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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Pablo Embon The World Within Review by Gary Hill This is a fusion album. It has a nice mix of sounds within that heading. Of course, at MSJ we generally put fusion into prog because really, it’s just like jazz prog that lands more on the jazz end. There are no weak tracks here. It never feels tired or redundant, either. It’s just an effective musical journey from departure to arrival. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2016 Volume 2 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review

The World Within This is killer fusion groove. It works through a number of shifts and changes and has some exceptional melodic moments.

Last Falling Angel While piano drives the start of this piece, violin really creates a lot of the soul later. It has a bit of a world music vibe at times.

Amor Latino Including a bit of a percussion excursion mid-track, this is another excellent bit of smooth fusion. It has a bit of a world music vibe, but it doesn’t really feel stereotypically Latin to me.

Coming Back There are no big changes here. Instead, this is another effective fusion piece.

More For Less In a lot of ways, this makes me think of Pat Metheny. I love the keyboard sounds, but the melodic guitar soloing really shines, too.

The Ride Home With more classy guitar soloing, this is another tasty piece of fusion.

Leave the Lights On More of a pure jazz vibe permeates some of this. I really love the bass solo mid-track. This is just such a classy piece. Given the competition, that says a lot. It does wander into some more proggy fusion territory later, though.

The Moon for You The piano drives a lot of the melody on this more traditional jazz number. The violin comes over the top later to deliver some intense melodies, too, though.

The Real Thing Here is another killer dosage of fusion. I love the groove to this. The keyboard sounds and the guitar soloing are both great. The keyboard jam near the end is particularly noteworthy.

Distinctive I’m not sure how “distinctive” this is, feeling like the kind of music we expect by this point. That said, it’s very effective.

Fly Away Here’s another that makes me think of Pat Metheny. It’s another strong cut on a disc without weak music.

What I've Heard There is a bit of a martial vibe to some of the percussion here. This number works really well, but it’s not a huge change by any means.

Peeling Off This piano solo is energetic. It has some great melodic moments, but also moves towards dissonance at times. It wanders between classical and jazz territory.

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