REDEMPTION

Mystery came to my attention in 2008 when their then current singer Benoit David (not to be confused with crooner David Benoit), was tapped to join Yes, after the departure of Jon Anderson. David would remain with Yes until 2012 when voice issues caused him to bow out. He remained with Mystery as well until 2013. I began to realize, however, that Mystery was far more than that. They are one of the finest modern prog-rock bands going, IMHO.

Mystery was founded in 1986 by guitarist/multi- instrumentalist Michel St-Père, and began releasing recorded music in 1992 with their debut EP. "Redemption" is the band's 8th full length studio album, and was recorded by the current line-up of: Michel St-Père, bassist François Fournier, guitarist Sylvain Moineau, drummer Jean-Sébastien Goyette, singer Jean Pageau and keyboardist Antoine Michaud. Johnny Maz is also credited with additional keyboards. (I may feature Mystery later on Scott's Spotlight [#scottsspotlight] where I take a deep dive into an artist's history.) St-Père wrote all of the songs except 2, which will be noted below.

Without further ado, let's jump in!

Track 1 - Behind the Mirror

The album kicks off with big chords, a melody and drum fills; a grand intro, indeed. Vocals join at 42 seconds with 7-8 rhythm underneath. Harmony vocals join on the second half of the verse. At 1:19 we return to 4-4 similar to the intro for the chorus. Jean Pageau is fantastic on the vocals! Another 7-8 verse follows, then there is a nice drum fill from Goyette leading to the next chorus. A bridge in a half-time feel happens following that. A guitar solo follows using the similar feel. I am not sure if it's St-Père or Moineau playing the solo (although I suspect it's St-Père), but it is a well-crafted melodic solo. Following the solo there is a nice big full-band feature leading to the next verse. At around 5:30, there is another fine drum fill, and then another big full-band section, very melodic. Pageau returns on vocals then there are fantastic harmonies on the line "walk behind the mirror," at around 6:05 and later on "breaking down the mirror." The song closes with more big instrumentation and a drum fill before the final note. The keyboards from Michaud have a big presence throughout, even though there wasn't a solo. Fournier was solid on the bass as well. Great dramatic album opener.

Track 2- Redemption

The title track begins in a minor key, with clean electric guitar playing an arpeggio-type of pattern, followed close behind with lead vocals. Very mysterious indeed ;). We are in a meter of 3. The bass and drums play occasional accents, to bring out the dramatic feel of the song. When the rhythm section fully joins in at around the 1 minute mark, it feels more like a 6-8 meter. I love the descending bass line, doubled by guitar. The second verse begins with the rhythm section maintaining the feel. Superb harmony vocals hit at around 1:30. Power chords join the soundscape at around 1:50 for the bridge and bring the dynamic level up. By 2:24, when Pageau sings "this is my redemption," the music takes on a bit of a Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy) " thing, but with a "gothic" style choir sound (possibly on the keys) joining in. This song is even more dramatic than the first one! Amazing drum fills throughout this portion of the song. Following that instrumental feature. The instrumentation eases off and Pageau returns on vocals singing "I'm lonely?" at 3:15, with the rhythm section dropping out, except to play accents. Harmony vocals on "should I be sorry," around 3:45 usher the rhythm section back in. At around 4 minutes, there are effects on the voices starting with "please forgive me?". There is an excellent build up, leading to the refrain of "this is my redemption" just before the 5 minute mark. The singing becomes call and response between the backing vocals and lead vocals here. It's really well done. The instrumentation is thick , but not so dense that it loses the definition of the individual instruments. Fantastic guitar fills on a scale-based lick at around 5:30. Following that the music bids up amazingly. , until around the 6 minute mark where everything eases back off and winds down to the ending of "so lonely?" Hauntingly beautiful track!

