{"id":7692,"date":"2020-12-14T20:07:19","date_gmt":"2020-12-14T19:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/?p=7692"},"modified":"2024-06-16T15:53:31","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T13:53:31","slug":"rick-miller-unstuck-in-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/cd-recensie\/rick-miller-unstuck-in-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Rick Miller \u2013 Unstuck in Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Als je deze recensie liever in het Nederlands leest, kun je hier klikken<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Composer, multi-instrumentalist and singer Rick Miller<\/em><\/strong> has been in the prog scene for about 16 years. He also made several albums in New Age and the electronic scenes.
During the lockdown a lot of albums were recorded. This also applies to ‘Unstuck in Time<\/em><\/strong>‘, the title track is based on the book ‘Slaughterhouse Five’ by Kurt Vonnegut. In this book the main character has become detached from time. In this way he travels randomly through the past and the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘The Plague<\/strong>‘ starts with the ringing of a church bell and sober sounds of a cello, this touches me immediately. The combination of keyboards and compelling guitar playing ensures that the mysterious atmosphere remains until the volume increases. Here is the year 1665, the year in which the plague struck mercilessly. Rick’s somewhat austere vocals merge nicely with the music. The ringing of a church bell and church choir seems to be the end of this opening song. But it turns out to be a twist, the music gets under my skin. The wordless choral singing fits in nicely with this. Even the small details are well distributed over the headphones. There are several twists and turns, the music varies from sober to rock and vice versa. In the build-up to the end of this epic I am touched for the third time. The intro of ‘State Of Emergency<\/strong>‘ is compelling. In the socially critical text there are, among other things, references to the ‘social distance’. The instrumental ‘Covid Concerto<\/strong>‘ has a special mix of electronic sounds and string instruments. There is an excellent balance between ‘beat’ and melody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the intro of ‘Fateful Apparitions<\/strong>‘ you are, as it were, drawn into the soft, intriguing music. The light, monotonous vocals of Rick fit perfectly with the slow music. The added sounds clarify his nightmares. This is followed by beautiful, compelling guitar playing. Vocals and music are melancholic in the summery ‘La Causa<\/strong>‘. ‘Lost Continuum<\/strong>‘ is a beautiful instrumental song. The string instruments, the flute playing and the guitars alternate sublimely, and\/or form a fantastic melange. This song extinguishes beautifully. The variation in ‘In Sync With The System<\/strong>‘ is mainly in a few changes of instruments. The ‘electro-beat’ is a bit monotonous, this is in line with the rather depressing lyrics. The end is well chosen. ‘Broken Clocks<\/strong>‘ is a nice short song. Finally, the title track, this is about Billy Pelgrim, the main character from the book. The changes flow into each other, again there are many beautiful details in the music. Various (mysterious) sounds and spoken words have been added, these are in harmony with the music. Instrumental pieces are alternated with vocal parts. This beautiful epic ends in a slow fade out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With ‘Unstuck in Time<\/em><\/strong>‘ the number of releases of Rick Miller<\/strong> comes to three this year. In February he launched ‘Belief In The Machine’. There is also a re-release of the sold-out album ‘Dark Dreams’ from 2012. The artwork of ‘Unstuck in Time<\/em><\/strong>‘ looks fantastic. With such a beautiful artwork and ditto album you would expect a beautifully crafted booklet with well readable lyrics. Now it’s not much more than a sheet of paper for which you need a magnifying glass to read the lyrics. Luckily Rick sings clearly and not fast, so he can be understood for the most part. His soft voice fits perfectly with the predominantly gentle music. There are solid rocking elements in it. In addition, there are many details, including the percussion.
The melodies are beautiful and compelling. In short: ‘Unstuck in Time<\/em><\/strong>‘ is a nice Christmas present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(89\/100) (Progressive Promotion Records<\/a>) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facebook: Rick <\/a>Miller<\/a>
Bandcamp: Rick Miller<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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