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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Gary Wilson

Tormented

Review by Gary Hill

When it comes to Gary Wilson albums, you pretty much know what you are going to get before you spin the disc. Wilson is considered one of the pioneers of weird music, and his music definitely qualities as weird. It often feels like something Frank Zappa might have created if his sound was based more on keyboards than guitar. Still, that's just one side of Wilson's sound. The thing is, as odd as his music is, it's strangely compelling and catchy. Even more importantly, it's fun. This album is no exception. It's definitely not progressive rock in the classic sense, but I can't see it going anywhere else.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) in Music Street Journal: 2020  Volume 2. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2020.

Track by Track Review
A Special Day
This is a strange, trippy kind of introduction piece.
Happy Birthday to My Girl
Bouncy, trippy and quintessentially Gary Wilson, this is fun tune. It has some tastefully strange twists and turns.
Life with the Sin Eater
Trippy and suitably strange, this is another introduction piece. It's short.
The Sin Eater
This one might be even catchier than "Happy Birthday to.." It's another that's a lot of fun.
You Looked Cool in Outer Space
There is definitely a bit of a Frank Zappa thing on display here. This is electronic, jazzy and really cool.
The Merry Go Round
The vocals on this are spoken. The music is cool, if a bit tentative and sparse. This is a classy short interlude.
Midnight and You
This number is so bouncy and fun. It's a good time.
The Wind and The Trees
This is just a short instrumental piece that has a lot of jazz built into it.
Gary Lives in the Twilight Zone
There is a fun kind of groove to this piece. I dig the classy, almost funky fusion styled keyboard work in the piece.
Frank Roma Is Tormented
This is just a short bit of weirdness with the title as the only vocal.
Where Did You Go
Bouncy and fun, this isn't a big change, but it's tastefully catchy and bizarre. There are definite Zappa reference points here.
Tormented
Spoken vocals with strange trippy jazzy music is the concept here.
It's Almost Midnight
More trippy Gary Wilson weirdness is on display on this fun cut.
You And the Choice
Weird layers of spoken voices are laced over the top of piano weirdness. This is sort of a brief connecting piece, but it's also one of the weirdest things here.
Where Is Linda
There is a lot of Frank Zappa in the mix on this tune. It's bouncy and fun.
A Sad Town

Wilson's voice starts this in a spoken way without any accompaniment. The track works out from there with the vocals still spoken. There are some powerful musical moments, but then later it shifts to real weirdness with strange processed voices and odd instrumentation creating almost a nightmare kind of element. There is a short movement toward more "normal" sounds for the instrumental closing bit.

 
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