Melodic Revolution 2024
Exploring the dark side of atom heart, art-rock maven refracts his heroes’ method through creative prism.
The Changing Tide
Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery but, experienced as he is, this artist knows better than to fall in a trap of trying and follow the motifs of PINK FLOYD; instead, Leon Alvarado sculpted a study of the influential proggers’ patterns and applied their formula to his own compositions. Of course, the Texan multi-instrumentalist could have gone no further than using the template for a set of more or less faithful covers – and, redressing the balance of his debut album, “Plays Genesis And Other Original Stuff” of 2019 vintage, Alvarado added a take on “Brain Damage” to “The Changing Tide” to show it’s not too difficult to let the lunatic out on the grass – yet it would be too simple for his imaginative mind. So yes, here’s the best tribute to one of Leon’s favorite ensembles that he’s able to pay: a platter riding the wave of ingenious independence and inventiveness which approach the classics’ outlook.
From the Hipgnosis-styled artwork to a variety of sound effects – beating hearts, ticking clocks, clanking cutlery, sputtering engines – helping the listener to always pinpoint their location in Alvarado’s model of the world Messrs. Waters, Wright, Gilmour and Mason created in the ’70s, there’s a deep respect for this macrocosm. Paradoxically, it’s nowhere as apparent as in opener “The Equilibrium Of Time” that doesn’t really play by the rules the English foursome outlined back in the day, except adhering to the same spatial scope, and offers the hard-hitting passages of Leon’s bells-blasted funereal piano before symphonic magnificence is unfurled only get folded into a chamber magic, thanks to Pablo Hopenhayn’s one-man string quartet, until analog organs lead the adventurers to a more familiar terrain. Or utterly familiar, with Edoardo Scordo’s cosmic guitar harmonies immediately shining a diamond-shaped light on “A Day Of A Different Sort” in which Damian Darlington, his BRIT FLOYD partner, rolls a slide to facilitate Alvarado’s auteur cinematics and elevate Leon’s mellifluously funky tune to heavenly heights.
And when the licks of John Helliwell’s sax announce the twangy “A View From A Different Room” whose bittersweet glory is defiantly triumphant, resisting this rapture and going against the grain of melodic bliss seem futile even for the critics of such sonic appropriation that’s the gist of “Dance Of The Pink Elephant” which the stomp of Alvarado’s drums and the rumble of Tony Franklin‘s bass drive towards tentative, albeit spirited, emotional storm. So once the titular piece floats into focus, there’s a solemn, orchestral vibe to embrace the audience’s very soul and steer it down the stream to catharsis – something mere mortals fail to achieve and something Leon does effortlessly. A fantastic opus in all aspects.
*****
