THE MUSIC THAT DIED ALONE

On one hand, that's not much of a surprise given the personnel; the Tangent qualifies as a "supergroup" lead by keyboardist and lead vocalist Andy Tillison. Or maybe it's a Tillison solo album (as it was originally intended) with a supergroup-level backing band - - he's listed as the sole songwriter on the entire album except for "Chaos at the Greasy Spoon," a Hatfield and the North cover (written by Dave Stewart) included here as the three-minute middle movement of "The Canterbury Sequence." But either way, the cards seem to have been stacked in favor of The Music That Died Alone.

However, Tillison doesn't exactly play it safe. I know that weirdness and the defiance of expectations can often be assets in progressive rock, but The Music That Died Alone runs takes two risks worth noting. First, Tillison and company wear their influences on their sleeves - - or maybe it's safer to say that they've tattooed them all over their arms. The Music That Died Alone is somehow able to be original while simultaneously and flamboyantly calling attention to their heroes. Despite the inclusion of David Jackson of Van Der Graaf Generator, the Tangent is a second-generation progressive-rock band, and is just as "neo-prog" as Marillion. 

One of the most blatant examples of hero-worship is the integration of VdGG / King Crimson sax/flute vamps (e.g., at the beginning of the "Prehistory" section of "The Music That Died Alone" and as a recurring motif in "In Darkest Dreams," first occurring at about 2:00). There's also the fact that Tillison and guitarist Roine Stolt sing in a style reminiscent of VdGG vocalist Peter Hammill, right down to imitating Hammill's habit of occasionally speaking, rather than singing, the last lines of certain passages. Inviting Jackson to join the group itself may have been the clearest sign of Tillison's admiration for VdGG.

Similarly, including the Stewart composition in "The Canterbury Sequence" indicates not only an ambition to embrace a variety of prog styles, but perhaps even a belief that 1990s proggers ought to have a few 1970s names if they're going to rightly express such an ambition. As Tillison says in the "Cantermemorabilia" section of the track, "we missed the party back in 1971." Just the name of this movement, the name of the suite, the mention of "put(ting) on some Caravan or Hatfields" is almost farcical - - but just almost. 

In addition to the Crimsonian and VdGG-flavored heavy prog and the Canterbury homage, The Music That Died Alone also pays tribute to symphonic prog à la Genesis and Yes, especially on the longer-form pieces "In Darkest Dreams" and "The Music That Died Alone," both of which are subdivided into named and Roman-enumerated movements.

Although Tillison is obviously a fan of Genesis, the Yes references seem more obvious to me. Take "In Darkest Dreams" as an example. The keyboard solo beginning at 7:34 is an expert merger of the soloing styles of Tony Kaye and Rick Wakeman, beginning with a "Roundabout"-like organ solo which morphs almost exactly like on "The Calling" into more Kaye-like riffing. At 8:11 Tillison launches into a glorious half-minute of Tormato-era Wakeman noodling. The structure of this piece is also reminiscent of "Close to the Edge," with its middle movements (starting with "In Dark Dreams") mirroring the "I Get Up, I Get Down" section of the Yes classic.

Including nods to the 1970s prog canon might sound like a safe move, but I consider the profusion of insider references as a risk. There's a line somewhere between simply being influenced by "the classics" and creating a pastiche album like Utopia did with Deface the Music. As good as the Utopia project may be, it can't escape comparison to the original. Somehow The Music That Died Alone skirts the line. But it's risky territory.

The other potentially ill-advised move was actually emphasizing the pop sensibilities on two of the album's four tracks - - something likely to offend many prog fans unless done very carefully. But it here it works. "Up Hill from Here" is more than seven minutes long, but it's hard to ignore its pop-song attributes. It begins with a decidedly un-progressive, sequenced keyboard part and is built around a sing-along refrain. The lyrics are vacant - - there's no alien, hobbit, or phantasm in sight. In fact, the first verse is comprised of 21 one-syllable words and one two-syllable word. "Up Hill from Here" is the most accessible song here, but the catchiest part of the album first appears four minutes into the album, during the "Night Terrors" movement of "In Darkest Dreams" in the form of a sing-along chorus ("this sleep is not what it seems..."). The poppiest moment comes when the chorus is repeated at 17:21 ("Night Terrors (Reprise)"): the sequence of very catchy hook → sax solo → vocal breakdown(!) would be the envy of any would-be pop hitmaker. 

As of this writing, there are only twenty prog-rock albums which I feel deserve five stars. The Music That Died Alone is one of them. For what it's worth, I strongly recommend it to any fan of the genre, but especially fans of the "1970s canon."

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