Some of the best albums take you on a journey; not necessarily based around a concept but take you on a journey of self-discovery. This is one such album. If you're into Prog Rock, cock rock, or Justin Bieber, (maybe not the latter, but "hey!" it's not for me to judge what you listen to) there's something here for you.
Forgive me if you're expecting an album review full of platitudes about time signatures, chord changes and vocal dexterity - that's not going to happen here, after all, I'm not a music reviewer. This is about how the album makes me feel, and the content.
I'd drafted something in my head, a week or so back. I didn't get around to writing it until now and I wonder if "fate" intervened; because the last few days have been horrible. Nothing nasty has happened to me, but it feels like it has. I feel like I've lost someone close to me. A dark cloud has cast it's shadow over the land, perhaps the world. It's always been there in the form of famine, war, injustice and so on. I haven't dodged the bullets of loss over my life, just earlier this year losing what I class as a close friend. But these last few days have focused my attention on our journey more than ever, and then I found I hadn't written my thoughts on this album. (If you're sticking with this, I do get to a point).
Cycle of Life was written through a maelstrom of adversity, you can hear it but not necessarily feel it because this is an album of hope; and if we ever needed an album of hope, it's right now. In the West, we're on the brink of a meltdown and people need to come together and fight it. I don't mean with violence and I certainly don't mean through religion, which is partly to blame for the mess that we're in, but by recognising that we as a whole have the ability to change the world.
Cycle of Life is about community, hence the name of the band; Ghost Community. From the website:
Every single day, we see, communicate with and experience many “ghosts”, all of whom make up our very small world. As we go about our business in our daily lives, we cross paths with individuals who exist merely as voices at the end of a digital connection. We travel the country and the globe passing though borders, and making eye contact with their gatekeepers – and yet these moments are fleeting and all too soon forgotten.We take up our positions on a stage and perform for a sea of smiling faces, faces that belong to people who travel far and wide, passionately supporting our every move, and yet we never really get to know them. With the advent of the Internet and the ever increasing prominence of social media channels, we impart information to and share details with hundreds if not thousands of strangers every day, feeling connected to them despite never having met in the “real” world.This planet that we frequent – and which has become our collective home – is affected by many incredibly powerful, invisible factors that work together continuously to keep us alive. Those subtle, often hidden mechanisms determine how we live our lives and bring us all together. In a fast moving world we sometimes forget the one thing that truly holds everything together: people. These people are the “ghosts” that make up our community.Without each other, what do we have?This is the Ghost Community. This is our community. This is your community.In it, we all stand together.
If you ever saw Donnie Darko and remember the strange tentacle like connections that went from person to person, that's a little like how I see it. We need to work together. It's simple but hugely difficult to put into reality. Anyway, the album:
Track 1 - Rise Up
I first heard/saw this on You Tube and it blew me away, because even before the recent funk, it resonated. Musically, it's the sort of Rock that I love, not simple but melodic, energetic and rich lyrically. It opens the album with a mission statement; This is who we are, and what we are about. Simon Rogers guitar really shines through at about the 3 minute 57 mark, and reminds me of Steven Wilson's guitar work in Porcupine Tree. There are traces of Matt Cohen's musical DNA throughout. If you're familiar with his previous work in other bands, you won't be disappointed. That's not to say that the rest of the band are just automatons, churning out dictated music; far from it. Each player has his own identity and that is clear in this song, as an introduction of sorts to them all.
Track 2 - Mirror Lakes
Beginning with a strong acoustic guitar sound, this song reminds me a little of the band I.Q. John Paul's vocals are reminiscent of the best Prog Rock vocalists and never disappoints. Roger's guitar riff reminds me a bit of Iron Maiden; never a bad thing.
The lyric "You say you wanted to find me, I wasn't hiding." reminds me of the times people say that they meant to contact me but haven't and then make themselves feel better by saying that I was difficult to get hold of.
A quieter track but peppered with melodic instrumental breaks. Simon Roger's guitar solo elevates the track at 4 minutes 06.
The track ends with a more angry set of lyrics "Who do you think you are?" Who indeed.
It must have been tempting to put this on the album as Track Number 1. I'm glad they didn't, it would have came across as a bit cheesy and wouldn't have made the album feel like that journey that I alluded to earlier on in this piece.
"Welcome to the Ghost Community. This is where all the pieces come together"
"We're all in this together"....
Track 3 - Anything & Everything
This track harks back to Matt Cohen's past projects with a familiar sound to it "Time could be behind you...". This is a track that I believe will stand out more in the live medium, at gigs. It twists and turns and will sound great! Nothing against the studio version, I just can't wait to hear it live. Jake's drumming is strong throughout the album but I think it stands out more for me in this track. He's always been very good and this album is no exception. Marillion fans might nod at some echoes of familiarity at 6 minutes, 46.
Track 4 - Blue December Morning
A song that resonates with any of us who are thinking about our mortality past 40 years old: The things we go through, the experiences we go through, as we journey though time. (Although I would have been able to relate to this at age 18, too). "How Can I be on my own..." - That feeling of being alone yet there are hundreds of people on my Facebook friends list. It's strange isn't it?
A quieter track but peppered with melodic instrumental breaks. Simon Roger's guitar solo elevates the track at 4 minutes 06.
The track ends with a more angry set of lyrics "Who do you think you are?" Who indeed.
Track 5 - Ghost Community
Unusually, not the title track but the name of the band. After all, this is what the band is about, what they stand for and what their mission statement is.
It begins like a Dead Can Dance track (never a bad thing) - an organ sound with initially acapella vocals. What strikes me about the album and it's shown in this track, particularly, is that the band share almost equal time. It's difficult for me to pick out significant contributions, which adds to the mission statement. Obviously, there are instrumental breaks as I've mentioned but GC is a track where, for the most part, the band are in powerful unison.
Having said that, Moray's keyboards play a larger part in emphasis in this track. I applaud the choices of keyboard sound on this album that never get in the way of the track as they do on some Prog albums, or used too little in others.
It must have been tempting to put this on the album as Track Number 1. I'm glad they didn't, it would have came across as a bit cheesy and wouldn't have made the album feel like that journey that I alluded to earlier on in this piece.
"Welcome to the Ghost Community. This is where all the pieces come together"
"We're all in this together"....
Track 6 - Cycle of Life
And so to the title track of the album; a 15 minute, 46 second epic.
Beginning with a nice synth and heartbeat, it goes into a quote about the Cycle of Life before developing into the song proper. Matt's bass has a strong presence in this track early on and kind of reminds me of Maiden without being Maiden, if that makes sense. Once again, Moray's keyboards are exciting, melodic and push the track forwards.
"It takes a second to change a life"
15 minutes and 46 seconds of this track fly by.
Despite my thoughts on the album this is not the musical equivalent of a Tolle style self-help book nor is it preachy and overbearing. It's a solid Rock album that I genuinely believe will haunt the top spots in many Rock fans Top 5 lists for 2016. It's exciting, melodic and inspiring.
Ghost Community doesn't need busting with this storming debut!
10/10
Look for live dates sometime in the future.
http://ghostcommunity.co.uk/gigs/
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