Galysh, Adrian: Tone Poet

A chorus, an orchestra, and Adrian Galysh's guitar opens Tone Poet. His lead lines weave over piano and something seems to be brewing, as if this is an opening overture to a larger experience.

A rock song breaks out next and "Brick by Brick" changes the mood quite dramatically. The stop/start of the chorus and vocal harmonies are the best features of this generic rocker. That is until the strings section and drums break down the momentum, eventually letting in more orchestra instruments and the choral background vocals surface again. The rock recapitulates and I'm left wondering if we'll be treated to more songs written with the orchestra/rock combination? Galysh's solo technique and speed are showcased at the end of this track and now his skills are obvious!

I won't say the vocals by Mark Boals don't give an 80s rock sheen to this "When You Fall" and the previous track. This ballad is well written but 30 years late.

"Flying" begins and I'm embarassed at how trite and cheesy this song is. The acoustic guitar with orchestra during the chorus sounds great though.

"Movie in my Mind" is a chugging rocker, and at this point I'm drawn to how the songs have been composed; the point must have been to combine rock and roll with a symphonic atmosphere as Galysh played keyboards and programmed the "extras."

Gilmour-isms along with men's choral voices open "Luminae" and the soundtrack-quality is excellent as my mind immediately tries to place images along with the music.

"La Dolce Vita" mixes a latin rhythm with female vocals, string sections and cool melodies between acoustic guitar and piano. This is one of the best compositions on the CD. This song reminds me of Steve Howe's solo compositions.

"Tone Poet" is another smart composition combining piano, strings, acoustic guitar and drum kit. Double bass drumming gives the song an edge as the track comes to a close.

"Epoch" features no guitar but is captivating with symphonic elements.

"Echoes of El Greco" is a proggy instrumental with lots of different flavors including rock, latin and solo guitar.

"Ur of the Chaldees" is an acoustic tune with hand percussion and piano that actually sounded like Phish at the beginning. Galysh brings out the electric and plays a few doubled melodies, solos, and we're brought to the final track, "Spring (The Return)" featuring soaring harmonized guitar melodies coupled with strings.

If we could only replace tracks 2 through 5 with more instrumental compositions that deftly combine acoustic and electric guitars with choral voices and symphonic instruments, we'd have a winning CD that is much deeper than I originally perceived. The remaining tracks are much more than rock guitar instrumentals, they are like little scores not-yet set to films.

Track Listing
1. Resurrectis
2. Brick by Brick
3. When you Fall
4. Flying
5. Movie in my Mind
6. Luminae
7. La Dolce Vita
8. Tone Poet
9. Epoch
10. Echoes of El Greco
11. Ur of the Chaldees
12. Spring (The Return)

Added: February 8th 2014
Reviewer: Ryan Good
Score:
Related Link: Artist Facebook Page
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Language: english

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