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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Giuseppe Paradiso & Meridian 71 Parallel Dimensions Review by Gary Hill The blend of sounds on this album is intriguing. It is a near perfect mix of jazz, rock and fusion. It's also varied, with no two songs coming close to sounding the same. There are some world music vocals at the beginning of the disc. After that, though, this is purely instrumental, even though it includes some incidental spoken voices pretty frequently. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2022 Volume 3. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2022.

Track by Track Review

Kaizen Atmospherics serve as the backdrop for a world music vocal. The cut turns toward dark electronic meets world music zones from there. A full world music meets fusion and progressive rock jam rises up from there. This really is dramatic, dynamic and powerful stuff.

Memories of the Future Piano starts things here, and that instrument holds things for a time. As this gets going the melding of hard rocking sounds and jazzy elements is seamless and classic. There are some spoken voices on this as sound-bites, in the background. Beyond that it's an instrumental piece.

Joriki Although there are some more incidental voices on this cut, overall it's a percussion solo. I'm not a big fan of percussion showcases, but this is pretty effective.

It's Only the Beginning Starting mellow, this builds gradually into something decidedly powerful and intriguing.

Parallel Dimensions I love the bass as this piece gets underway. More of those incidental voices are heard on this number. It's another cut that deftly combines jazz and prog elements. Overall it probably qualifies as fusion music.

Tony The closing piece seems to have some hints of sounds like early Santana. Yet the jazz fusion concepts are all over it, too.

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