Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to listen to many discs that have emanated out of the Canvas Productions studio. This is the latest and it’s called Troposphere consisting fifty minutes of music split into ten tracks ranging in length from just under four minutes (most of them are just over four) to as long as eight minutes. The most apt musical description I can come up with to describe the band’s musical style is Melodic-Prog or perhaps Prog-Lite. Now that shouldn’t be taken in a negative way as there is a solid level of musicianship on display here and it’s the kind of music that borrows a little from Steely Dan and a little from Barclay James Harvest. Some of the songs feature more proggy embellishments while others rely on traditional song structures and catchy melodies to rise to the surface. Either way these tunes are lovingly crafted to straddle that fine line of making even the more mainstream tunes be infused with some level of musicianship. It’s not always the longer songs that deliver a more proggy vibe though they are more complex in structure, the shorter four-minute tunes still offer up some interesting musical change-ups to keep things interesting. Take for example the instrumental “One Track Mind” [4:03] which displays a nice variety of musical layers of proggy-ness. Instrument wise there is some nice variety as well with plenty of keyboard and guitar tones on display. The feeling I got was that there was a lot of thought put into each of these pieces to get them to each sound unique and yet part of the larger sound. There is a lot of really nice playing throughout the whole CD. I found every one of these tunes enjoyable and satisfying and real easy to listen to over and over again. If you enjoy the music of either of the bands mentioned earlier I’m quite sure you’ll find much to appreciate and enjoy with the music of Troposphere.

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Review of Long Way To Mars by G.W. Hill at Music Street Journal


Canvas

Long Way to Mars

Review by G. W. Hill
I really like this album a lot. It’s almost more mainstream AOR rock than it is progressive rock. That said, there are enough purely prog moments and enough variety here to get it set into that style. I like how different songs feature different vocalists. That said, I have to say that my favorite voice of the bunch, the one which really steals the show (particularly on “Brightest Star”) is the voice that belongs to Tammy Lounsberry. All the rest of the singers are good, too, but she really knocks it out of the park. This is a great album that would probably please prog fanatics and those who aren’t as into progressive rock as much almost equally.

Track by Track Review

Long Way To Mars This song comes in with a real fusion groove. As the vocals come across it’s got more rock music to it. Still, fusion is definitely a big element of this. There is a great retro sound to this. That’s true of the whole track, but the guitar solo (calling to mind David Gilmour quite a bit) really drives that home. The keyboard dominated sections later are particularly noteworthy, too. They drop it down to a short mellow jazz segment for a false ending. Then it powers back up into the chorus one final time.

Better There’s a bit more of a mainstream rock sound to this cut. Still, it has plenty of progressive rock built into it, as well. There are some intriguing instrumental forays, but the vocal sections really capture the listener.

Brightest Star Fusion meets Floyd as this tune works out with a guitar solo driving it early. The female vocals come in with a very sultry, soulful, jazzy sound. The cut really takes on a jazz presence in full at that point. After this vocal section there’s an instrumental portion with some more guitar soloing. That one has a great bluesy rock vibe to it. I love how the guitar keeps soloing as the next set of vocals are heard. The cut really gets powerful and the vocals rise up to keep at an even level. There is some serious wailing going on here, both instrumentally and vocally.

Valkyrie Days I’m not crazy about the keyboard sound on the opening of this tune. The great fusion groove, though, sells it. It builds out to more of a Pink Floyd like rocker. There are some great guitar soloing moments, perhaps more in keeping with things like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. We get more fusion later.

Johnny Don't Know In some ways this is more of a straightahead rock song. That said, there are sections that are definitely more fusion-oriented. Some killer guitar soloing is heard later, too. This is another cool song that’s both meaty and accessible.

Scheherezade One could almost think of this one as a straightforward rocker, but it’s also got plenty of progressive rock in the mix. I really like the melodic movement at the end a lot.

Weather The retro prog sounds on this are great. It gets into fusion, too, though. Overall, it’s another potent tune combining classic prog and jazz into something that’s quite effective.

The Beginning Is Near This instrumental has a nice balance between mellower and hard rocking sounds. The guitar lines on it are quite classy. It’s a cool tune.

Starry There’s a real late 1960s early 1970s vibe to this song. When it powers out later it has a more modern sound, but that classic element still remains. I love the riff driven instrumental section and the flute solo that dances over the top of it. Some scat vocals there bring more fusion to the proceedings. They drop it back to the earlier modes for the return of the vocals, though.

Modern Town Here we get a cool modern prog tune with both retro sounds and more modern (at times quite crunchy) ones. It’s another sound that manages to put a lot of meat into a pretty straightforward song. That said, the alternating mellower, folk rock like sections with harder edged ones shows off a great understanding of contrast and the drama it brings.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------