per·fec·tion
/pərˈfekSH(ə)n/
noun
- the condition, state, or quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws or defects."the satiny perfection of her skin"
That's the google definition of the word "Perfection", yep, i copy and paste it and post it here instead of just taking aprint screen and making this post a little more pretty, why?, because i'm a dumbass.
But going to the point, i think this defition needed another item, this item being the album we're going to talk today.
My name is Ricardo Augusto Pereira dos Santos, it's easter's week, that jolly holiday were we supposedly celebrate the rebirth of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ, but what everyone actually wants is to buy giant eggs made of chocolate that cost 3 minimum wages and that doesn't even have a toy inside it, of course there's also that super cool meetings, like BBQ's or Dinner's or christian rites that last an eternity, but of course you can't do it that year because, someone ate a bat almost two years ago, and now your president is trying to make sick people sniff vaporized malaria medicine.
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| Every year, we brazilians pay between R$40 and R$110, on what's essentially this, but without the toy |
In other words, you will have to eat your glamourized, toyless kinder surprise alone, but you can also read my blog, and see my new yearly easter series. CLASSIC OR BASIC.
In this series, i analyze older albums, i make a review of them, and them i say if they're...well, a CLASSIC, or if they're BASIC. I think the point is very well explained.
Then you may think. AMAZING, WHAT I GREAT IDEA THAT TOTALLY ISN'T A RIPOFF FROM ANTHONY FANTANO'S CLASSIC WEEK, but now just a question, what album will you talk today??
And my answer is: Have you watched Jojo??
Jojo's Bizarre Adventures is a manga created by Hirohiko Araki in 1987, that manga is released to this day and tells the story of the Joestar family, which every member of said family starts their names with "Jo", which is why the manga is named "Jojo", i may be wrong, i never read or watched it, but you get the point, so, in 34 years that manga got many animes, be they anime series, or anime movies, the most known of them being the most recent, released in 2012 and made by David Production, that show got really popular on the west (due to being very memetic) and also got very popular in japan, so popular that new seasons are still being released to this day.
Ok now you may be asking me, "why are you talking about Jojo you worthless weeb", well, in the first season of the anime, that tells the story of the first arc, has as it's ED an western song, that's not very common in anime, and it's because Araki loves western classic rock, and always puts reference in his manga, and yada yada yada, NOBODY CARES.
That western song was "Roundabout" from british progressive rock band Yes, that song comes from the album Fragile, it's an excellent album, it has a great production, many amazing songs, great instrumental parts, pretty good vocals, it's a great symphonic prog album, that shows how good this genre can be, also, we're not going to talk about this album.
We're also not going to talk about the next album,Closer to the Heart, which is also amazing, and it's their most acclaimed album by both fans and critics alike, and just to kill your curiosity, no we're not going to talk about the NEXT album, Tales from Topographic Oceans, an album that is very controversial for taking an entire lifetime to end, despite having only 4 tracks.
Today, we're talking about the NEXT album, and this album is Relayer, AND FOR THE LOVE OF MY DEAR GOD, THIS ALMOST PERFECT.
We start with the first song, "The Gates of Delirium", a song that i honestly can't be only described as ABSOLUTELY FUCKING PERFECT, the lyrics are inspired by Lev Tolstoy's War and Peace, and it's a great reflection on just how fucked up war can be, on how it is destructive to the people involved in it, it's honestly a pretty heavy song lyrically, plus some of the lines are VERY, well written, which really makes this song something else, the rest of the song is just as great, it has amazing solos, great vocals by Jon Anderson, the last part of the track, "Soon", is simply gorgeous, "The Gates of Delirium" is truly one of the band's best songs, one of the best progressive rock songs of all time, and a song that i can't describe as anything but perfect.
Slightly less perfect, but still perfect, is the next song, "Sound Chaser", it's a great and very technical and epic song, it has INSANE guitar solos, amazing drum playing, in fact, the entire album has an amazing drum playing, Alan White is an amazing and very underrated drummer, good vocal performances, although they may seem a little too quiet, good bass. It's also a very heavy track for a Yes album, having a Mahavishnu Orchestra-like sound, with jazzy drums, and technical guitar playing, anyway, it's an amazing track, with great vocals by Jon Anderson (although, as i said, they are a little too quiet), i really like the "Cha Cha Cha Cha" in the song's ending, the lightest part is gorgeous, and i love the heavier aspects and subgenres of prog rock, so this a 10/10 to me.
The last track, "To be Over" is a ballad, which, i admit, takes a while to click, it has 9 minutes, it's slow, it's admittedly the least amazing track of the album, it's not only until the ending, when there comes that beautiful, hypnotic melody, and that honestly sells this song for me, that melody that comes like a pulsating heart in the right speaker of my headphone, this part shows how good the production of this album is, and how good it sounds in a headphone, so, all in all, it's not the best song in the album, but it's also a pretty great track, and i really love the ending, which closes this album perfectly.
As i said right now, the production is amazing, it doesn't have the best mixing, but you still can listen to the album perfectly in it's entirely, The instrumentals are amazing, Alan Walker is a great drummer that unfortunately is always stuck in the shadow of Bill Brufford, Steve Howe is a fire guitarist, the solos and riffs from this album are just simply astounding, Rick Wakeman's keyboards really make a big difference in the album's atmosphere, and what to say about bassist Chris Squire (RIP), which can be only described as a simply perfect bassist.
Jon Anderson has not the best voice in the world, and not the best prog vocalist, his voice sometimes comes off as too high pitched and too high, and many times his vocals are buried in the backing vocals, but still, i think he does a great job here, the songs work well with that lower vocals, i honestly don't think this album would be so good with other vocals, i think Anderson is essential to the band, and to this album.
And that was Relayer. WHAT AN ALBUM, really, can i say anything other than this album being almost perfect, of course there's some problems in the mixing, and the last song is not as perfect as the other two (despite having an eargasmic ending), but still, it's just an astounding work, i reccomend it to everyone who's starting on Yes or on Prog Rock, i give it a...
NOTE:9.6/10 (IT'S A CLASSIC)
If you liked that review you can Subscribe to my blog and share it to your friends who you think that may be interested on reading this review, you also can subscribe to my twitter and to my ko-fi, but of course, that's only if you like it. Well that's it, and BYEEEEE
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