Izvajalec: Life Line Project
Založba: Samozaložba
Izid: year
Trajanje: 105:03
Ocena: 4.2/5
Life Line Project so stari znanci nizozemske simfonične prog scene. Bend zaznamuje predvsem ganljiva zgodba glavnega akterja Erika de Beera, ki je bil pred časom diagnoziran z rakom in kratkim življenjem, nato pa so mu zdravniki sporočili napako in Erik de Beer se je navdan z življenjsko energijo posvetil rečem, ki jih ima rad. Nastal je Life Line Project, v kateri izraža vso svojo ljubezen, ne le do glasbe, temveč do življenja kot takega – glasba pa mu vsekakor predstavlja medij, skozi katerega le-to kaže.
Bend ima za sabo že precej impresivno diskografijo, ki kaže ogromno zrelost in konstantnost, čeprav komercialnega uspeha še ni in ga, roko na srce, glede na današnjo glasbeno sceno nikoli ne bo. Nenazadnje to tako ali tako ni cilj delovanja niti nekaj, k čemur bi Erik de Beer in preostali bend stremela. Zaenkrat je Life Line Project izdal že 6 albumov, ki se stilsko precej razlikujejo, čeprav še vedno venomer delujejo znotraj žanra progresivnega rocka.
The Journey, zadnji album nizozemskih progerjev, je zaenkrat najbolj ambiciozen projekt v njihovi zgodovini. Dvojni plošček, ki skupaj nanese uro in 45 minut glasbe, se razdeli na dva (epska) dela. Prvi, kar uro trajajoč konceptualni komad, se imenuje »The Journey To The Heart Of Your Mind«. Razdeljen je na 16 delov, ki se med seboj vežejo (poleg očitno iste tematike oziroma zgodbe) bodisi z vokalnimi prelomi bodisi z orkestralnimi eksplozijami bodisi s preprostimi, a prečudovitimi pasažami pihal. Običajni zasedbi se pridruži ogromno dodatnih, orkestralno usmerjenih sekcij (ki doprinesejo ogromno k simfoniki Life Line Projectovega progresivnega rocka) in gostujočih glasbenikov, še posebej pevk, ki odigrajo posamezne vloge v de Beerovi glasbeni zgodbi. Prvi del je sicer zelo vesele, lahke in pozitivne narave, večidel prežeta z durovskimi baladami in pravljičnimi melodijami, ki jih sicer sem in tja prekinejo žanrski odstopi (od soul in funk ekspedicij do klasičnih solo podvigov) v skladu s konceptom zgodbe in stopnjevanjem napetosti albuma. Center fokusa je neznana oseba, ki hodi po poti spoznavanja, predvsem pa iskanja samega sebe.
Največji forte same glasbe je zagotovo njena raznolikost ter dinamično menjanje melodije, ki še vedno nanese koherentno celoto. Nasploh navdahnjeni so recimo deli z orglami, ki jih mojstrsko upravlja Erik de Beer, saj so maestralno izpostavljene, še posebej produkcijsko, saj je njihova glasnost na solo delih višja kot na delih, ko igra po več inštrumentov. Stilsko se tako giblje, ne glede na zgodbo, od srednjeveške zvenečih aranžmajev vse tja do sintetizatorskih raztegljivih zvokov, ki dajo tisti moderni občutek glasbi. V glasbo se prikradijo celo nekakšni a capella deli, ki še poživijo že tako raznovrstno glasbo. Kljub morda občasni povprečnosti kompozicij in običajnosti progresivnorockovskega stila se to izgubi v impresivni zmožnosti menjanja stilov v tako kratkih intervalih, kot to počnejo na celotnem The Journey. Inštrumentalni deli so povečini celo močnejši kot tisti z vokalom, sploh takrat, ko drži vajeti v rokah Erik in ustvarja najrazličnejše ambientalne pokrajine z nešteto zvoki klaviatur.
