MAJOR PARKINSON – Valesa - Chapter I: Velvet Prison
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I had my first encounter with Major Parkinson’s music five years ago when they released their excellent fourth album Blackbox, for which I gave a maximum rating of ten points, mostly because it was quite different from their previous and also very good albums. Now they are back with Valesa - Chapter I: Velvet Prison, another huge step forward with the hope that we will get a Chapter II in the future, and yet this time I “only” give nine points out of ten. Why is that? Although Valesa is a consequent move into the new direction, and comes with some of the band’s best moments ever, I sometimes wonder if a little less would have been more. The album comes with seventeen songs that make it to one hour of music. We get a little bit of everything: long epic tracks, shorter radio friendly moments and a lot of short pieces where you never quite know if they are to be considered miniatures or interludes. The concept behind the album are the Eighties, and it is filled chockful of pop references: Whitney Houston, Cindy Lauper, Queen and many more, and even some references to seventies arena rock: Journey, Boston, Kansas. A big fun part of the album is to discover these nods to the musical past. The album itself is very sophisticated and just as demanding. You have to listen to it several times before you have unlocked most of its secrets. The opener Intro offers a carnivalesque start into the album, and the first regular track Behind The Next Door is not so different from what was on the band’s earlier albums: a vocalist with a deep gravelly voice that reminds me of Tom Waits and bands like Shoulders and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, a melancholic melody and a rousing finale. The following Saturday Night shows Major Parkinson from their new pop side. Guest vocalist Linn Frøkedal (Misty Coast, The Low Frequency In Stereo, The Megaphonic Thrift) contributes more than ever and uses her magnificent voice in many different and always charming ways. After this sweet and sad pop song, we get a short piano instrumental before Live Forever shows the band from its most epic side. This seven-minute track feels like a sonic short story with many different movements and a pounding techno finish. Sadlands is a very short piano ballad, Intermezzo is a stranger interlude, and then things continue with Jonah, a soulful piece with gospel backing vocals. The second half starts with Velvet Moon, with steam organ and mellotron offering a very nostalgic moment. Irina Margarita is another more epic song that offers many different parts during its five minutes running time. The House is a dark and gloomy piece which only gets its momentum in its second half. The Place follows instantly, starting with another eighties reference, and again ends in a more upbeat and maybe angry fashion. Then we get a strange trio of two-minute songs. Posh-Apocalypse is a weird electro track with distorted electro vocals, whereas MOMA is some kind of fast paced punk song with sensual female vocals. I have never heard the name Picasso uttered in a sexier way! Lemon Symphony feels like the soundtrack to steampunk comedy from the early twentieth century, and then we get close to the end. Fantasia Me Now! is another great track that combines the progressive expansiveness of Major Parkinson with their newfound love for pop music. The album ends on a dark touch with the outro Heroes, and then it’s all over, letting us wait for the second chapter of the story. I truly enjoyed spending time with with Valesa - Chapter I: Velvet Prison, although sometimes you wonder if there are not too many experimental tracks between the band’s longer pieces. Major Parkinson are in my opinion still a progressive rock band, but they disguise under a layer of eighties synth pop extravaganza. Pop fans will find this too weird, whereas prog fans with a really open mind will see that Major Parkinson are a band that is steadily moving forward. |
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17 songs |
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60:16 minutes |
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***** **** |
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Genre: progressive rock / eighties pop Label: Apollon |
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