifth minute)--helped by great acoustic guitar and synth play and awesome melody lines. My favorite song on the album. (18/20)

6. "A Bedtime Story" (2:43) acoustic guitars (or guitar-like instrument) layered over each other with various echo and delay effects. Begins to slip over into the realm of New Age in the second minute, but then the guitars get serious and the drums, bass, and lead electric begins to solo. Another song that sounds more like an étude than a finished composition. (4/5)

7. "Falling Asleep (Legendary Pink - CEAE)" (3:04) a song that certainly sounds dream like, but one that also suffers, as above, from poor sound engineering. Nice chord and melody choices. My third favorite song on the album. (8.75/10)

Total Time 40:49

Compositionally, production-wise, even in terms of technical skills/prowess, this album does little to show Aleksei's progress from last year. "Awakening" and "Landscape to Order" are the best songs--for their dynamics and compositional diversities--and for the fact that they both sound the most like "finished" songs--but, still, they're a bit too messy and sadly deficient in places. Though I still love his sound, his style, his vision, I still see a LOT of room for growth. As I recommended in my review of last year's release: Aleksei, I think you'd benefit tremendously from the inputs of a professional drummer and seasoned sound engineer. Who knows, collaboration may not damage your vision (or ego) but enhance and expand it!

B/four stars; a fine sophomore effort from a very talented artist from whom I still hope for GREAT things in the future. Highly recommended to all prog lovers for their own enjoyment and edification.

The second album of the Mister Robot project by Russian musician Aleksei Ruzakin. Like the first one, everything is done by himself, without any participation from the outside. After the rather successful and strong debut of "Fables for Robots", something similar was expected to be heard on the second - a complex and sophisticated symphonic prog with an emphasis on keyboards. However, the album is more guitar, and keyboard parts play a secondary role on it. The overall compositional density of the material compared to the first albums decreased, freeing up space in the majority of its vocals. I would like to say about the vocals separately, in my opinion this is one of the strongest components on the album, and in such compositions as Return and Landscape to order, Aleksei reveals himself as a completely mature vocalist, whom it is very pleasant to listen to. The album, like the first conceptual one, is dedicated to dreams, and the title refers to the story of the same name (as well as a collection of short stories from 1986) by the American classic of science fiction Isaac Asimov. Separately, I would like to say about the texts they are very poetic, in Russian, which in my opinion is a big plus. I think the vocals would lose a lot of sincerity if the lyrics were in English.

1) Dream (Inside a dream) - a short intro built on a dialogue between a synthesizer and a classical guitar in the finale of which the voice (of the awakener) says - it's time to wake up, wake up, open your eyes.

2) Awakening is a composition consisting of six parts that smoothly transition into another. It opens with a pleasant trio of acoustic guitars with a gradual increase in the number of musical instruments. Good instrumental work, good bright dramatic vocals.

3) The Return is the longest play in which the impressions of a person who dreams that he died are told (that's how I understood it). Starting at a slow pace, by the chorus the piece accelerates to a pulsating bass and piercing and very emotional vocals. In the middle of the piece there is an absolutely masterpiece part with a flute, in which the dynamics of the composition changes from light piano to hard forte, when a whole block of solo instruments is added to the flute. It reminded me of Pink Floyd. The most poetic composition.

4) Eternal procession - the first notes of the piece associatively refer us to the music playing at the funeral. The effect is achieved by guitars working in the manner of bagpipes, and rectilinear percussion. Excellent styling.

5) Landscape to order is the best piece of the album in my opinion. Imagine that Iron Maiden took a flamenco guitarist and a couple of flautists into their band, adding jazz/fusion elements to their music. Nine minutes of music, but you won't have time to get bored. Fast tempo, dense arrangements, sparkling guitar solos and not a drop of contrivance, everything is very fresh and sincere. The composition ends with a gorgeous vocal section that you want to listen to and listen to again and again. The texts tell about a certain world of their own, into which the main character plunges when he sleeps.

6) A Bedtime story is a completely instrumental piece, with a large number of very different guitars. A good sad composition, but it did not cause any special emotions.

7) Falling asleep (legendary pink - CEAE) - the final piece. It was made in the synthesizer electronic meditatin style, although it was not without guitars here either.

As a result, we have an album of diverse and very different compositions in mood. 4.5 stars. I strongly recommended it to all fans of progressive rock.

