The famed author Kevin J. Anderson with the help of Shawn Gordon, the president of ProgRock Records, brought about an interesting new release - book/CD crossover project Roswell Six. It's not so surprising once you think about it - a lot of music has been inspired by science fiction and fantasy and vice versa a lot of stories have been inspired by music. With his wife Rebecca Moesta, Anderson adapted the storyline for this first TERRA INCOGNITA album from his new novel "The Edge of the World". I have to admit I haven't read the novel yet, but hearing this album awoke my interest (I'll try not to give away anything from the story on my review though).

Music on Roswell Six is composed by the acclaimed keyboardist/composer Erik Norlander (Rocket Scientists, Lana Lane), who also handled the production duties on this ambitious project. This record features some of the finest talent in the progressive rock scene with performances by Michael Sadler, James LaBrie, Martin Orford, Gary Wehrkamp, Lana Lane, John Payne and David Ragsdale among others. While this is a good thing in the sense that the performances are top-notch, the super star setting also hinders this project since it raises one's expectations to very high level. Sadly the songs are of varying quality - at times they complement the storyline perfectly and are nicely adventurous, but there are also moments when the soundscape is somewhat monotonous and unsurprising (especially to those who have listened to Norlander's past works a lot). Perhaps this was intentionally chosen in order to put the main focus on vocals and the stories being told instead of flamboyant music that could have been more inventive, intense and diverse.

After several listens sadly the most memorable moment of this album is Here Be Monsters' hookline, which is reminiscent to that of Kashmir (by Led Zeppelin) - probably because it was revisited also in the end (track 13, the Edge of the World). On a sidenote, the outro track actually revisits most of the album's melodies. Production-wise this album is fairly good, although at times when there's a lot of instrumentation going on the dynamics suffer and the mix loses detail. Despite these weaknesses, Roswell Six is worth checking out - it's fairly unique project among the traditional concept albums and definitely should please the fans of the star line-up as well as those interested in new musical experience.

Visit Artist's MySpace Website


- MAGE (June, 11th 2009)

« back

LINE-UP:
LaBrie, James: Vocals Sadler, Michael: Vocals Lane, Lana: Vocals Payne, John: Vocals Norlander, Erik: Keyboards Barabas, Kurt: Bass Quirarte, Chris: Drums Wehrkamp, Gary: Electric Guitars Brown, Chris: Acoustic and Additional Electric Guitars Ragsdale, David: Violin Alvarez, Mike: Cello Orford, Martin: Flute Anderson, Kevin J.: Lyrics Moesta, Rebecca: Lyrics
Producer:	Norlander, Erik
Mixing by:	Norlander, Erik
Mastering by:	Brown, Chris

	TRACKLIST:
	01. Ishalem 02. The Call of the Sea 03. I Am the Point 04. Letters in a Bottle 05. Halfway 06. Anchored 07. Here Be Monsters 08. The Sinking of the Luminara 09. The Winds of War 10. Swept Away 11. Beyond the Horizon 12. Merciful Tides 13. The Edge of the World Length: 72:39