Reviewing a disc about the sacrifices one soldier made in
Vietnam is a difficult task for me. You see, my father fought in
Vietnam, as did my uncle. They were lucky, though; they both
returned home alive, even though my uncle had been injured. Knowing
what they went through makes listening to this disc a bit of an
emotional experience for me.
For Trent Gardner, writing and recording
Hundred Year Flood had to be harder. Gardner’s brother Jack
was not as fortunate; he was killed in country in 1966. The sudden
loss of his brother when he was only four years old, combined with
trying to reconcile that loss with doing good in the here and now,
makes up the bulk of this disc.
Hundred Year Flood is a very difficult disc to listen to on
many levels, and while it is a journey worth taking, it’s also one
you’ll find you only need to listen to once or twice.
The centerpiece of the disc is the 34-minute epic “The Great
Goodnight,” a song broken up into 13 tracks. With his brother Wayne
on guitar and bass (as well as drummer Joe Franco), Trent Gardner
takes the listener through the ordeal of losing a brother he barely
knew, dealing with the few memories he has of him (including the
pain his parents felt upon the notification of Jack’s death) and
even to the battlefield where his brother lost his life.
Musically, it takes a few minutes for Trent Gardner to really
get things cranked up – and it almost would have been better had he
started the piece out around track 3, without the musical and vocal
prologue leading up to the story. Once you reach that point,
though, the track clicks on all cylinders, taking the listener
through one hell of an emotional roller coaster ride.
This is what I mean when I say this is a disc you only need to
listen to once. It doesn’t mean that
Hundred Year Flood is bad. It’s just that there is enough
energy and emotion the listener has to put into a disc like this
that the experience is something you don’t need to constantly go
through in order to remember what’s on the disc. It’s kind of like
watching
A Clockwork Orange; this is indeed a disc which will make a
mark on your mind.
The middle track of the three songs listed, “Family Jewels,”
starts off perfectly with a haunting flute solo from Ian Anderson –
and, with no disrespect meant towards Trent Gardner, the track
would have been perfect had it ended with Anderson’s flute fading
out instead of trying to turn this one into an instrumental
prog-rock tour de force. The full band’s contribution to this one
is a tad too eclectic, never quite knowing where it wants to go
and, ultimately, weakening the overall power of the track.
The final track, “Brother’s Keeper,” tries to find some solace
in the loss by showing compassion towards the less fortunate, and
the constant battle the narrator has with his inner cynic which
says it’s not his problem. In theory, the concept of the song is
good, but musically it lacks the same kind of planning and polish
that “The Great Goodnight” has, and is almost anti-climactic in the
way the disc ends. (Actually, the disc ends with Trent Gardner
thanking the listener for making it as far as they have –
appropriate words, since the disc is such an emotional powerhouse
that you may need to turn it off and walk away to digest what
you’ve heard.)
Hundred Year Flood is the kind of disc that will leave a
mark on your mind, if not your life, especially if you’ve ever had
a loved one serve in the Armed Forces or – even worse – had one not
come home safe and sound. Gardner deals with a reality that no one
should ever have to face in a so-called civilized world, but does
so bravely. It took a lot of courage to put his feelings down in
this manner – and, while it’s a worthwhile trip, it will take
courage on the listener’s part as well.
