ROBOT DREAMS

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.