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Rick Armstrong Infinite Corridors Review by Gary Hill I feel like I'm really late to the party on this artist. I have to admit that I've not heard of him before. I should be ashamed of that for a couple reasons. First, prog head that I am, it seems that his name should have come up before. He's apparently pretty well known around the prog scene. The fact that there are guest appearances by Tony Levin, Steve Rothery and John Mitchell on this album really brings that home. The thing is, I'm also a real space geek. It turns out Rick Armstrong is none other than the son of Neil Armstrong - yes, that Neil Armstrong. I can only imagine what growing up in that household must have been like. Well, this is quite an intriguing release, with or without all that background information. It lands in the zone of things like Synergy and other similar electronic artists. It's effective from start to finish, too. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2021 Volume 3. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2021.

Track by Track Review

Hypernova There is a symphonic, space meets electronica concept to this piece. This is along the lines of the kind of thing you might expect from Synergy and acts like that.

Infinite Corridors There is a spooky sort of angle to the electronic textures here. A sense of mystery is on the menu for certain here.

Subduction Zone While this isn't a huge change, the drama and majestic symphonic textures work well. Mystery is on the agenda here, too.

The Lost Sea Suitably the sound of waves is heard on this piece. There is a real spacey angle to the music, though. This is trippy, mysterious and dramatic.

Chaos Theory I'm reminded of Kraftwerk in some ways, with some Hawkwind-like electronic music and Synergy in the mix.

Sunstorm More classy electronic music is delivered here. There are some things that have rather powerful and unsettling vibe, including something that almost sounds like some huge monster. There is a great spacey quality later. It seriously dissolves into pure space at the end.

Timespiral There is a lot of drama and cinematic quality to this piece.

Among the Ruins This does feel like some kind of exploration. There is a heavier, almost rock based concept to this along with a real symphonic (yet still electronic) feeling.

Shifting Sands I: Day II: Night At over 11-and-a-half minutes of music, this is the epic of the set. It starts with a reasonably mellow movement and gradually rises upward via electronic exploration. This evolves quite organically and gets very powerful at times. It's an effective closer.

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