REQUIEM FOR A DREAM

The British band's fifth album since their 1998 debut. A symphony-lite band that is heavier than like-categorized IONA and MOSTLY AUTUMN (to which they have many similarities), I'm not sure how much "folk" is in their music (other than their occasional making space for Troy Donockley's Irish instruments). Perhaps they are in need of re- categorization.

1. "All Around the World" (11:30) very solid symphonic prog--on the heavy side (as opposed to the Folk)--with an excerpt of one of Greta Thunberg's most famous speeches as its centerpiece. Lead (and background) vocalist Sertari has a style and approach quite similar to that of IONA's Joanne Hogg (and am I mistaken that the lyrics feel a bit as if they are also in the spiritual/ Christian realm of inspirational?) (18.5/20)

2. "Sacrifice" (6:30) sounds like a theme song to some warrior television series like Vikings or Game of Thrones. One of Ian's anthemic vehicles for Sertari to belt out another inspirational message. Too much like the showtunes of Miriam Stockley or Sarah Brightman and the like. (8.66667/10)

3. "Look to the East" (6:45) trying to sneak into the realm of Noa Gruman's SCARDUST. In the end, it's just a little slower, plodding variation on the anthemic showtune created for Sertari to belt out over like the song before. (13/15)

4. "Forgiven" (11:49) another bombastic, somewhat plodding (straight-timed) inspirational Christian-based song. Overall, this is one of my favorite songs on the album: it's well constructed and contains some clever ideas. (22/25)

5. "The Night's Dance" (5:29) another vehicle for Sertari and Ian's Christian expression. (8.666667/10)

6. "Say Goodbye Tomorrow" (6:01) more straight-time music that has more in common with AM radio oriented classic rock than prog. This is probably my favorite vocal song from Sertari--her voice has less of a thank-you-god/grateful feel to it and more of a commoners/Heather Findlay I-am-human feel--however the music does nothing to excite or reward my proggy sensibilities. (8.75/10)

7. "Don't Forget My Name" (6:30) back to the numinous performance and the Andrew Lloyd-Weber music. Sorry: just not my cup of tea. (8.66667/10)

8. "Requiem for a Dream" (25:13) bird & outdoor noises open this before ominous synth chords, wind, fire, and distant explosion sounds join in and supplant those of Mother Nature. Programmed drums, synth harp, and vocalise take over in the second minute before Sertari steps forward to begin singing the song's lyrics. ADIEMUS/Miriam Stockley again come up big time--even moreso when Troy Donockley's Uileann pipes join in. A heavier, semi-power chord driven palette takes over at 4:30 while the singing, pacing, and melodies remain pretty much the same. I like the TONY BANKS/GENESIS section in the middle of the long instrumental passage from 7:00 to 8:30. The ensuing calm of synth washes, heartbeats, Irish whistles and Uillean pipes is very pleasant as is the gentle piano/synth passage from 9:40 to 10:15. When Sertari's Emilia Derkowska (QUIDAM)-like vocalise enters, it's very powerful--and could have gone on like a Clare Torey "Great Gig in the Sky"--but, instead, turns back into worded lyrics to set up another emotional instrumental passage that contains some very powerful steel slide guitar play. At 12:27 the full band (and arpeggiating orchestral banks) kicks back in to support more of Sertari's powerful singing. More emotional guitar, this time straightforward Dave Bainbridge-like, then more vocals (this time infused with an entirely separate, continuous Sertari vocal line going on in the background), and then another break for Irish tea and coffee at 15:15. This morphs quite gradually into a militaristic IQ-like motif containing some voice samples before emerging as another heavy instrumental passage in the 19th minute. "Glockenspiel," bass, and guitar power chords are quite effective here. A close-up whispered, "Are we dreaming" steps in at 19:13 to open the door to another very beautiful THE GATHERING with ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN passage. (As a matter of fact, the similarities of Sertari's performance here to that of Anneke and her "Big Sleep"/If?then?else-like performances is striking.) Back to bare-bones piano support around 20:15 while Sertari continues "dancing in the rain," but then she is joined by Troy Donockley's Uillean pipes and the rest of "the band's" rock rhythm section, eventually yielding to Troy's Irish folk instrument play, but then returning to the repeated "dancing in the rain" chorus for nearly the entirety of the song's final three minutes. (It actually ends with about a minute of Sertari's close-up voice whispering "tick . . . tock . . . " over and over.) Nice prog epic and easily my favorite song on the album. This is one epic that I will listen to over and over--and look forward to doing so with great anticipation each time--for a long time. (48/50)

Total Time 79:47

I'll give Ian some credit for he is surely due: he can play a very effective lead guitar solo, and he creates great theatric (bombastic) music for his vocalists to sing over; as a matter of fact, I cannot imagine any of the vocals present on this album to be nearly as powerful or dramatic without Ian's ADIEMUS-like music. (A little nod must here be given to Adiemus music composer, Karl Jenkins.) Unfortunately, this is just not the kind of prog that I enjoy--especially when an entire 80-minute album is put in front of me; one song at a time. Oh: and big respect to Sertari and her wonderful vocal and arranging talents.

A-/five stars; a flawed but excessively perfected adventure into bombastic symphonic rock that is brought to overall high esteem due to its three exceptional epics; the rest of the songs I could live without, but I have to give credit where credit is due: There is no argument that Ian and Sertari have crafted 48 minutes of eminently engaging prog. A minor masterpiece of progressive rock music. Check it out for yourselves!