CELEBRATING THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Nguyen Le is one of the most remarkable prog guitarists of the past twenty years, and some of his albums (notably SAIYUKI, SONGS OF FREEDOM and SIGNATURE EDITION 1) can be compared to the best of Allan Holdsworth or Al DiMeola. This tribute to THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, though, doesn't quite come off. One of the main problems is that Nguyen makes such extensive use of the NDR Bigband. I suppose most people who consult Prog Archives are too young to realise this, but there once was a time when rock music was only rarely used in films and on T.V. A lot of family entertainment used 'big band' music instead - a situation that only started changing in the 1970s. And as long as that situation kept going I thoroughly disliked it. (Modern big bands still give me the creeps. I feel differently about truly classic big bands. Duke Ellington's band from 1940-1942, for example, was so original and recorded so many amazing tunes that I can only sit back in wonder.) So when Nguyen Le (with the help of renowned arranger Michael Gibbs) gives the familiar DSOTM tunes a big band arrangement, when he even has David Gilmour's original guitar solo on 'Time' performed by big band (something that reminds me of Frank Zappa handing Jimmy Page's classic solo from 'Stairway to Heaven' to his wind section on THE BEST BAND YOU NEVER HEARD IN YOUR LIFE), I switch off. Completely. A second problem is that Nguyen doesn't do full justice to his amazing vocalist, Youn Sun Nah. Sure, he lets her sing 'Breathe', 'Brain Damage' and 'Eclipse', and it feels great to have the songs interpreted by a female vocalist. But on 'Time' and 'Money' (the catchiest tunes on the album) he replaces the original vocals with lead guitar, which merely sounds cheesy. Furthermore, he almost completely leaves out the amazing vocal climax of 'The Great Gig in the Sky'. Perhaps Ms. Nah simply couldn't match Clare Torry? Instead, there's a two-minute vocalise called 'Magic Spells' which sounds eerie and rather beautiful, but it still leaves you wanting for more. Admittedly, this tribute album does contain a smattering of the tasteful guitar solos Nguyen is famous for. (Oh, the things he does with his whammy bar!) It also has lovely contributions by Vladyslav Sendecki on piano and Juergen Attig on fretless bass. I suppose it's worth hearing at least once. But you won't play it half as often as the original DARK SIDE and it can't hold a candle to Nguyen Le's best albums.