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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Paul D’Adamo Tell Me Something Review by Gary Hill There are quite a few Phil Collins and Genesis covers on this disc. Of course, since many of the musicians playing here were part of Collins’ band and Daryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson both played in the live version of Genesis, that makes sense. This disc is great. There’s plenty of AOR, progressive rock and fusion throughout this thing and all the performances are great. I’d have to say that the version of “Entangled” here actually rivals the Genesis original. If the disc wasn’t enough (and it is) there’s a DVD included that gives an inside look at the making of the disc. This comes highly recommended to Phil Collins and Genesis fans, but also to anyone who likes great AOR based rock music with a lot of jazz in the mix. It just doesn’t get much better than this. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2012 Volume 3 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review

Tell Me Something Some retro sounding keyboards start this. Then vocals along with the bass bring it into a funky kind of fusion jam. This is a real killer. There is an awesome groove to this as it works through several changes, but retains its general musical concept. There’s a tasty saxophone solo.

Long Long Way To Go Penned by Phil Collins, a mellow motif opens this with a sound that’s almost symphonic. It turns to a rocking style from there. While there is a lot less jazz on this, we get some smoking saxophone playing. There’s also a David Gilmour-like guitar solo. In fact, in some ways this makes me think of Pink Floyd. It’s a great tune.

Miss You Lyrically, this really feels like something Phil Collins might write. It’s an original D’ Adamo composition, though. This is perhaps less progressive rock and more AOR with a big dosage of jazz. It’s a tune that’s accessible and tasty.

Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore Here’s another Phil Collins tune. It’s got a lot of jazz built into it, but also plenty of rock. It’s a great piece of music that would fit well on AOR radio.

Entangled Here they turn their attention to a Genesis tune. It’s always been one that I’ve liked a lot. I have to say that this rendition really works well. I might even like it better than the Genesis version. It’s pretty faithful, but yet has its own textures and nature in terms of the sound of the piece. This is worth the price of admission all by itself. I particularly enjoy the jazzy jam later in the song. It’s the biggest departure from the Genesis version.

Woman Like You While there is an Island element to this piece, it fits well into the AOR style. This is an accessible tune that’s very classic in its hooks and delivery. This feels like it could have come out of the late 1970s in a lot of ways.

Please Don't Ask Here we get another Phil Collins tune. There’s a real jazzy element to this treatment. It’s evocative and powerful and, despite the sedate nature, one of the highlights of the set. Even though it’s essentially a ballad it has some powered up moments.

Like It Or Not Another song from Genesis, this is a more rocking number. It’s pretty mainstream pop rock in nature, but there’s enough prog on the table to keep it interesting. The guitar solo segment is particularly noteworthy.

Constant Change While there is definitely an AOR element to this, it really has some of the most soaring progressive rock of the whole set. I really like this a lot and the guitar soloing over the top is classic. Somehow some of the later music here feels almost Beatles-like in certain ways. It’s a powerful tune that’s one of my favorites here.

Guide Vocal Another cut from Genesis, although there is some processing on the vocals, and multiple layers, this is done without instrumentation. It’s a cool way to end the set and somehow has quite a different flavor from the original.

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