ACUITY

Just because an album attempts to do everything right in the eyes of the progressive rock community, it doesn't always mean it will turn out as successfully as hoped. Acuity is an American prog project started by multi- instrumentalist Bradley Styes who seems to play every instrument on this album (besides violin which was played by Matthew Parmenter on the track "Cul-de-sacs of Venus"). Since then, the project has essentially gone quiet with no new releases. The music found here can be best described as "hard-edged symphonic prog" with an overall dark tone. There is also an incorporation of various influences such as Van Der Graff Generator and Rush. Despite the tracks themselves varying widely there are common concepts and sounds that effectively bring it all together into one cohesive album. Unfortunately, it is plagued by poor production which results in most tracks feeling flat. There are points where you expect a new burst of energy to come in, but due to the poor production almost all that energy is missing. Just listen to the drums, they appear to be way too low in the mix during the majority of the album.

There are three shorter tracks (Vector, State of the Art Love Song, and Cul-de-sacs of Venus) and three epics (Transcendence (Culture of Hospice), Milwaukee - An Essay on Morbid Hysteria, and Voyager). The shorter tracks are generally lighter in nature, with the first two seeming to draw the listener in to the album while the last lets the listener have a moment of composure before being introduced to yet another epic. These three epics are the main showcases on the album. The first epic, Transcendence (Culture of Hospice) clocks in at nearly fifteen minutes. The track covers the gloomy topic of an old man waiting for his death. There are numerous parts that are quite interesting, such as the middle section in which the music becomes disjointed as various keyboard sounds are introduced before resolving. However, the track is brought down by the generally poor vocals found all over the album. This album is desperately begging for a real vocalist to be brought in, but I suppose Bradley Styes wanted to take credit as the sole performer on most of the album. The track closes as Bradley Styes seems to have forgotten what to say next, which works quite well as an intentional conclusion. Milwaukee - An Essay on Morbid Hysteria doesn't attempt to lighten the lyrical tone as this epic is about a serial killer and cannibal. Some lyrics on this track and others, are absolutely dreadful and in poor taste. They seem to be chosen just for the sake of being weird. An album can be dark, but it shouldn't feel forced. Nevertheless, the track moves between its nine sections quite well and clocks in at twenty two minutes in length. There are also various instrumental sections that contain altering styles and moods that contrast the vocal sections nicely. The last epic, Voyager, is unquestionably the strongest track on the album clocking in at over seventeen minutes. The lyrics seem to suggest a topic of both space and fantasy. Possibly a thought-provoking journey through the universe, who knows? The track commences with a trumpet-like sound coming from the keyboards before an acoustic guitar presents the first vocal melody. Not too long after, a keyboard build-up is established that continues up until around the eight minute and forty second mark. This section practically has a jazz-fusion type of feel. The anticipation built up during the course of this section grabs the listeners attention brilliantly as they ponder what will be next. Similarly, the track also concludes with an instrumental build-up, but this time more focused on the guitar.

Bradley Styes is unquestionably a talented musician, as he performs using an array of instruments throughout these six tracks surprisingly well. However, the poor production and vocals contributes to the album being an overall unremarkable listening experience. Despite there being moments of true excellence, it ultimately falls short on what I believe Bradley Styes attempted to accomplish. Acuity is a name that I hope to hear again in the future, as this debut album displays a multitude of potential. "I pray for my health in one hand and [&*!#] in the other, would the weight equal out?"

1. start with no information at all about who's playing! You'll have to search on the net.

2. the second step occurs while scrutinizing the booklet in hope to find infos about the musicians; instead my eye gets caught by some of the lyrics, extremely poor and of sheer bad taste, like for example: Now you are my sex-toy, my one-time love so I'll lay you out then you'll be my next meal .... huum .... stupidly called "an essay on morbid hysteria" ... whose falsely conceptual part 6 is titled [&*!#]-eating grin !!!

3. We haven't been naming the music yet! So point 3, the extremely bad intonation of the vocalist ... awful! And spoiling the few good musical parts left.

4. the problem is that those parts are nothing that hasn't been heard before thousand times! Splashing mello here and there, the heavy guitar-driven sequence, well played but already part of museum music!

