{"id":8720,"date":"2022-08-25T20:05:14","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T18:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/?p=8720"},"modified":"2025-11-30T11:49:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T10:49:30","slug":"the-steve-bonino-project-pandora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/cd-recensie\/the-steve-bonino-project-pandora\/","title":{"rendered":"The Steve Bonino Project \u2013 Pandora"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In 2019, singer\/multi-instrumentalist Steve Bonino released the album ‘Stargazer 2’. He is working on the follow-up ‘Stargazer 3’. Meanwhile, he worked on ‘Pandora’, This concept album is partly inspired by mythological painting by Jean Cousin from 1550. In Greek mythology Pandora was the first human woman. She was the origin of the evil of the human race. There is a similarity in that to the biblical Eve. On this album, Greek mythology is interwoven with religion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warm piano sounds at intro of ‘Eva Prima Pandora’, the combination of vocals and piano is good. Although you have to love the sweet sound of the vocals, the vocals are regularly stacked nicely. During an instrumental piece, the sober sounds of a string instrument emerge. The setup of this opening track is dreamy, and you definitely recognize Steve’s style. The sound is clear, and the composition fades out nicely. ‘The Three Fates’ opens with more power. Due to the high tempo, the words are quite difficult to understand, parts of the vocals sound distorted. Despite the sound being a bit too dull, I can certainly enjoy organ sounds and guitar playing, among other things. The music is well distributed throughout the headphones. The sound of the “drumming” is sometimes a bit too plain. But during the breaks, there is good use of pitch differences. The structure of ‘Where Did Evil Come From’ is a bit more “verse-refrain”. There is a nice “groovy” base running through this song. The instrumental parts are good, the fade out is perhaps a bit unfortunate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shimmer Johnson sings the calm ‘My Name Is Pandora’. She has a unique voice, her vocal outburst is good. Her clear pronunciation makes the storyline come alive better. Subtly, some piano sounds are sprinkled through it. The guitar playing is compelling, the tempo and volume changes generally gradual. Maybe in ‘The Pipes Of Pan’ you have to get used to the fast singing in combination with the very own color voice. The music has a cheerful atmosphere, which makes the good combination of low and high tones a bit less noticeable. The end is nicely unexpected. The somewhat dull sound can also be heard in ‘To Pandora’. Therefore a number of details stand out a bit less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clearly spoken verses in ‘Origin Story’ make the story behind Pandora clear. These verses are interspersed with instrumental pieces, in which a lot of keyboards can be heard. Again, there is a fade out. The church organ in ‘Do You Believe’ fits the hymn of the church of Pandora. Then the whole thing gets exhilarating, it has the atmosphere of a gospel, including wonderful bass grooves. After the instrumental ‘Mythos’ follows ‘Lucky Day’. Vocals and music are in balance in this happy sounding song. The changes in tempo and volume in ‘Of Gods And Men’ are not too big. The combination of instruments and drumming is good. The vocals are less sweet in sound, and are a nice change. With the pleasant flow, the slow fade out comes almost too soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lyrics are not always easy to fathom. If you don’t know the painting and\/or biblical stories, it may be even more difficult. The songs differ enough from each other, yet they fit together well. The number of surprises is not very large, but some details you only hear after several listens. That’s why ‘Pandora’ has to grow on you. The whole thing is accessible, the style of The Steve Bonino Project comes across well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(73\/100) (Melodic Revolution Records). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social media<\/strong>:
Facebook: The Steve Bonino Project<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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