Track 3 - The Beauty and the Least

Drum fills kick off this mini-epic of over 9 minutes (it's the album's 3rd longest track). Then the band kicks in with a slow 4 ballad kind of feel with a melodic lead guitar line on top. The instruments quickly drop back out as the singing begins at around 20 seconds, with minimal instrumentation from an acoustic guitar and subtle bass. Just before the 1 minute mark, the melody takes an upward lift and then the rhythm section comes back in for another instrumental break with lead guitar on top and subtle backing vocals. The second verse has the rhythm section on board with some nice gentle keyboard parts. The next chorus has harmony vocals and bigger instrumentation. Another guitar solo with great atmospheric vocals behind it along with the band. At 3:30 Goyette establishes a new rhythm on the high-hat while there are clean electric guitar arpeggio lines. Fournier plays some nice bass over the top of that to add depth to the rhythm. Keyboards join next. Then lead guitar. There's a cool, simple but effective bass fill at around 4:35. There are overlapping guitar lines following next and the keys give a choral-vibe again. They fall into a repeating melodic pattern around 5:35 and the music keeps building with lots of great drum fills. The excitement continues to grow until around 6:05, when everything except for a keyboard line drops out briefly. The melodic ostinato returns following a monster drum fill a few seconds later. I wish I could hear them play live; I bet it sounds enormous! They begin to come out of this section at around 7 minutes, and ease things back down. Goyette establishes a new beat and then they begin to build up again, but then surprise, they don't! At 7:27, they stop kind of abruptly. They come back in just afterward with an entirely new feel with lead guitar on top. Pageau returns on vocals (remember him from the beginning of the song?) He hits a beautiful high note on "she smiles" at around 8:05. He hits it again, but this time with harmonies at 8:25 on the word "Tears". Lead guitar takes back over at 8:40. At the 9 minute mark it seems like it is going to let a final chord fade out, but no! There is an additional chord strummed smoothly after that to close it out. Amazing track!

Track 4 - Every Note

This one was written by Jean Pageau with his brother Marc, way back in 2005. It had been submitted sometime previously, but not selected for inclusion on an album until this one. Layered acoustic and electric guitars begin this one in a finger-style, folky manner. Pageau begins singing after about 15 seconds. Bigger sounding guitars, keyboards and bass enter at around 43 seconds. The song crescendos throughout the chorus and the drums enter for the first time, albeit only for a cymbal crash with bass-drum underneath it at 1:12. All instruments drop out briefly at just before 1:30 while the words "every note" are whispered. Following that, the rhythm gets steady with the rhythm section keeping a beat. A bluesy toned solo take plays along with that; sounds like the neck pickup of a Strat. Following the solo, Pageau sings in a lower register. Distorted electric guitar comes in, led by a fill at 2:09. The heavier guitar doubles the bass notes and the music becomes much bigger sounding on this chorus. Next, the distorted guitar bass and keyboards sustain chords while there are drum fills and a classical acoustic guitar solo. Coming out of that solo, at around 3:00, I hear what sounds like a real flute, but there is none credited on the album. If it's samples on a synth, it is very convincing. It plays along with the classical guitar, then?Bang! Big power chords hit and distorted electric guitars take over while the band accents. The sound is immense! Pageau comes back in then is joined with harmonies. By around 4 minutes things come back down and the classical guitar returns briefly, before the rock guitar comes back. Another big chorus returns. As has been the case with other albums I have reviewed in this series thus far, it is clear that every chorus is a performance unto itself. There is no cutting and pasting of previous parts here, as is the case in a large portion of modern pop music. Another, heavier, guitar solo follows the chorus, before the song begins to wind down .Fantastic, beautiful track! It was worth the 18 year wait. I have no idea what it sounded like in its original form, but the band gave it a full on Mystery-style treatment!

Track 5 - Pearls and Fire.

