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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Red32

Red32

Review by Gary Hill

This act is a crossover prog group. Their self-titled album has a lot of variety. At times this is dark and heavy. Yet it also gets more pop-oriented. They manage to capture a lot of sounds in between those extremes. This is not classic prog rock, but it is art music and definitely fits in the modern prog movement.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2023  Volume 5 More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2023.

 

Track by Track Review
Burn Into The Sun
Driving in right out of the gate, this is dramatic and hard-edged. I'm not sold on the vocals, but the music works well. The vocals work better on the choruses, though. This gets pretty edgy and almost metallic. The instrumental break gets intense, and there is a section later with a spoken vocal that is effective.
Evil Never Sleeps
The vocals work better on this than they did on the opener. This is a hard rocking, classy prog tune. It's definitely modern prog, but some of the instrumental breaks bring some more classic prog sounds.
A Place To Call Home
I really like this a lot. The bass work is pretty crazy. The whole song has a less moody vibe. This is closer to traditional prog. For some reason, some of this actually makes me think of things like Jean-Luc Ponty.
Light Bearing Creatures
More in line with the last song in terms of light-versus-dark, this has a DIY element at play in some ways. It's bouncy, and somewhat pop oriented, but also prog-oriented.
Flow
This is intriguing. There are mellow keyboard vibes that are trippy and spacey. The thing is, if you take those away, this is almost a modern slow R&B song. I'm reminded of OutKast as much as I am space rock.
The Very First Band In Space
Some of that OutKast reference is valid here, too. This has more of a bouncy prog pop kind of sound at its heart, though.
Mean
This feels mean. It is harder rocking, dark and edgy. This is very metallic, but also has some trippy stuff that reminds me a little of 90s era King Crimson. This is such a crazy and unique track. It's decidedly prog, but also heavy and dark.
Slow Burn
I love the slow moving, but dramatic and powerful arrangement on this. The evocative guitar solo is a great touch. There are hints, but just that hints, of Pink Floyd on this song. This is very much a melodic prog piece, but it's also dark and moody.
Space Rider
There is a trippy, electronic space groove to this cut. Flute adds something special.
Tribute
This is literally what the title says. It explains the name of the project and who it is dedicated to via spoken part over some mellow music.
 
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