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The Keith Reid Project The KRP – In My Head Review by Gary Hill One thing that needs to be dispensed with up-front is that I'm not sure that this is supposed to actually go under "The Keith Reid Project." I mean, "The KRP" does literally stand for that, but this seems to be released under the acronym instead of the actual name. Still, for the purposes of consistency, I'm including this under the full name. Onto the CD itself, this is definitely not a tight fit under progressive rock. There is a lot of variety here, though, and some of that variety is why I've landed it there. For one things, songs like the opener bring a real "art rock" vibe to the set. There are also plenty of things that have a lot of fusion built into them. Beyond that, many of the more mainstream rock moments are not far removed from a lot of modern prog. Whatever you call this, though, the music is effective, and the disc never fails to entertain. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) in Music Street Journal: 2019 Volume 4. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2019.

Track by Track Review

This Space Is Vacant Classical piano is the backdrop for a dreamy, artsy female vocal from Maya Saxell. This is pretty and so classy. This is not progressive rock, but is definitely art music. It's a sad song.

In My Head More of a rocking groove brings this in with a full band treatment. There is a decidedly psychedelic bent to it. It has some soulful rock and roll in the mix, too. You have to love a song that references Motorhead and Lemmy. This cut gets into some seriously rocking territory before its over and done.

Thieves Road There is definitely more of a melodic modern prog vibe built into this number. This gets into more of a driving blues rock jam style at times, but it's still a bit left of center in some ways.

Ten More Shows Built around a decidedly jazzy art rock vibe, this has both male and female vocals, but the female ones are the lead ones. There are hints of blues and even country here. There is a moody, evocative nature to the piece. The jamming on this just oozes cool. There is some great bass work and killer acoustic guitar soloing.

The Bank Of Worry Now, this thing is so cool. It has a real fusion vibe, but with some symphonic texture over the top. This one definitely lands it under prog because that's where we put fusion in general. The tune has great instrumental texture and a killer vocal arrangement with a real soulful groove.

The Trial Of The Century This lands very much in the vein of melodic modern progressive rock. The layers over the top bring a lot of class to the piece. Overall, it's kind of a straight-ahead rock tune, but there are enough proggy layers, particularly in the augmentation later, to keep it under a prog banner.

Back From The Brink Another piano and voice arrangement (with Saxell on vocals), this is similar to the opener. That said, the tone is less melancholy, and there is a jazzy edge here.

All I Need To Know This cut is quite pretty. It has some powerful melodies that really bring a lot of emotion to the piece. The tune gets more powered up as it continues. It's arguably less proggy than some of the rest, but still manages to have some prog elements at play. I love the keyboard textures on this, and some of the acoustic guitar fills are particularly noteworthy, too.

Dance With Me Here is another song built around Saxell's vocals and the piano. It's another that's artsy, but there are definitely classical and jazz things in the mix here. The jazz elements really take over later in the track. Some other instruments join for a time later, bringing even more of a fusion element to bear.

House Of Cards Fusion and modern prog seem to merge on this number. It does get some more mainstream rock sound added to the mix when the vocals join.

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