Excellent second album from Mister Robot aka Ruzakin Aleksei. Symphonic prog as must sounding this genre, with cool instrumental work and excellent vocals. Very smart music, melodic, singing and incredibly emotional. Perhaps this is the best prog rock from Russia. Of the seven compositions, three vocal tracks stand out - Awakening, Return and Landscape to Order. But instrumental pieces don't spoil the picture either. Lyrics are all in Russian, but I think this is not a hindrance for those who do not know Russian, because the language of music is universal. I hope his upcoming music stays around the same type of genre and I hope the next album will not lower the level that his first album Fables for Robots set. Good luck to everyone.

The album Fables for Robots is the best thing that has happened to Russian prog rock in recent times. It's hard for me to imagine it, but the album was made by Aleksei Ruzakin, a musician from Omsk, who composed all the music, played all the instruments, and also mixing the album. His music is absolutely lively, without a drop of falseness and forced, sincere and emotional became a real revelation for me. Two tracks, namely the way the album is divided, fly by in one breath. The music is bright, melodic, well thought out will not make you bored, symphonic prog at its best. I would like to wish Aleksei Ruzakin to continue in the same style and I hope the next album will not lower the level that this album set. Good luck to everyone.

A reverently created album by one-man band Aleksei Rusakin from Omsk, Russia--one that he had been working on for some time before releasing it as "finished."

1. Fables for Robots, Part 1 (19:18) a section-by-section rundown or lyrics sheet (with translation) would have been nice. the fact that Aleksei chooses to use the same chordal and melodic structures to dominate throughout this entire composition only tells me that he's probably had training in classical music (composition). The occasional introduction of the odd synthesizer or acoustic instrument, to me, shows his desire to impress--to show off his "skills," diversity, and classical training. The fact that they, each one, appear and then disappear without ever returning shows me his immaturity and lack of multiple perspectives as both a composer and storyteller. Ambitious but unpolished and . . . trite. I hear a lot of Johannes Luley in this work, but none of the Johannes' complexity and maturity that Johannes has attained. (33.25/40)

2. "Fables for Robots, Part 2" (20:24) suddenly the production value is increased: greater complexity, greater layering, greater shifts in tempos, styles, and melodies. Even the overall engineering has tightened up the performances--heck, even the solos are more dynamic, way more emotionally engaging than any in "Part 1." In his brief self-description on his Bandcamp page, Aleksei reports that "The main goal of the project is to compose music that integrates music of various styles and eras as much as possible." He has definitely done this on this second piece as I can finally hear sounds and styles that are familiar to me including those of Tony Banks, Brian May, The Flower Kings, Peter Hammill, and Trevor Horn/Art of Noise. Nicely done--quite a step up from the previous song. (36/40)

Total Time 39:42

Well engineered, the timing between layered tracks is frequently oddly off-kilter. The music is definitely Crossover in that there is little exploration of complex structures or odd time signatures--plus, it's very melodic. The story is light-hearted, presenting a naïve innocence that, I believe, is a tongue-in-cheek representation of the opposite of what the composer really believes. The artist is definitely a pianist first, though his competent vocals show a remarkable sense of self-confidence. Assuming Aleksei did the album's artwork as well, I encourage this would-be Renaissance man to press on--to keep working at his skills--both physical and mental. I like his heart and ambition-- this is a cool concept; he only needs . . . practice . . . and experience. (And maybe collaboration and/or outside input.) P.S. Aleksei is not a born drummer.

B/four stars; a very nice addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially to have when he releases his next project--in order to see how much he has grown.

An artist to watch!

This album caught me off-guard. I really did not expect a debut album with almost no recognition to become one of my favorite albums of 2020.

Fables For Robots is the debut album by Mister Robot, a one-man project from Russia. The first notable thing is that this album has the typical Mike Oldfield/Thick As A Brick album structure, one 40-Minute title track divided in two parts. It definitely has strong jazz influence, specially in the solos, and it also has Gazpacho influence in the reflective, atmospheric sections.

The first part is possibly my favorite, it sets up the theme for the whole album as well as some beautiful verses and keyboard solo-ing that will definitely keep you entertained.

The second part features amazing solos and a small Russian-Rap section around minute 9-10 that I like more that I should, followed by yet another beautiful melody that will be stuck in your head for days! Finally near the end the first part gets reprised.