Drugi del albuma se imenuje »The Narrow Path«. Ta se začne prav tako silovito kot »The Journey To The Heart Of Your Mind«, z ambiciozno inštrumentalno sekcijo, kjer ponovno prevladujejo klaviature in takšna ter drugačna poigravanja z efekti. Na tem drugem CD-ju je zagotovo glavna atrakcija istoimenska skladba »The Narrow Path«, epska pesnitev in skladba v enem, z nekaj najboljšimi deli in aranžmaji, kar jih je Erik de Beer kdaj napisal. Temačna, mrka melodija melotrona, z nekakšnimi tribal tolkalskimi deli ter prežečimi zvoki pihal. Grozljivo zborsko ozadje je v vsaki glasbi faktor, ki še poveča srhljivost v glasbi in popolnoma enak učinek ima tudi tukaj. Kljub vsekupni temačnosti skladbe se najdejo nekoliko bolj živi deli, sploh ob različnih solih de Beera, hkrati pa je zasnovano kot prvi CD – z nenehnimi vzponi in padci, menjavanji vzdušij, tempa, ritma, čustvene napetosti… inštrumentalno opisuje resnično vznemirljivo popotovanje. Tematika je slična prejšnji – še vedno sledimo nekakšnemu potovanju subjekta, tako notranjemu kot dejanskemu, ki je, kot je to že praksa v progresivnemu rocku, fantazijsko.
The Journey je z vsem povedanim resnično impresiven izdelek. Toliko porabljene domišljije na le enem izdelku, ki posledično vsebuje vsa možna vzdušja, stile, čustvene napetosti je le težko najti. Ko pa je komponist zmožen vse napisano združiti v neko dojemljivo in smiselno celoto, pa je to preprosto nepojmljivo. Seveda se najdejo kakšne slabe strani albuma – produkcija občasno zveni preveč plastična, besedila so nekoliko klišejska, zaradi dolžine imamo včasih občutek, da je kak del t.i. filler… vendar na koncu, po poslušanju, to niti ne šteje. Šteje le občutek, da smo ravnokar prehodili pot, po kateri smo boljši ljudje.
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Life Line Project is fairly well-known in the Dutch prog rock territory. The band is mostly characterised by the touching story of their leader, Erik de Beer, who was some time ago diagnosed with terminal cancer, but it was later on found that the diagnosis was a mistake and that Erik de Beer is not terminally ill. This gave Erik de Beer a newfound life energy and an urge to concentrate on thins he loves doing. Life Line Project is just that – something where de Beer’s heart truly lies, where he can express his love, not only to music, but to life as such, where music is only the medium for transferring his feelings.
The band has an impressive discography so far, which reflects their maturity and constancy, although there has been no commercial success so far and there will probably be none. But that’s not really what the band is about and what it cares for. The band has, so far, issued 6 albums, which are quite different in their styles, although they are always swimming in the same progressive rock ocean.
The Journey, their latest album, is probably their most ambitious project so far. Double album that lasts an hour and 45 minutes, consists of two (epic) parts. The first one, which is an hour long conceptual piece, is called »The Journey To The Heart Of Your Mind«. It is broken down into 16 tracks, which are intertwined (apart from the same subject matter and story) either with vocal breaks or with orchestral explosions or even with simple, yet beautiful passages of woodwinds. Many guests have been featured along with the regular group for this album, and these guests usually play the instruments that are suitable for orchestra and therefore bring a lot to the symphonic part of Life Line Project’s progressive rock. The first part of the album sounds quite festive, light and of positive nature, more or less full of ballads and fairytaleish melodies, which are here and there discontinued by various genre changes (from soul and funk expeditions to solo classical ventures) in accordance with the story’s concept and album’s tension. The focus is on an unknown person that is on a path to knowing themselves.
The band’s biggest forte is their diversity and dynamics of the melody changing which, no matter what, always sounds coherent. The parts with mellotron and organ are especially inspired, but that is always expected from the maestro Erik de Beer. Stylistically the parts change from Middle Ages-inspired compositions to the more modern-sounding ones with synthesizer being all over the place and such. There are even some “a capella”-resembling parts. Even though there are some pretty average parts in the terms of quality and some very worn-out progressive rock to be heard the listener hardly notices it as he is so indulged in the constant melody changes, which are really impressive. The instrumental part of the album is even better than those with vocals, especially where the focus is solely on de Beer and his musical ambiance.
