Classic Rock Bottom

A few days ago I posted a song from "A Chorus Line" on the FB page and received this response from none other than Scott Gabbert: "Broadway? Your rock fanhood has been tarnished and may never recover..."

It's a bit sad that someone (namely Scott Gabbert) would post something like that. There's nothing wrong with liking something outside the rock spectrum, especially something from Broadway. Some people (unlike Scott Gabbert) like broadening (pun intended?) their musical spectrum without any snide comments from those with their noses in the air (like Scott Gabbert). 

Therefore, this week's pick is the Original Cast Recording of "Leonardo: The Absolute Man", released in 2001. This should please Scott Gabbert since it's an Original Cast Recording as well as being a history lesson (which Scott Gabbert probably dislikes as well).

Just to be clear (especially to Scott Gabbert) this is an album about Leonardo da Vinci.

As usual, here's the review from allmusic.com:

"This rock opera began as a pet project of Magna Carta head Pete Morticelli, and was wisely entrusted to the very capable hands and ears of Trent Gardner (Magellan and Explorer's Club). In the works for several years, Gardner wrote and produced this massive project with the assistance of several supporting vocalists and musicians. Based upon the life of Leonardo Da Vinci, Gardner did a thorough job of researching his subject in order to create the appropriate concept, music, and required performances. The "group" is billed as an original cast recording in the hopes that this work may one day be performed on stage. The lead role of Leonardo is performed by Dream Theater vocalist James LaBrie, who is perfectly cast. His vocal and emotional range are exactly what is called for and he turns in one of his most memorable performances. The varying supporting players include such top-notch performers as Steve Walsh (Kansas), Michelle Young (Glass Hammer), and Lisa Bouchelle (Mastermind), along with several other Magna Carta artists. The music is steeped heavily in the prog rock tradition, but also includes an authentic amalgamation of classical, jazz, heavy metal, and pop stylings. Musical highlights abound, but among the standout tracks are "First Commission," a duet between Walsh and Young, as well as "This Time, This Way," another duet featuring LaBrie and Bouchelle. The towering task of mixing multitudinous performances into a cohesive whole was handled with flawless precision by the legendary Terry Brown. Similar in terms of approach and sheer magnitude to Arjen Lucasson's work in Ayreon, this rock opera avoids clichés and pitfalls by eliciting performances that complement rather than compete with each other. With Leonardo: The Absolute Man, Trent Gardner and the folks at Magna Carta were successful in creating their own Mona Lisa."

Maybe this album will change the mindset of all the Scott Gabbert's in the world. Probably not, but someone out there (the anti-Scott Gabbert's) may find something to enjoy.

Don't let Scott Gabbert's get you down!

Leonardo: The Absolute Man

1. Apparition
2. Aria For Italy
3. With Father
4. Reins Of Tuscan
5. Reproach
6. Mona Lisa
7. Il Divino
8. Inundation
9. Apprentice
10. First Commission
11. Mother Of God
12. This Time, This Way
13. Inventions
14. Shaping The Invisible
15. Introduction To Francois 1
16. Heart Of France
17. Sacrament

Availability: $4.00 used. Even Scott Gabbert can afford this.

 

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I am declaring December as Foo Fighters month....

Man that first track was like 28 minutes long!  Well, maybe it just felt like. Do they sell popcorn and hot tamales at these kind of shows?  The atmospheric feel of the first 3 tracks (which have a running time of 48 minutes) didn't do anything for me, and then the 4th track picked up a bit, but I'm not sure it was a good thing.  Track 4 is like 37 minutes long...

When is intermission?

Mona Lisa is like 124 minutes long.  Pretty darn artsy too.  I get a Post-Bat Out Of Hell Meat Loaf meets The Darkness feel...  I know, doesn't sound good does it?  Thankfully it picked up at the 86 minute mark because LaBries vocals were getting very repetitive.

OOOOHHHH a Harpsichord!  Why I don't know....

When is Intermission?

Apprentice is like 318 minutes long.  But at least it has some good geetar, not a lot of it but some...  For the most part its just that annoying crunchy riff over and over and over.  To this point this sounds more like a James LaBrie solo album than anything else. 

First Commission.  Its good to hear Walsh singing against an acoustic backdrop.  Something very familiar about that...

Mother of God!  Its intermission time!!!

So intermission was a little longer than normal...

This Time, This Way has a running time of 1,026 minutes.  Seems like this is much than the first act.  The duet was OK, but I do like Inventions musically.  Great keyboard work!!  I think this LaBrie solo effort should have become more of a Walsh/LaBrie collaboration than it sounds like.  The songs with Walsh work quite nicely while the songs that are all LaBrie feel different.  Shaping the Invisible for example, it drones for about 479 minutes before it picks up just ever so slightly into a more interesting song and then its followed up with some weird orchestral maneuver in the dark.  Maybe one would have to actually see the show to get this?

Who is that singing on Heart of France?  Please tell him to stop!  This has no end, it has a running time of infinity!  And it closes with a choir singing to rock music.  Hmmm... 

This was a fine attempt at poking fun at me, but my position on musical remains unchanged.  This is just not for me!

So.....you like it!

It had some moments, not many, but some.  Of the ones I did like, they all involved Steve Walsh.

SO you liked it too?

Finally, a meme I can understand.

I tell ya, this was nothin' special, but it was actually a decent listen for a rainy day.  Some thoughts:

Reins Of Tuscan has a bit to much going on vocally.

All of these ballads remind me of Dream Theater.

Mona Lisa has a decided Queen feel to it.

I totally prefer the instrumental passages here.  It's just a total mess vocally.

That's what I think.

You guys are pretty damn funny. Better at being funny than picking music. Well, at least this week....

Hey, I know....maybe if I tell Jon I HATE Big Jim Slade, King Karma, Ledfoot Messiah...he'll then post it? Reverse psychology, anyone?

Man, this one piano part on track 4 sounds like a kid messing around on it....

Track 6 DOES sound kind of Queen-ish...another reason not to like it....unless you want to rock to opera...

The first 20 seconds of track 9 sounds kind of like a Bigfoot with gas...now the vocals on this track are like some kind of angry crowd shout out...

Last but not least, Meow has it right. This music done skeered that cat plumb ugly....

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