A one-song progressive rock opera? With a short film expected later in the fall? Even before the Friday release of The MoonDaniel Romano’s project intrigued us!
Posted at 3:00 p.m.
The chirping of birds in the introduction places the listener in a contemplative state. But beware: the prolific Canadian songwriter and singer — seven albums in the past two years! – doesn’t care about the dozing ornithologist. It is indeed to the rock lover that this album is addressed.
Listening confirms this: The Moon is a historical study of progressive rock by its author — and his dozen acolytes, musicians and singers — or, at the very least, a nod to the great oratorio records of The Who (tommy, Quadrophenia) and The Kinks (Arthur — Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) — we also think of Jesus Christ Superstar.
However, we are far from these successes: in the game of comparisons with these great concept albums, The Moon suffers. This is normal, of course, but we would still have hoped that the result would live up to expectations. A few acrochordons disturb: the voice wavers on certain passages, the trumpets take up too much space on others and the violin strides a few times. The choirs and the percussions seem to us the two most interesting elements and would have deserved more light, whereas we would have preferred a softening of the synthesizers.
On the text side, Daniel Romano takes a look at his contemporaries, whose (in)actions are observed from a pink and positive lens. “Memory and Fate / And all that we create / Pale against the weight / Of the keeper”, he sings under a flight of electric guitars.
If we remained on our hunger on the musical level, we salute the masterful conception of this album on the part of Romano who signs here the music, the texts and the production. And we predict that The Moon will truly shine in concert.
Progressive rock opera
The Moon
Daniel Romano
You’ve Changed Records