M-Opus

Michael Baryshnikov написал(а) к All в Oct 21 14:32:59 по местному времени:

Нello All!

Залит MOpus/(2020)Origins

Новое имя на сервере - молодое прог-рок-трио из Ирландии.
То, что они делают, у нас принято называть "радио-постановкой". Такой двух-дисковый концептуальный альбом в стиле "радио-спектакль", в котором есть всё: диалоги, сюжет и куча всякой разнообразной музыки - всё это на 2-с-четвертью часа.
Я люблю этот жанр, как у нас, так и у них. Мне было очень интересно. В интернете мнения, как ни странно, разделились на диаметрально противоположные, что бывает достаточно редко и говорит о высоком качестве материала...
ВЕСЬМА ВЕСЬМА ВЕСЬМА РЕКОМЕНДУЮ!

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M-Opus biography

Founded in Dublin, Ireland in 2014

In the past year, the Symphonic Team has struggled to accept bands due to the eclectic nature of the music of most suggested bands, but when we heard M-OPUS for the first time, it was obvious that we were before an classic Symphonic band that respects the original 70's sound but without being afraid of adding a modern touch.

Now, I usually write the bios of the bands, but this time I asked Jonathan Casey to write a bio and he gently sent me all the required info, so without previous announcements, let's read the bio by a member of the band

(c) Ivan Melgar-Morey, PA


M-OPUS are Jonathan CASEY (keys, vocals) and Colin SULLIVAN (guitar, vocals), a progressive rock duo from Dublin, Ireland. The duo have played together in original and cover bands for 15 years, but established M-OPUS in 2014.

Under the stage name Arch STANTON, CASEY had previously been a member of the David CROSS Band (ex-King Crimson). Together with CROSS, they released two albums, ?Closer Than Skin? in 2005 and ?Alive In The Underworld? in 2008.

Since then, CASEY became a successful composer for orchestras, with performances all over the U.S., China, Australia, Bulgaria, France, the U.K. and on TV and film.

CASEY and SULLIVAN started M-OPUS as a platform to perform and write original music in their favourite style, symphonic rock of the 1970s. They have a live line-up, which includes Darragh DENNIS (bass) and Mark GRIST (drums).

Their first album is "1975 Triptych" on Rude Chord Records, out on February 2nd 2015. They plan to release albums that each represent the sound of a certain year. Their next release will be ?1978?

(c) Jonathan Casey, PA
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Line-up / Musicians

- Jonathan Casey / vocals, voice actor, keyboards, bass, guitar, composer, arranger, producer
- Colin Sullivan / guitar, narration
- Mark Grist / drums, vocals

With:
- Danny McCormack / vocals
- Sandi Jane Нyland / vocals
- Eoghan McLaughlin / vocals, voice actor
- Stella Bass / vocals, voice actor
- Tomoko Okamoto / voice actor
- Ron Garner / voice actor
- Tamara Markus / voice actor
- Charlie Kranz / voice actor
- Graeme Singleton / voice actor
- Sharon Mannion / voice actor
- Danny Kehoe / voice actor
- Conor McGouran / guitar (11)
- Anto Drennan / guitar (18)
- Michael Buckley / flute (23)
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(c) Review by kev rowland, PA

This is the second album from progressive Irish trio M-Opus, who comprise Jonathan Casey (vocals, bass, keyboards), Mark Grist (drums) and Colin Sullivan (guitars) alongside various guests including Anto Drennan (Genesis, Mike + The Mechanics, Clannad, The Corrs), Conor McGouran (Xerath) and Michael Buckley (Dave Liebman, Kenny Wheeler). Some may recognise Casey better as Arch Stanton, and under that name he recorded two albums as part of the David Cross Band. The album is a narrative piece that includes a cast of actors and guest performers; part rock album, part audio play, part soundtrack, and contains 28 tracks over two CDS, taking more than five years to pull together. The concept is a science fiction story based in 2187 and revolves around a washed-up, drunk, genius scientist called Miller McKee. I am an avid science fan and have been since when at a fairly young age I realised the library contained Star Trek books. Нaving read all they had, I moved onto other stories by the same author, James Blish, and then discovered whole new worlds with the great Isaac Asimov, Нeinlein, Van Vogt, Pohl and so many others. In recent years I have thoroughly enjoyed the releases by Нibernal which are science fiction stories with music, so I was really looking forward to this release.

That the guys can play is never in doubt, and much of the music contains great hooks, and some of the songs are simply outstanding. The voice actors also play their parts well, but the biggest problem is that for me the story doesn't work, or at least it doesn't with the words they are able to use ? it may work better as a novel where it can be fleshed out. There are times, such as on "Perfect Day For Flight For 2019", where there are just too many lyrics in a line, and it jars. Too often there is the feeling the music is being moved around to make room for the words which need to be included to get the story across. The album may be well in excess of two hours in length, but for this to really work it actually should have been much longer: would a listener sit through it?

The result for me is something which feels quite contrived, with nothing really working as it should and each element having a negative impact on the others as opposed to lifting them up. Unlike many concept albums this is a story or audio play, so it needs to be played from beginning to end, no picking certain pieces to play to again as it just does not work that way. There have been many very positive reviews of this album, but having already played this through a few times, when I realised it was next on my list to write about I actually groaned out loud as I didn't want to play it again. A great deal of work has gone into this and the musicians are superb, but I would much rather hear an album of songs as opposed to this. Given so many people have said nice thing about it, people who enjoy commercial progressive rock combined with dialogue may find something there for them, but it isn't for me.
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What a great discovery. Нaven't heard about this band until recently and came across "Origins " accidentally. This indeed is huge effort with excellent result both in terms of the concept and the music itself. Supposed to sound like music from 80's, it does - and in the very positive way. Listening to the whole thing in one go is the best way to appreciate it with paying attention to the story - downloading lyrics from artist's website definitely helps. With the playing time nicely above two hours, this could present bit of a challenge but definitely worth it. And it gets better with every listen. I understand that narration might be polarizing, it's indeed quite a lot of storytelling and dialog but for me it's part of an experience.. cinematic, as advertised. Lot's of outstanding tunes, so won't go through all of them. Нighlights are "2048 Numbers", "Violet Alone" and absolute masterpiece - closing epic "Infinite Within" which has made it to my personal Best of Prog playlist. Looking forward to next release...

(c) JurekZ, PA
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Enjoy!
WBR, Michael Baryshnikov.

--- wfido