The world of progressive rock has been filled with superstar
\ncollaborations in recent months. Back in November, we reviewed one
\nsuch partnership between Terry Bozzio, Tony Levin and Steve
\nStevens, an album which knocked my socks off.<\/p>\n
Another recent partnering has been that of noted keyboardist
\nJordan Rudess (Dixie Dregs, Vinnie Moore, Dream Theater) and Rod
\nMorgenstein (Winger, Dixie Dregs), whose musical brotherhood was
\ncemented when power to all but Rudess’s keyboard rig was lost at a
\nDregs concert — resulting in an impromptu jam that left the crowd
\non its feet.<\/p>\n
Their first album together,
\nRudess Morgenstein Project<\/i>, often has me in disbelief that
\nall I’m hearing is keyboards and drums, and is a satisfying but
\nflawed album.<\/p>\n
The musicianship featured on this album is impeccable; two
\nmusical virtuosos pushing each other to new limits without sounding
\nlike they’re showing off on their respective instruments.
\nMorgenstein might be scoffed at for his membership in Winger, but
\nmake no mistake that his talents behind the drum kit are quite
\nrespectable.<\/p>\n
And Rudess pulls sounds out of his keyboards that will leave
\nyour jaw scraping the floor. Believe it or not, with one minor
\nexception, everything you hear is actually coming from a keyboard,
\nnot a guitar. (The one exception is an uncredited performance by
\nKip Winger at the end of “Masada,” one of the masterpieces on this
\nalbum.)<\/p>\n
When Rudess and Morgenstein plow their rock roots, the results
\nare incredible; such examples may be heard on “Sloth” and “Drop The
\nPuck”. Even a throwaway theme like that of “Cartoon Parade” has a
\nlight breeziness to it that will put a smile on your face.<\/p>\n
And even when the music takes on a serious face, as it does on
\n“Masada”, “Odd Man Out” and “Never Again,” Rudess and Morgenstein
\nadd their own unique touches to the music to keep it both original
\nand entertaining.<\/p>\n
So with all these strengths I’ve mentioned, how could I call
\nRudess Morgenstein Project<\/i> flawed? Two reasons: time it
\ntakes to develop musical ideas and listener interest. Often, it
\ntakes more than a minute for the two to get past the intros and get
\nto the point of their music – and even there, the heart of the song
\nmight still be some time away. I think this might tend to scare or
\nbore a few listeners away from this disc – had the concepts been
\ntightened up just a little bit, this disc would have been that much
\nbetter.<\/p>\n
In addition, it does sometimes get tiring to hear just keyboards
\nand drums. Maybe next time, one of the two will be willing to throw
\na vocal in here and there, or even invite a guitarist or bassist to
\njoin their parade – something to fill out the sound a little
\nmore.<\/p>\n
\nRudess Morgenstein Project<\/i> will surprise and startle fans
\nand critics of bands these two have played with in the past, and
\ngiven a little more musical development together, they could be one
\nof the biggest names in progressive rock today. Until then, this
\ndisc will do nicely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5929],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-35882","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-rudess-morgenstein-project","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35882"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=35882"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=35882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}