Ian Parry Consortium Project IV: Children of Tomorrow Review by Gary Hill
There’s a whole host of albums that seem to walk a tightrope between heavy metal and progressive rock. This is one of them. Often times I see them landing more in the metal zone. Here I’d probably have to err more on the side of calling it progressive rock – but barely. No matter what you call it, though, it’s a hard rocking album with catchy anthemic choruses and great musicianship.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2010 Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
A Sign of the Times
Starting trippy, a bit like something from a science fiction movie, symphonic elements rise up and bring more of that sci-fi thing. Then some processed spoken vocals are heard along with sound effects. This sets the tone for a cinematic, political type song. After that ends, this powers out into some screaming hot heavy metal.
Nowhere Fast There’s still metal in this but it’s a lot less pronounced than on the previous number. There’s a definite Eastern air to this and a lot of symphonic elements are in place, too. It has a catchy chorus and I like this number a lot.
Neverland A hard rocker, this is very much in a modern progressive rock style. It’s got a lot of metal in the mix, but that’s common in the most modern form of prog. The chorus is catchy and tasty. There’s also a killer male and female vocal interplay segment that’s more in keeping with standard progressive rock.
Shadows The keyboards that lead us out here make me think of EmersonLake and Palmer a bit. As metallic guitar is added we’re more in a vein of Dream Theater. They drop it way down for the first vocals and rise up from there. Parts of this are quite metallic, but there’s also a lot vintage prog and even some classical music in the mix here. This is one of the more complex pieces on show and it’s also a highlight of the set.
Exodus More metallic and straightforward, this is a powerful piece. It’s not exceptional in terms of being different from the rest of the music, but it’s strong nonetheless.
Made In Heaven There’s a definite classical edge to this and it’s another strong progressive rocker with metal in the mix. Parts of this remind me of Queensryche, but there’s also an expansive instrumental movement that’s closer to Dream Theater.
Let the Wind Carry You Home We get no metal in this. In fact, there are few rock instruments in the mix here. It’s a symphonic cut that feels quite orchestral in nature. It’s still rock in the song structure, but the delivery has a new age element to it and a definite classical edge.
Enigma The extended intro to this is quite a bit like the one that opened the album. From there they power out into another killer metallic rocker. There might not be a lot of progressive rock in this mix, but it’s still present.
Mastermind I’d consider this one to be pure metal. Sure, it’s prog metal, but this one really isn’t progressive rock. That said, it’s still a great tune.
Path of Destruction A lot of this falls into a purely heavy metal treatment, but there are some sections that I’d consider to be progressive rock. While much of the album has the two styles merged throughout, this is more segmented in that aspect.
Children of Tomorrow Much of this is also straightforward rocker, but the closing section brings it more into a progressive rock vein. It does a good job of ending this in fine fashion.
