YOU GO NOW

"You Go Now" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US experimental/progressive pop/rock act Chroma Key. The album was released through Fight Evil Records in November 2000. Chroma Key is the brainchild of former Dream Theater keyboard player Kevin Moore. Chroma Key should be counted as his solo project as he plays just about everything on the album except guitars, which are played by David Iscove.

The music is relaxed/laid back ambient pop/rock with a slight experimental/progressive edge. Lots of programmed sounds and samples (I love the samples about Apollo 11 on "Lunar") on top of programmed drums, synth layers, and Kevin Moore´s almost sedated sounding vocal delivery. His vocals are melancholic and soothing to the ear but the his range is limited and the emotional impact is as a consequence rather one-dimensional. There are generally not enough melodic hooks on the album, which is a bit of a shame because when those hooks appear the music reaches a higher quality level. Fortunately the 39:17 minutes of playing time is just perfect, and I don´t reach a point where my attention wanders which could easily have happened had the album been a bit longer.

The sound production is professional and suits the music well. The drum sound is a bit flat and could have prospered from a more organic tone. It´s a bit anonymous and lacks warmth. But other than that "You Go Now" is a very well sounding album. So there are both good things and not so good things to say about "You Go Now". The ambient laid back atmosphere is pleasant and soothing to the ear, and if you are in the right mood for relaxed melancholic pop/rock, this is definitely an album which could apply to such a description. The danger is that for some listeners it might end up as background music because of the rather liniar emotional output. I wouldn´t call it tedious, and there are enough layers of sounds to keep the music interesting throughout, but it´s not the most dynamic music in terms of going from mellow to harsh, or quit to loud. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.