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Reviews

Relayer — A Grander Vision
((Not on label) no#, 1995, CD)

by Mike Grimes, Published 1996-08-01

A Grander Vision Cover art

Walking a fine line between progressive and straight ahead rock, Relayer flirts with both these styles but never strays too far toward the progressive side of the spectrum. Vocalist John Sahagian sounds remarkably like Brad Delp of Boston – a really high tenor with a pure tone. Most of the music is in mid-tempo 4/4 time, without a lot of variation in dynamics or rhythm. This is the weakest aspect of the album. There are some great monophonic synth and guitar harmony solos illustrated in "The River," organs, a 20 minute song... much of the standard prog fare is there. However, even in the epic title track for example, about eight minutes pass by before there's a substantial change in the tempo or even the feel of the tune. It's not that the music is bad, but after a while the same parts don't seem interesting anymore. Actually, it's only on the last track that the band switches meters around. While changing time signatures aren't required to make interesting music, they can certainly help break up long sections of music nicely. A Grander Vision contains some interesting music. Hopefully, Relayer will expand their base of song structures for the next album. It would make all the difference.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 10, 1995 releases

Related artist(s): Relayer

 

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