All Over Everywhere Inner Firmaments Decay Review by Gary Hill
The music of All Over Everywhere is definitely progressive rock. That said, the rock part is often hard to find. Many times the music is closer to classical or chamber music. Still, they rock out when they want to. It’s definitely more in a traditional progressive rock sense, rather than neo-prog. The music at times crosses paths with the greats – Genesis, Yes, King Crimson and, of course, Renaissance. In many ways Renaissance is the most obvious because of the female vocals. This is a great album, however you slice it.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2010 Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Art of the Earth
Intricate and powerfully pretty music makes up this track. It’s sedate, yet involved. The arrangement is lush and reaches upward. I can see comparisons to old Genesis and also to Renaissance. It gets an infusion of energy and power as it continues and twists a bit towards weirdness (but not so much that it falls anywhere outside standard progressive rock territory).
Endless Night There’s a more rock oriented presence to this number. It’s got hints of Celtic music at times. Again, the comparisons to Renaissance show up, though – mostly based on the vocals. They take it through some changes and the sedate becomes more prominent as it continues. The closing section makes me think of Yes.
The Shroud As this comes in, the mellow side of King Crimson comes to mind. It turns more mysterious as it continues, with perhaps some Genesis added to the mix. As it continues it becomes quite dramatic and rather classical. This is one of the more exploratory pieces and it comes close to RIO, but still manages to be more grounded than that. It is really very much in the realm of chamber music more than in rock. That said, there are parts that make me think of Yes. The arrangement really soars towards the end.
Honesty A more balladic cut, this reminds me of the mellower side of early King Crimson blended with Yes and Renaissance. It’s quite a pretty number. This moves slowly, but it does build and get more involved. Around the three minute mark it rises up more into rock music realms. It’s still a smooth balladic piece of prog, though.
After All The Years Coming in tentatively, this quickly gets more of a rock element added to the mix. It grows in very dramatic ways that seem to combine Genesis and Renaissance with a more classical music approach. Later the track turns out into an intricate and twisting kind of progression that’s very classical in nature. When the vocals return I’m reminded of Yes.
On a Dark Street Here we get another sedate and balladic number that’s quite intricate and pretty.
Until The Sun Begins to Fall There’s more of a lush prog rock texture to this intricate and powerful piece.
Gratitude At over ten and a half minutes of length, this is the longest number on show. It’s got a lot of the musical elements of the rest of the album, but it is all taken to new levels. I definitely make out Yes and Genesis at different points along this ride. The powerful jam that ensues later is very much like a cross between Genesis and Yes with some King Crimson and Renaissance thrown into the mix. It’s one of the most rock oriented points on the disc and gets very involved and powerful. They definitely saved the best for last. This thing is just plain amazing. The jam that builds later in the piece to serve is particularly Yes-like and really calls to mind the Going For the One album to me. The resolution from there also makes me think of Yes as does the outro.
