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Paul Lesinski Across the Light Review by Gary Hill This album from Paul Lesinski brings together a lot of angles and influences into a release that feels cohesive. This nearly landed under progressive rock. There are quite a few prog tendencies at play here. I think it comes in closer to hard rock overall, though. There are no songs here that fail, and there are quite a few that stand really tall. The mix of sounds has elements that feel familiar, but it's also fresh and unique. This is quite an intriguing ride. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2024 Volume 3 More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2024.

Track by Track Review

Saving the Savior, Pt. 1 Trippy, somewhat echoey piano brings this into. There is a more driving, post rock or shoegaze type jam that emerges to accompany it later. The arrangement drops back for the entrance of the vocals, giving it a modern twist on arena rock.

Be Better Be Bold Less rocking, this has more of a singer-songwriter meets folk vibe to it. It has its charms, but I don't think it works as well as the opener did.

Show Me There is a real dreamy, space rock meets prog vibe to this. I really like this song a lot. It is definitely prog and leans on the folk prog side to some degree.

Intention This is a short instrumental piece of sonic weirdness. It definitely fits along the prog meets space rock line.

Across the Light I really dig the driving rocking sound of the title track. This has a good energy and some cool hooks. It has a modern hard rock angle along with some hints of old school glam rock. It does turn a little trippier and proggier later. The instrumental jam that ensues has some definite space rock angles. There is some killer keyboard work during this extended section, too. This piece is almost eight-and-a-half minutes long.

October Wind I dig the sound of this a lot. It has a modern rock angle along with some proggy vibes. In some ways the music reminds me a little of Nektar at times, but the vocals are not in line with that. I really dig the intricate guitar parts a lot.

Saving the Savior, Pt. 2 This is more straight-forward, hard rocking sound. It's a solid number, but not a standout for me.

Moment of Silence An instrumental, this seems to combine proggy things, hard-edged guitar music and arena rock. It's effective.

Your Last Song A balladic number built on intricate guitar for a lot of its run, this is another cool track. It's intricate and rather proggy in the first half. It has some tasty and tasteful electric guitar that comes over the top during the instrumental section. Piano takes it later to segue into a mellower, grounding style after the intensification of that electric guitar movement. More vocals return over a more full prog arrangement. It has some hard rocking angles, but I'd consider it modern prog as it works through. This is an epic piece that runs about ten minutes.

Right Day More of a pure mainstream rocker, this has some great hooks and works well. It's one of my favorite pieces here, really. It has some prog leanings, but is more mainstream rock overall.

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