The second part of the double album is called “The Narrow Path”. It begins as fiercely as the »The Journey To The Heart Of Your Mind« with an ambitious instrumental section, where the keyboards are again the dominant instrument. The main attraction on this second CD is definitely the title track, “The Narrow Path”. It definitely consists of some of the best work from Erik de Beer. Dark, brooding mellotron melody with some kind of tribal percussion parts and creepy woodwind sounds pervades all through the track. Horror-like choir sounds in the background add to the scariness of the song. The song, of course, consists of some brighter parts, as was expected, as every piece of music on the double album is never in only one mood. And the rest of the CD is in the similar fashion – with constant tempo, rhythm, mood, tension changes. A really exciting adventure. The subject matter is already familiar from the first CD – some kind of a search for inner self, which is reflected through real-life situations.
With everything said, The Journey amounts to a truly impressive work of art. So much imagination is needed to create such a product, so much imagination to create so many moods, tensions, styles etc. But when all these are connected into a coherent whole, you know that what lies in front of you is something hardly imaginable. There are definitely some poor sides of the album – its production sometimes fails and makes the instrument sounds a bit plastic, the lyrics are a bit clicheish, because of the album’s length there are some fillers. But in the end all that is meaningless. All that counts is that we have gone through a path that left us feel good.
Zasedba
Marion Brinkman-Stroetinga – vokal | lead & harmony vocals
Maruschka Kartosonto – vokal | lead & harmony vocals
Peter van der Stel – vokal | lead & harmony vocals (King Of Make-Believe)
Liset Dullaart – vokal | lead & harmony vocals (Miss Fortune)
Anja Sides-Dirkzwager – vokal | lead vocals (Does It Help?)
Johan van der Stel – glas | money making yuppie (Join Us)
Maarten Mol – glas | mad preacher (Join Us)
Elsa de Beer – flavta, glas | flute & Wendy the Brainless Rapper (Join Us)
Dineke Visser – oboa | oboe
Anneke Verhage – klarinet | clarinet
Lisette Harms – klarinet | clarinet (Forgotten Page)
Ada Bienfait – fagot | bassoon
Jody van der Gijze – električne in akustične kitare, vokal | electric & acoustic guitars, lots of harmony vocals & additional lead vocals
Iris Sagan – bas kitara, vokal, glas | bass guitar, harmony vocals & the socialist (Join Us)
Erik de Beer – akustični in električni klavirji, Moog, Hammond orgle, navadne orgle, harpsikord, sinetizatorji, različne kitare, mandolina, lutnja, kitaron, akustična bas kitara, vokali | acoustic & electric pianos, Moogs, Hammond organ, pipe organ,
harpsichord, synthesizers, guitars, mandolin, lute, chitarrone, baroque guitar,
acoustic bass guitar, lead & harmony vocals
Produkcija
Erik de Beer
Seznam skladb
CD 1: “Journey To The Heart Of Your Mind”
1. Blank Page (7:19)
2. The Journey Begins (4:57)
3. Join Us ! (3:49)
4. Doubt (1:29)
5. Fight The World (5:17)
6. Longing For My Childhood (4:46)
7. Interlude “Turn The Page” (0:55)
8. Bright Spots (5:17)
9. Envy (1:33)
10. Interlude “Dark Page” (1:00)
11. Miss Fortune (3:45)
12. Interlude “Forgotten Page” (1:30)
13. The King Of Make-Believe (5:16)
14. Free ! (3:07)
15. Credo (5:01)
16. The Last Page (5:07)
(60:17)
CD 2: “The Narrow Path”
1. Turn The Key (5:35)
2. Miniature 8 “La Mélancolie” (2:32)
3. The Narrow Path (11:57)
4. Monkey Business (2:56)
5. Happiness Theme (3:56)
6. Collage ’11 (3:08)
7. Miniature 6 “La Flegmatique” (2:24)
8. Does It Help ? (7:34)
9. The French Wrench (4:22)
(44:46)
