In another thread Frank asked for a translation of the review, published on Progwereld.nl. Well, "your wish is my command", so here it is:
Hopefully an iO Pages-review will follow soon, if you know what I mean Frank
Oblivion Sun
The High Places
I always think it’s incredibly remarkable that by hearing the first notes of an album you can recognize who’s the artist or band. In the early days that was possible with for example The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. To stay in our own progressive field, that rapid recognition was there with Supertramp (that little, restless Wurlitzer piano), the old Genesis and Yes.
In front of me now lies an album from a band on which this applies too: Oblivion Sun. “Huh…” I hear you’re saying, “never heard of”. But the hardened progressive rock-lover, who’s not afraid for more complex music and also has a trained prog-ear, is familiar with the band-name Happy The Man for sure. Oblivion Sun should therefore be seen as a continuation of Happy The Man. In fact we only miss Kit Watkins, the keyboard-player who once replaced Peter Bardens in Camel, but who’s now sitting behind the controls.
After the eponymous debut from 2007 particularly guitarist Stan Whitaker and keyboard-player/saxophonist Frank Wyatt have once again successfully produced a very fascinating album with high-quality progressive rock.
What should I write about this sublime album? No, first I’ll give the floor over to someone who is much more capable in doing this than I am, colleague Wouter Bessels, who wrote the following line about the debut-album from Oblivion Sun:
“Oblivion Sun is without question one of the progressive highlights from 2007. An album on which melodic themes are handled in an authentic way and on which musical clichés aren’t under discussion. A group that might cause a sensation on stage, which I hope will come one day. I think it comes as no surprise to the readers that this is obliged stuff for Happy The Man-lovers, while other interested folks will get a CD which ensures American progressive rock in all its greatness.”
And yes, this goes exactly the same for this album, “The High Places”, excellent musicians, fresh compositions and an optimal production. On this album you’ll get served more than forty minutes prog from the highest level. You do have to play this silver disk more than once in your CD-player, before the music makes a click in your head though. The only exception is the track March Of The Mushrooms, which sounds very Celtic, has a beautiful melody and is provided with guitar on a Camel-like way.
In fact you can’t compare the music from Oblivion Sun with anything else, but maybe you’re waiting for that a little bit anyway. Well, think of a mix of our own Solution, the old harder work of Steve Hackett and King Crimson with a light prog-sauce Iluvatar on a base of Supersister, or are this idiot references?
The soprano-saxophone from Frank Wyatt fits perfectly into the music from Oblivion Sun, while the same man also shines on the keyboards. Guitarist Stanley Whitaker plays the stars from heaven on both acoustic and electric guitar. And what to think of the compositions, seldom you’ll hear such a unusual combination from the chord-playing. On this album Whitaker is also the singer and actually I’m not taken with this very much. In this case it would have been better if the old hands had hired a guest-singer.
To sum up, it may be stated that we have an album of very high quality with a recognizable own sound. And that is extremely clever in these days in which all pop-music is feeble and similar. For me “The High Places” from Oblivion Sun is already one of the highlights from 2013. And hopefully this company will once show their arts on our continent, because you can be sure I’ll be the first in line.
Joop Klazinga – www.Progwereld
The High Places
I always think it’s incredibly remarkable that by hearing the first notes of an album you can recognize who’s the artist or band. In the early days that was possible with for example The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. To stay in our own progressive field, that rapid recognition was there with Supertramp (that little, restless Wurlitzer piano), the old Genesis and Yes.
In front of me now lies an album from a band on which this applies too: Oblivion Sun. “Huh…” I hear you’re saying, “never heard of”. But the hardened progressive rock-lover, who’s not afraid for more complex music and also has a trained prog-ear, is familiar with the band-name Happy The Man for sure. Oblivion Sun should therefore be seen as a continuation of Happy The Man. In fact we only miss Kit Watkins, the keyboard-player who once replaced Peter Bardens in Camel, but who’s now sitting behind the controls.
After the eponymous debut from 2007 particularly guitarist Stan Whitaker and keyboard-player/saxophonist Frank Wyatt have once again successfully produced a very fascinating album with high-quality progressive rock.
What should I write about this sublime album? No, first I’ll give the floor over to someone who is much more capable in doing this than I am, colleague Wouter Bessels, who wrote the following line about the debut-album from Oblivion Sun:
“Oblivion Sun is without question one of the progressive highlights from 2007. An album on which melodic themes are handled in an authentic way and on which musical clichés aren’t under discussion. A group that might cause a sensation on stage, which I hope will come one day. I think it comes as no surprise to the readers that this is obliged stuff for Happy The Man-lovers, while other interested folks will get a CD which ensures American progressive rock in all its greatness.”
And yes, this goes exactly the same for this album, “The High Places”, excellent musicians, fresh compositions and an optimal production. On this album you’ll get served more than forty minutes prog from the highest level. You do have to play this silver disk more than once in your CD-player, before the music makes a click in your head though. The only exception is the track March Of The Mushrooms, which sounds very Celtic, has a beautiful melody and is provided with guitar on a Camel-like way.
In fact you can’t compare the music from Oblivion Sun with anything else, but maybe you’re waiting for that a little bit anyway. Well, think of a mix of our own Solution, the old harder work of Steve Hackett and King Crimson with a light prog-sauce Iluvatar on a base of Supersister, or are this idiot references?
The soprano-saxophone from Frank Wyatt fits perfectly into the music from Oblivion Sun, while the same man also shines on the keyboards. Guitarist Stanley Whitaker plays the stars from heaven on both acoustic and electric guitar. And what to think of the compositions, seldom you’ll hear such a unusual combination from the chord-playing. On this album Whitaker is also the singer and actually I’m not taken with this very much. In this case it would have been better if the old hands had hired a guest-singer.
To sum up, it may be stated that we have an album of very high quality with a recognizable own sound. And that is extremely clever in these days in which all pop-music is feeble and similar. For me “The High Places” from Oblivion Sun is already one of the highlights from 2013. And hopefully this company will once show their arts on our continent, because you can be sure I’ll be the first in line.
Joop Klazinga – www.Progwereld
Hopefully an iO Pages-review will follow soon, if you know what I mean Frank
