Member:
JLucky
Date:
3/8/2006
I bear no shame in admitting that I love concept albums. In doing this review I couldn’t help but think in terms of themes. And for my money nobody does a concept album as well as keyboard players do. So it should come as no surprise that two of my favorite Oliver Wakeman albums would be Jabberwocky and The Hounds of the Baskervilles. Oliver Wakeman’s new release Mothers Ruin, however takes a decidedly different approach and ventures more into the realms of hard-edged melodic rock.
This time around there’s more of a band approach to the compositions, a band consisting of Rick Wakeman’s eldest son Oliver (keyboards, acoustic guitar), Moon Kinnaird (vocals), David Mark Pearce (guitar), Tim Buchanan (bass), and Dave Wagstaffe (drums). As a unit this is a pretty tight group, the playing is skillful and precise. It sounds like they’ve worked together for years.
All nine tracks for the most part fall into the four minute range. The three longer tracks clock in at six, eight and ten minutes each and all were composed by Oliver Wakeman. On the surface, individually each of these songs is well composed, well arranged, and well executed. Each seems to provide ample opportunity for the musicians to each have a crack at the spotlight. Any one of them could have made an appearance on either of the two previously mentioned concept works. The overriding wealth of keyboard sounds is naturally the result of Wakeman’s instruments of choice. There are times where the sounds he coaxes out of his keyboards is more than reminiscent of his fathers playing style. But that’s a good thing, because he adds his own personality to the work.
I mentioned earlier that these compositions more accurately fall into the hard-edged melodic category, and that’s certainly true of the shorter pieces. The three longer compositions allow for more of the progressive symphonic aspects of composition to shine through. These three pieces while still melodic tend to change time and tempo slightly but more than anything convey a multiplicity of moods and atmospheres. All of which tends to highlight the straightforwardness of the shorter pieces.
I started out referencing concept albums. To my ears more times than not, the concept is the glue that holds the elements together particularly it seems when it comes to keyboard players. The overriding theme is what moves the ear from one song to the next. Without a theme or concept you have a collection of songs, and while each of the songs is well done, there isn’t the same impetus to listen. I say this is true particularly for keyboard players and I’ve felt much the same way about Rick Wakeman’s solo efforts. The ones that work for me are the concepts. And yes I realize this may be a very unfair responsibility to place on keyboard players, but that’s the way my ear works.
That’s not to say there isn’t a lot to appreciate here, not at all. As mentioned, Mothers Ruin is a well crafted collection of songs and a worthy addition to Oliver Wakeman’s catalog. It’s just that to my ears this collection of songs doesn’t provide the same pleasure as the two concept works I mentioned above. I’ll be first in line for Oliver Wakeman’s next concept work.
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