Okay, let’s get this thing off my chest right off the bat – when Kevin Moore left DREAM THEATER in 1994 and was replaced by Jordan Rudess, it took me quite a few years to get my head around the change of keyboard style. I mean, while Moore was no stranger to rapid-fire keyboard runs, Rudess did go one louder in this respect and, then, I must admit to not exactly having been the greatest fan of Rudess‘ choice of synth timbres at times (c’mon, you simply do not try to emulate the electric guitar – or worse, the acoustic! – with the keyboards, man!) Over the years, I could not help noticing, however, that every time Rudess featured as a guest on other artists’ albums or played with his other supergroup LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT, he used to drop nothing short of haunting keyboard chops almost as though suggesting that he needed tight reigns to pull his best stuff. So, due to this rather ambiguous relationship I have with his musicianship, I have not dared to pick up on his solo endeavors – until now. The thing is – his new solo album “Permission to Fly,” set for release on September 6th, 2024, via InsideOut Music, is his 20th solo effort overall! I probably would have skipped it altogether, had I not accidentally been exposed to a teasing video clip of the song, “The Alchemist,” recently. It won me over, instantly. I sure like the thick HAKEN vibes of the song! So, I thought that if this was anything to go by, I probably shouldn’t skip this opportunity to review the whole album. Well, then, how does it fare?
Starting from the song above, its plus-8 minutes of progressive black magic sure pack some quantum punch with all those mind-bending riffs and soaring melodies, resonating by turns with the thick air of vintage YES and HAKEN. Vocalist That Joe Payne does a magnificent job, especially with those rapid, odd-meter lines. It is hard to resist the temptation to dub this particular track the best song Rudess has ever written – yes, even without being familiar with his previous solo stuff because this song is simply progressive metal at its finest. Maybe this 9-minute epic should have been released as the first single off the album instead of the piano-driven prog anthem, “Embers,” but that’s just, like, my opinion…
Rewinding to the beginning of the album, “The Final Threshold” sets the bar rather high right from the start by way of throwing a somewhat DREAM THEATER-like curve ball of riffs. The opening riff even recalls the vibe from their 1989 debut “When Dream and Day Unite,” so maybe the styles of Rudess and Moore aren’t really that disparate, after all. Then, as if to further pronounce this, the follow-up 9-minute prog epic, entitled “Into the Lair,” even recalls CHROMA KEY on occasion – the band that Moore joined after leaving DREAM THEATER back in the day. I mean, considering the kind of prog mayhem Rudess is famous for, this song comes off rather restrained.
Speaking of which, “Haunted Reverie” turns out to be a smooth cross between Steven Wilson and JOURNEY, adorned with a good few jazzy guitar licks, courtesy of guitarist Steve Dadaian, I believe. The album features two guitarists, with Bastian Martinez contributing solos on two tracks – “Into the Lair” and “Embers.” There is a short video on Rudess‘ website shedding some additional information about the choice of guitarists – what I found the most interesting was the part where Rudess admitted that, despite having some spectacular VST-guitar sound libraries, those virtual guitars did not sound organic enough for this particular project. So, there you have it! The less Rudess tries to sound like a guitarist, the more I like his keyboard chops.
I reckon Rudess handled the bass parts himself since the press release did not disclose any information about this department. Some of the riffs sound pretty bad-ass and, judging by the sound of it, the somewhat power-balladeering “Shadow of the Moon” even features the fretless bass – not bad! The funky riffs in “Eternal” shine, in particular. The interplay of the bass, guitar, and keyboards works wonders in the verses – and while the keyboard solos are consistently superb, the brief, staccato solo in this track sounds particularly spirited. So, it seems that, once again, the longest tracks stand out the most.
Delightfully enough, there aren’t too many power ballads on the album, although there are ballad-like sections in quite a few of the songs. There is only one song that could be dubbed a straight-up ballad – “Footstep in the Snow.” It is also the one song that might take some time to get my head around as I am notoriously not on good terms with ballads. That said, the album closer, “Dreamer,” is yet another slow-tempo-ish track but it is more like an instrumental outro and a highly cinematic while at it. So, overall, the ratio of ballads with this effort is a rather good one.
Who would have thought that one of the most famous prog-pyrotechnicians – or notorious, depending on your view on these things – would release perhaps the biggest positive surprise in 2024 so far? I guess the 2021 album, “A View from the Top of the World,” by DREAM THEATER was foreboding, in a way; these elderly statesmen of progressive metal seem to be aging like fine wine. Moreover, “The Alchemist” is one of the best prog tunes released this year. In the words of Dr. Ian Malcom from Jurassic Park, ”You did it. The crazy son of a bitch, you did it.”
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Final Threshold
- Into the Lair
- Haunted Reverie
- The Alchemist
- Embers
- Shadow of the Moon
- Eternal
- Footstep in the Snow
- Dreamer
Lineup
Jordan Rudess – keyboards
Darby Todd – drums
That Joe Payne – vocals
Steve Dadaian – guitars
Bastian Martinez – guitar solo on tracks 2, 5
Label
InsideOut Music