This one is about 20 years in the making. It was written a little at a time. St-Père had the music coming together, when a fan suggested he write a song about a French-Canadian soldier named Léo Major,,who fought in the Netherlands in World War II, thus inspiring the lyrics. It is the second-longest track on the album at just under 13 minutes. This one begins with dark sounding synth-strings and a high-hat rhythm. The vocals join at around 28 seconds. At 45 seconds the band hits big power-chords while Pageau continues singing. Then everything but a rhythmic synth drops out, before more power chords and vocals return. The music becomes more rhythmic for the next verse, until around 1:36 when he sings "remember?the ghosts of war stand behind!" with minimal synth backing. The rhythm returns after that. There is a fantastic unison run at 2:15, then everything abruptly changes! A quick shuffle beat takes over along with harmony vocals. A guitar solo starts around 2:40, followed by a brief keyboard solo just before 3:00.The rhythm changes again to a slower tempo and completely different feel at around 3:25 (it reminds me very slightly of "Little by Little" by Robert Plant in feel). Nice bass line here. By 4:15 it all changes again, as the beat accelerates and keyboards take the lead with a bit of an "Immigrant Song" (Led Zep) bass line underneath to give a galloping feel. Nice keyboard solo! Not super-flashy but fits the song nicely. At around 5:00, the final note of the keyboard solo sustains along with the underlying chords and the vocals return with an effect onboard. Nice chord changes underneath. On the second time around some strummed clean guitar chords compliment what was happening, then another layer of guitar with a rotary effect joins as well. Nice arranging! Then while the sustained chords continue, a guitar solo takes over. (I wish I knew which guitarist was playing where to give credit where it is due.) There are some nice Yngwie Malmsteen style arpeggios in this cadenza of a solo. Well done! Rhythmic synths and high-hat establish a rhythm at around 7:00, then the guitars and bass hit with a wallop at 7:15. High-drama here. It almost sounds like Pink Floyd but heavier. Goyette and Fournier lay down an almost funky groove that has my head bopping at around 8 minutes. Another synth solo, presumably by Michaud, comes in over that. Then the guitar harmonizes along with the keyboard lines. By 9 minutes they go into a more "half-time" feel with a fantastic guitar solo. The half-time feel continues as the vocals come back. Nice harmonies at 9:55. Nice key and tempo change at 10:35. They return to the previous feel following that for another chorus. But at 11:24, the beat picks back up. It changes back again at 11:45. The alternating tempos are very effective. By 12 minutes we are getting to the big finish with a melodic guitar that is then harmonized the second time around. Massive keyboards and drum fills galore underneath up until the final chord. An instant prog classic!

Track 6 - My Inspiration

This is the 4th longest track at 8:24. It begins with crystal clear acoustic guitar arpeggios with a subtle keyboard part. The vocals begin at 20 seconds. The vocal melody is very nice! The rest of the band comes in at 1:06 with a moderately slow steady rhythm. Nice transitional chords between verses. Some crunchy guitar joins at around 2:30. Synth choir sounds enter around 2:54. A bridge in a minor key begins at 3:20, with only the acoustic guitar and vocal. Clean electric and synth-strings join in as well. There is a brief interlude between rounds of the bridge,The music begins to build again at around 4:27. It gets HUGE at 4:43. A keyboard solo follows with a wonderful descending chord progression underneath in 6-8 time. Then at 5:25 the vocals return and the rhythm changes subtly. The choir sound returns by 6:00. There are a few brief seconds of Wakeman-style keyboard flourishes before the music comes back down around 6:25. Acoustic guitar, vocals & keys take over again, then bass joins. There is a drum fill then. The band kicks back in full-force and a final chorus is sung with phenomenal harmonies joining at 7:25. Keyboards solo over the closing segment, or at least I thought it would be! They tricked me again with a quick tempo and the return of Wakeman-style keyboards with 15 seconds remaining which does lead to the ending. Marvelous track!

