Published on Aug 3, 1998
I think we’re nearing the saturation point of progressive-rock
supergroup collaborations.
Oh, it was cool when Bozzio Levin Stevens put out their effort
last year (and I do hope rumors of a second collaboration between
them are true). Then there was Rudess Morgenstein Project last
year. Levin’s teaming with Bill Bruford was also a welcome addition
to this year’s releases. By the time Liquid Tension Experiment
(featuring Mike Portnoy and Jordan Rudess) hit the market, I was
starting to wonder if we were experiencing too much of a good
thing.
Now comes the mother of all supergroups, Explorers Club,
featuring Bozzio, Billy Sheehan, Dream Theater’s John Petrucci (who
also took part in Liquid Tension Experiment) Derek Sherinian and
James LaBrie, just to name a few. And while musically this is a
solid disc, it does seem to mark for me the fact that the
supergroups are beginning to get a little out of hand. (I could
name all the performers, but that would take a lot of space in the
review. For a complete rundown of the players, check out
Magna Carta’s web
site.)
How can I say this? Well, frankly, it’s very hard for me to tell
on these five songs who is performing what vocal or solo. Is that
keyboard work being handled by Sherinian, Matt Guillory or Trent
Gardner (Magellan)? Who did that vocal: Bret Douglas (Cairo), Matt
Bradley (Dali’s Dilemma), LaBrie, D.C. Cooper (Royal Hunt) or
Gardner? Some fans of prog-rock will probably declare me ignorant
for this reason; I guess I’d have to agree with them. But while I’d
really like to know if that was Steve Howe handling the guitar work
(the acoustic work from Howe and the nylon string guitar work from
Frederick Clarke sound quite similar to my ears), in the end, it’s
the music that matters more.
Ah, the music. For progressive rock,
Age Of Impact is nowhere near as bombastic as some might
have expected it to be. The overall feel of the music is quite
good, ranging from all-out rock (“Fate Speaks”) to more
introspective works (“Fading Fast”, “No Returning”). Lyrically, I
was not able to follow the preparation of man to step into the new
millenium and the pitfalls that await. (Obviously people are more
concerned about the Y2K computer glitch than I thought.) Pity –
this might have been an interesting concept, had it been a little
clearer in the presentation.
Age Of Impact could be considered a concept album, as pieces
tend to blend into each other, and everything comes full circle to
a point in the album’s closer “Last Call” before it musically
branches out into its own unique voice. And, unlike a lot of
progressive rock albums I’ve listened to, if you’re not paying
attention, it will be finished before you’re even aware that 53
minutes have passed. In this aspect alone,
Age Of Impact stands out from some works I’ve listened to
over the last decade.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against progressive rock,
nor am I against the creation of supergroups in the field. However,
after seeing so many of them in the last twelve months, one wonders
if Explorers Club should mark a moratorium on such pairings for a
while, lest the whole concept get real stale real fast.
Age Of Impact is a solid effort from some of the genre’s
most talented musicians, and even though you need a scorecard to
figure out who’s playing which part, it’s still very much worth
checking out for the musical knowledge that emulates throughout the
disc.