This album has almost no weaknesses, but probably my biggest problem with it is that it stays around the same ideas for the whole album, some variations would have been great. Overall a very strong album, and I really hope his upcoming music stays around the same type of genre. Very close to four stars, but I decided to give it five because I like every second in this album.

This is the second group from Omsk that I recognized. The first became a legend of Russian rock. I hope the same fate awaits Mister Robot over time if, of course, he continues to compose music on the level of Fables for robots.

I still can't understand how it was possible to compose and record everything alone. It's a lot of work. One of the main advantages of the album is originality, the artist does not try to be like anyone else. I also like good compositional work - the logic of structural construction at the highest level. And of course, bright melodies. Of the instruments, the preference is given to keyboards, guitars are not enough, vocals, unfortunately, too. The texts are in Russian and it's really beautiful. I hope that the next album will be no worse and it will not have to wait five years.

Fables for Robots is one of the best albums of this year in my top list.

The debut album of Mister Robot. A very interesting project of a Russian musician. As far as it is clear from the information, everything was recorded by him alone without assistance. The album consists of two long tracks divided into chapters, passing one into the other. "Fables for robots" is a conceptual album and the first thing that comes to mind is a collection of short stories by the largest Polish science fiction writer and philosopher Stanislaw Lem. But as far as I understand from the lyrics the album is about something else entirely - about the degree of freedom of a person, his programmability, the origins of his goals and desires (this is a quote from his biography on progarchives). Texts in Russian. Now about the music itself.

"In The Laboratory" - The album begins with an intro in which the lab assistant communicates with the engineer (Creator). It turns out that the laboratory has received two robots, and although the robots are similar to the old ones, the laboratory assistant does not know how they (robots) work. And when the engineer asks what sounds are coming from the next room, the lab assistant says that they are robots and they are dancing. The lab technician opens the door for the engineer and sees dancing robots.

"Dance of the Robots" - the play of pastiche, an attempt to portray a little awkward dancing robots. Structurally, this is a three-voice two-part keyboard piece based on the dialogue between an electric piano and a lead synthesizer and designed in a swing style.

"Robot Free Will" - the main theme, the leitmotif of the entire album - "You considered yourself free, but this is in vain, because you did not live a day by your will" - an attempt to understand the beginning and end of human freedom, reasoning about the origins of our motives. Musically, a light piano stylization of vaudeville with vocal polyphony in one of the parts. "Every breath and every exhalation here was played not once" - sings the main voice, "every, every, every breath," adds another.

It doesn't make sense to describe all the music, it is very diverse and texturally heterogeneous, and the author easily moves from one stylistic device to another. From the following chapters, we can distinguish - "Robots Talk" - another stylization, an attempt to portray the dialogue of two robots by musical means. Fully electronic - "Image Creation". "What is Life? (Muddy Waters)" - fusion piece with a beautiful guitar, gorgeous bass and rap as vocals. Awesome instrumental "What Does the Robot Dream Of? (Lucifer's Flight)" where you can even hear jazz be bop in the final.

Stylistically, it is a sympho prog, although quite eclectic, a lot of electronics, jazz, flamenco elements. There are a lot of keyboards, guitars, a flute, and even brass instruments. But the vocals are not given much space. It is difficult to name any direct analogies from famous names, in the title theme I heard echoes of Queen (or rather Killer Queen), in a large number of electronic music by a Russian composer Eduard Artemyev and Ennio Morricone, in the dialogues of keyboards and guitars something from Dream Theater, something from John McLaughlin and Al di Meola ( in "What is Life?)". Sometimes I see Pink Floyd (in "What Does The Robot Dream Of?") and Genesis, Yes. Although all these influences are purely fragmentary, Mister Robot's music is quite original and unlike anything I've heard before. The main feature of the album I would call unpredictability, constant change of themes and melodies. For listeners who will be listening to the album for the first time, I would advise them to have a little patience. It's very difficult to get into all the versatility of this album from the first time. About the vocal. It is not enough, it does not strain. Although confidence is a little lacking. Of the weak points, this is probably mixing, it is closer to jazz than to rock, and some of the volume and diversity inherent in progressive rock , in my opinion, is not enough, the sound is quite dry. Still, it's a very decent job. And in compositional and melodic terms, it is absolutely amazing. 4.5 stars. I strongly advise all fans of symphonic and eclectic progressive rock.