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United Progressive Fraternity — Planetary Overload - Part 2: Hope
(ProgRock Essentials no#, 2024, 3CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-10-16

Planetary Overload - Part 2: Hope Cover art

When presented with an album like Planetary Overload, Part 2 – Hope, I just have to shrug and conclude that it wasn’t made for me. Who was it made for? If you made a Venn diagram where one circle was progressive rock fans, the kind who love the pseudo-classical trappings and grandiose orchestrations; the second circle is people who love the sound of Peter Gabriel’s solo albums, with their touch of funky pop; and the third circle is those who like sprawling concept albums about uplifting topics, sort of New Age philosophy couched in semi-science-fictional terms. Right there in the intersection is United Progressive Fraternity. For myself, I’m only in one of those circles (the second), and there’s not enough of that for me to sign up for this three-hour tour. I don’t doubt that everyone involved is completely sincere about their belief that a triple-CD concept album of progressive rock can change the world, but I also think it’s not just cynicism that puts me off about the whole thing. The international cast of musicians involved guarantees that everything will be completely competent on a technical level. Check out the list of artist links at the bottom of this review — it’s a veritable who’s-who of mainstream progressive rock from around the world. The main driving force appears to be the duo of Mark Trueack on lead vocals and Steve Unruh on a variety of instruments, with nearly 40 guests doing their thing. There are 31 songs stretching over three hours in length, and by the middle of track 4 I find my attention wandering. Yes, I agree that humans have a habit of trampling over natural systems without thinking of the consequences, and also a habit of treating each other abominably, and on occasion I think there might be hope we can emerge from the awkward transition period we’ve been in for the last ten thousand years or so into a future where we treat the world and each other better. And who knows, maybe singing songs about it can help it along a bit… but Planetary Overload is long enough to make me tune out. It’s like a sermon that makes some good points in the opening remarks and then goes on and on until the congregation has all fallen asleep. Are there some gems of songs in the midst of all this? Maybe — I couldn’t tell you. I nodded off.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Steve Hackett, Jerry Marotta, Colin Edwin, Elisa Montaldo, Ryo Okumoto, Rachel Flowers, Steve Unruh, Ben Craven, Don Schiff, United Progressive Fraternity

More info
http://unitedprogressivefraternity.bandcamp.com/album/upf-s-planetary-overload-part-2-hope

 

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