What we have here is a piece of art. Jeff Johnson is a student of life that majors in words and creative music. Each one of his lyrical albums (so designated because he occasionally releases a theme-oriented instrumental album) are finely crafted gems of modern music.
What may interest a headbanger in Jeff Johnson? The same thing that interests millions of headbangers in Pink Floyd: music that has power, passion, and electric guitar. Artists like this create power with subtlety and moments of silence.
Yes, Sandy Simpson's guitar is prominent in the mix here at times (In fact, this is Jeff's most guitar-prominent recording since Shadowplay), but it's certainly not done with the fuzzy distortion we're used to hearing out of a wall of Marshalls.
This music is different. From the arresting keyboard intro that screams like spirits in "Lines Of Life" to the dreamy strains of "Lullaby", Jeff sweeps the listener off on a pilgrimage that follows him on a trip he took through Europe, observing humanity up close, yet afar.
I highly recommend giving this album a listen (on headphones) as a change of pace from a steady diet of heavy metal.
I don't mean that as a suggestion to mellow out--you can do that with classical music. No, Jeff's music is different.
This recording seems to capture the doubts, wonder, and passion of life on this planet, in this universe. "Wretchedness and beauty juxtaposed."
This concept album takes familiar musical colors such as rock, classical, "new age", and jazz to create a painting rich in life, brilliance, sorrow, and depth.
The sound texture includes: a tenor saxophone, played by David Hagelganz; tense and smooth keyboards, under Jeff's command; cymbals played, or should I say danced upon, by Roger Hadley; bass (probably upright) by Rick Crittenden; drums by Mark Schulman and Brian David Willis; guitar by Sandy Simpson; vocal tracks switched from channel to channel in the mix; and live sound effects recorded on location by Ark Mobile. All of this is centered around the lyrics, creating music that was made for cd.
If you like nothing but metal, you won't find enough guitar here to keep you interested. But, if you're open-minded, you're in for a treat.