Track 7 - Homecoming

This one was written by keyboardist Antoine Machaud. Like Pageau's song earlier, it was submitted some time before this album was recorded and finally chosen for inclusion. It is the shortest track at 5:10. It begins with some wind chimes and clean electric guitar arpeggios. Pageau's vocals are doubled an octave below when he enters. Cymbal rolls provide nice atmospherics. There are some great harmonies along the way and the first verse uses a delay effect at the end so that the phrase "good bye" echoes several times. The rhythm section kicks in for the second verse. The "good bye" trick returns for the end of this verse. As the instruments pause. Then a bass fill brings the band back for a guitar solo. Another pause follows that solo, but at 2:40 the music becomes more rhythmic and the guitar solo resumes. Vocals return with this rhythm continuing, singing in a higher register and harmonies. The "Good bye" echoes out again, but this time the beat remains steady and a keyboard solo takes over. Another round of "good bye"s mark the transition from keys to guitar again. They do it again, but this time it signals a rhythm change at 4:49 as the song comes to a close with a final, softer "good bye" that echoes out.

Track 8 - Is This How The Story Ends?

I don't know about the story, but this is how the album ends? with a 19 minute + epic, of course! Mystery carries on a frequent prog tradition with the "closing epic." It begins with accented power chords and a melodic guitar line. By 10 seconds though, they settle into a groove that reminds me a bit of the Flower Kings. A tasty guitar solo leads to a change of rhythm to a quicker feel. The guitar plays a repeating motif. A keyboard solo follows.At 1:28 however, they give us a nice proggy odd meter. (5-8 I believe). At 1:50 a variation of the earlier motif returns. The opening segment comes to a close at around 2:42 with a sustained chord. A chimey electric guitar strum takes over (possibly a 12-string) with lots of echo and almost underwater effects. Some acoustic 12-string lines play over that. Vocals join at 3:15. Excellent use of a harmony part echoing a lead vocal line happens at around 3:45. The 12-string acoustic layers nicely with the electric one before a drum fill brings the rhythm section in at 4:05. I hear a bit of Hammond-style organ in the background. The verses in this section are ending with the line "Don't think too much about it," much like Rob Thomas sings the line "or else forget about it," in Santana's "Smooth," not in vocal tone, but in the way that line stands out from the instruments. Around 5:20 a guitar solo takes over, with a slightly David Gilmour feel (that's a compliment). A chorus follows and then things change again at 6:30. A rhythmic synth line takes over, then smooth, clean, electric guitar chords are strummed over the top. At 7:04, the rhythm action kicks in with distant lead guitar lines and a spoken word part. They lock in and start rockin' at 7:30! However, an ascending chord progression follows and leads to more vocals. They get into a steady groove as this section continues. The rockin' riff is used for the turn around between verses here, cool! A new melodic variation hits at around 8:55, modulating to a higher key and the turn-around riff return in that higher key. They modulate up again at around 9:44! A solo distorted electric plays the turn around at a little after the 10 minute mark. Then the band kicks back in. They REALLY hit a hard groove here! This is cookin'! They tone the riff down slightly and Pageau sings another verse. GREAT vocals here when the riff amps up again. Another verse follows. Lovin' this! At 12:15 they go double time into 7-8; progtastic! At around 12:45 that section comes to a close and then there are sustained power chords with amazing drum fills. Goyette is a top-notch drummer! Then they hit a short accent chord and Pageau sings a capella for a line, to transition to a more easy going feel. I love the harmonies when they sing "it's just another train passing by?". Following that, they go back to the "Don't think too much about it," motif. Then there is a new part, at 14:12 where a piano and light electric guitar takes over. Pageau joins in on vocals; this part is like a piano ballad. Between verses, there is a melodic guitar part. The rhythm section enters at 16:11. Now it's a little more mid tempo rocker. It is leading up to a grand ending. A melodic guitar solo follows. Interesting chord changes to end the song. WOW! What a ride! Amazing epic!

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

As with when I listened to it before, I am very impressed! There is not one thing that I would change about that album. It is top-shelf modern prog from the beginning to the end! Mystery deserves much more recognition. St-Père has assembled a fine group of musicians and really delivered here. An easy 5 out of 5 Stars.