Meanderings

home paintings voiceover otakugear journal sounds thoughts sex old/ defunct

In the days of the turntable, i burned through two copies of Lyle Mays' first two solo projects. As time has progressed, i've found that i no longer listen to the Pat Metheny Group the way i used to, due to the memories of someone more than anything else [and granted, the last group album sucked, but i've already covered that in the Journal]. For reasons that only the drizzle, the gray skies and cold winds can explain, i found myself pulling this CD out of my collection a couple of days ago and since then, it's been all i've listened to... with the glaring exception of Murder By Numbers by The Police.

What appealed to me, and still does, about this CD and the next one, Street Dreams [often erroneously called, "Sweet Dreams", is that it's an orchestral album but without the large arrangements, or conventional selection of instruments that you'd find in an orchestra. Maybe i should say "ensemble" more than "orchestral". Either way, the end result of these two projects is that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.

It's an odd hodpodge of sounds to start with. The somewhat Scottish influenced Highland Aire is followed by a somewhat cacophonous Japanese sounding Teiko, which eventually settles into a more somber and poetic sound. If you enjoyed compositions like Are You Going With Me ? [PMG, Offramp], you'll enjoy Slink, though i have to admit Are You Going With Me ? is a very tough act to follow.

After a pause, the real "meat and potato's" of this journey begins in earnest. Mirror of the Heart is a profound, beautiful and somewhat minimal break before The Alaskan Suite, but it sets the stage perfectly. Mirror of the Heart is bristling with passion, beauty and in it you can hear the brilliance of Mays' composing. Chord progressions slightly out of time with the melody, the somewhat melancholy meandering, then the brilliant, but subtle way that he works himself out of the dark and into a feeling that's brighter than words describe.

Alaskan Suite is comprised of three movements: Northern Lights, Invocation and Ascent.

Northern Lights is a predominately Piano and Bass duet that nicely sets the stage for the next movement. Invocation is a more complex synthesizer piece that does well to bridge what's been done to what comes next: Ascent.

Ascent is nothing short of too complex for words. From the start, it establishes itself with an odd collection of minor chords, a droning bass line, squeals from strings and the ethereal presence of a guitar. The saxophone that brings all of this sequence together ends up blending with the guitar and then it's pure Lyle on the piano. The closing piano leads, then draws all the elements together. The sax, guitar, piano, drums combine at the end and if you don't have a tear in your eye by now, then you haven't been listening. Fifteen years i've known this composition and the fact that it can still bring me to tears is no small feat.

This closure is one of the most powerful, beautiful, terrible, inspiring and brilliant things i have ever... and ever will know.

Unfortunately the final track, Close to Home, appears. It's not a bad composition in any way, shape or form. It's just that it's grossly misplaced after The Alaskan Suite, which should have been the closing of this album. Close to Home is another piano solo [with some string and bass accompaniment] that showcases how articulate Lyle Mays is. If nothing else, listening to this CD and Street Dreams, will help people who have listened to PMG for a while, understand how important and integral Lyle is to how the Pat Metheny Group.

Now the remaining question is how much i'm going to recommend this CD to anyone. Truth is that if you're a PMG fan, you should know what Lyle has done on his own. I won't recommend any of his works other than the first two solo albums. The third, Fictionary, is entirely different and not one i'm comfortable giving an unreviewed recommendation to. If you're not a PMG fan and you're not familiar with music like this [that is, music without a genre and without lyrics], then i suggest you give it a test drive first, then buy it.

28 March 2001