ROMANTIC WARRIOR

A big display of musicianship that would make many musicians feel like they just picked up their instruments. Just think of a moment and think of what these four musicians are capable of playing. Chick Corea is among the best piano players you could think of in this genre, Al Dimeola's shredding technique may be on par with John Petrucci, and the rhythm section features extraordinary musicians. However, hearing this album makes me wonder if they are doing the "show-off" or really putting effort into songwriting. The album seems to lack good musical ideas, melodies and riffs. The music doesn't make me feel almost anything. I tend to hear calculated odd time signatures, extremely complicated arrangements, and technical soloing.

Medieval Overture has a very eerie and majestic guitar-synthesizer unison in the middle section but most of the rest focuses on a very random and awkward synthesizer riff. The Sorceress is better, being a pleasant, if unexciting, laid back track that leaves room for improvisation. Romantic Warrior is my favorite track here, because it displays some good themes. There are some riffs that are too acrobatic for my tastes but they don't interfere with the song too much. Majestic Dance doesn't sustain my interest as it puts too much emphasis on speed/instrumental acrobatics and some of the keyboard sounds make it sound lighthearted and a bit out of place. Talking about lightheartedness, The Magician is completely silly and has nothing but pointless noodling except for an excellent electric guitar solo near the end. Duel of the Jester starts very epic with a magnificent synth riff reminiscent of the middle section of "Medieval Overture" but the song is nothing more than a good jam in the first half and a collection of odd themes and riffs in the second half that is extraordinarily anti-climatic, considering that the album ends here.

I'll recommend this for people who take a big interest in listening to complex music and don't find melodies as essential as I do.