Chroma Key - Dead Air For Radios (1999)

In 1994, keyboardist Kevin Moore left, Dream Theater, a band he had been with since their inception in the mid eighties to take his music in a rather different direction. In Moore's departure, Dream Theater lost their strongest lyricist. His contributions to Dream Theater included Pull Me Under, Surrounded, and Wait For Sleep off their break-out Images & Words album and 6:00, Lie, and the beautiful and dark Space-Dye Vest which, in hindsight was Moore's final farewell to his band and provided a glimpse at the direction he ended up taking his music following his departure.

If one is expecting the heavy metallic crunch of Dream Theater, they'll be sorely disappointed as the direction Moore took was considerably different than the direction Dream Theater has gone since his departure.

In the wake of Moore's departure he's released 3 Chroma Key albums, collaborated with Fates Warning as a guest keyboardist, and released 2 OSI albums with guitarist Jim Matheos of Fates Warning and Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater.

Each of the Chroma Key albums offers something different, but his debut, Dead Air for Radios, is easily the most accessible. One can hear the influences of Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, and even Pink Floyd on many of the tracks of this beautifully ambient CD. Moore seamlessly fuses elements of seventies prog-rock with eighties synth-pop creating a sound that is distinctly his.

While Moore's voice is unremarkable, it's perfect for this style of music which benefits greatly from his understated vocal delivery. The one constant in the songs on this album is that each track isn't so much a song as it is an aural painting and Moore isn't so much a musician as a painter who uses your eardrums as his canvas. His music isn't mere music, it's entire moods. On his own terms, Moore is able to inject a certain emotional ambience that was never fully realized during his tenure in Dream Theater.

The only link one might hear to Moore's work with Dream Theater are his clever lyrics which are just as sharp now as they were then:

from America the Video:
"lost my head in my hotel room when the ground shook
had to choose between the bible and the phone book"

from Colorblind:"stopped in the shade of a road sign
when the sun rose like a bomb
tried to read the simple writing
but the letters came out wrong
it's all white lines to me
but things are getting clearer
i can almost read the writing in the mirror"

from S.O.S.:
"cry blackbird cry over the waves i hear you
coalcovered clouds white snow there they go
ice on your wings songless he sings i hear you
nowhere is home go alone there's a phone"

from On the Page:
"maybe i should write it first
and do the living later
'cause life is so much cleaner on the page"

The only weak spot on the album is the apocalyptic final track, Hell Mary, which sounds out of place in the context of the album as a whole. If you're bored of the same old same old, and looking for something new or different Dead Air for Radios is an excellent place to start.

Related Links
Chroma Key website (you can listen to a stream of the album in its entirety here)
Dead Air for Radios (All Music Guide Review)
O.S.I. Free (Review Revue)

Porcupine Tree - In Absentia (2002)

Steve Wilson is a master painter and his canvas is your eardrums. In Absentia is Porcupine Tree's U.S. debut. And finally it can be said that those of us on the far side of the pond are finally being exposed to what, up to this point, had been one of England's better kept secrets.

The Yes, Pink Floyd, King Crimson and Rush influences are unmistakable-- but when you mix all of those influences with Steve Wilson's imagination you get a new style, a new sound all its own.

There's a somber and ethereal feel to this album from start to finish, even when it verges close to metal on songs like Gravity Eyelids you still get that feeling that you're not just listening to the music, you're feeling it-- because one thing this album has an abundance of is ambience.

Initially I only "stumbled upon" this musical masterpiece after being exposed to Steve Wilson's guest vocals on shutDOWN on OSI's 2003 debut album. While that album is also wholly enjoyable (another review, for another occassion), shutDOWN really stuck out as being one of the best, if not THE best track on the album. I simply had to find out more about this Steve Wilson gent-- and where did that lead?

Straight to In Absentia! This band in general and this album in particular is not one that can be pigeon-holed. Mixing the styles of their prog-rock forebears and adding a strong ambient spin will almost get you there-- but rather than waste time trying to describe them, the best way to enjoy this band, and this album is to pop on a pair of headphones, close your eyes, shut up, and completely surrender yourself to the music. You won't be disappointed.