So, which rating? Two stars is described as "collectors/fans only" but with only one album released and being relatively new, no fan suite has probably been started and the collection would be meager. So the one star grading "Poor. Only for completists" feels more appropriate. And if you are really serious about music, a voice like the one heard here would surely bring it down to half a star if this existed! There are things for which no compromize should never be accepted, especially when so many better outputs are to be found in this world.

PS: with the morbid taste shown in the album's lyrics, retitling the album "Down to Hell" would be better suitable than "Skyward". I don't feel anything really uplifting here.

Unfortunately, aside from a short violin solo by Matthew Parmenter that could have elevated this gift to two stars, I just can't get myself to rate it that high. Some albums would be better off as instrumental showcases, this is one. The singing is so cringe-wrothy as to make it completely unlistenable. Simon Cowell would have tossed the singer on his ear during the first audition. Maybe Mr Styes should have paid Matthew Parmenter to lend his voice to the production. I've tried to make my way through it numerous times, but my finger stabs at the eject button quicker than a liberal going for his wallet at a Clinton fundraiser.

The musician, Bradley Styes, is extremely talented on various keyboard instruments, bass, guitar and drums. The bass, nice Ric tone, cuts through the mix. Acoustic guitars ring sweetly on many tracks, a highlight I guess. The drumming is competent. Guitar leads have a metal edge but don't have any depth or creative impact. Mr. Styes is very talented, however, the music comes off as very derivative, sometimes campy in the use of the therimin. Directionless. The production is poor, at best, very muddy. Tweaking the EQ did little to improve the experience.

The lyrics are horrid. Check this out, "Can't sleep at night, Can't urinate right." Guffaw! Can you believe that line? There is plenty more like that as well. "I pray for my health in one hand and [&*!#] in the other." Egad. There are Jeffrey Dahmer inspired lyrics, a diatribe against media over-exposure. Silly robots and space explorer poems.

Maybe the next project will be better, he has loads of talent. A good producer could make this into something of a higher quality. Oh, yeah, hire a good vocalist or stick to instrumentals.

Spend your money elsewhere, but always be thankful for unexpected gifts.

The cd opens up with Vector which is an instrumental. The sound here will not overwhelm your prog senses as it is a more hard driving(almost heavy metal) straight forward beat. It does have some interesting moments in the middle, but overall this tune will not wow any listener, nor will it annoy ya either though.

State of the Art of Love Song is a quirky, amusing song about androids and robots and such. This song isn't very adventurous either and almost seemed to be included in here just for the off chance that this one might recieve some radio play. Thankfully it is relatively short and doesn't have the opportunity to get under the listeners skin.

From this point forward the cd becomes near perfect. The 3rd song begins with the 1st of three long suites. Transcendance(Culture of Hospice) will take the listener on a near 15 minute joyride of pure prog. Yes influences abound everywhere on this song while having a dark, cynical web being spun around the listeners ears...lyrics like "lying wide awake, anxious for a coma" best sums up what this song is about.

The epic song Milwaukee is the strongest and darkest of all the tunes on this cd. Here they bust out a plethora of influences to launch a sonic assault on the listeners ears including Rush, Yes, Genesis as well as some heavy metal licks to boot! The song will shackle you into the nightmarish scenes of a captive of a psycho who is about to perform some grisly act(s) on the listener. All good twisted, perverted fun as we are spiralled helplessly through this hellish joyride of sonic ecstacy.

Cul-de-Sacs of Venus is another instrumental which guest-stars Mathew Parmenter on violin. This is a beautiful song which is a fitting stark contrast to the sinister Milwaukee.

The last of the three long suites is Voyager which concludes this cd nicely. This one has heavy influences of Genesis and Yes all over it. Words are few and music is aplenty on this excellent track about Lonliness!

If this cd could have been more original, and if the singer was a tad better this would have been a masterpiece. It is still a great 1st attempt and I am looking forward to see what Acuity has in store for their next cd. I recommend this to everyone but especially those who like Yes and Genesis as well as anyone who loves their music extremely dark!