BIG FACE

It's a good one! We have several styles on this cd. The first song "They " with Tony Levin is great and the chorus with female vocals reminds me of Pink Floyd, My favorite song is Anger Part 1 and 2 with his gentle acoustic guitar parts, the violins, cellos and his guitar solo. The title track "Big Face" is a very good neo-prog song and "Conpiracy" shows the virtuosity of the musicians. The last song Poussière de lumière, is sung in french by Claire Vezina with an excellent keyboard solo by the swedish Lalle Larsson. For all lovers of the great Floyd!

Such a talented guy, this Stéphan Desbiens is! I just wish he would decide which style of music he prefers cuz I find myself feeling a little disappointed when he does one great song but then it's followed by another that's in a completely different style--which I often don't like. (E.g. "They" and "So LOw" and then "Big Face" and "Anger, Part 3") I mean, I can be in love with one song, absolutely hate the next, back and forth. (I own both "Shimmering Lights" and "The Sagarmatha Dilemma") Though I do love both "Conspiracy" and "Poussière and lumière." So there we have it: four great songs two mediocre ones and three that I do not like at all. So, give the album a 3.5 stars rated down for inconsistency and multiple personality disorder.

Stephane Desbiens is a Canadian artist, producer and leader of The D Project a symphonic/neo prog band. He produced "Sense" with 4 albums (Madness, Out of range, Stone in the sky, Going home) He also produced and played keyboards on "Mirror of Insanity " of "Redsand" and on "Ereg".In my opinion "Big face" is the best cd of the three (more Neo-prog), despite its more commercial side, it's a nice balance between pop and prog music.

Andy Jackson (Pink Floyd) has done an excellent job on the mixing board. Guests artists like Tony Levin, Lalle Larsson ( Agents of Mercy ) and others are bring this album to the next level.My favorite songs are "Anger Part 1&2", "Conspiracy" and "They".

Recommended!

I love this album, even if it took me several listens, because it offers several styles of music.The first song "They" offer a strange mix of Pink Floyd and King Crimson with M.Tony Levin himself. "So low " is the pop song of the album. "Anger Part 1 & 2 "offers a very great mix of Pink Floyd and Genesis. Being a lover of prog metal music, I like the heavier song "Anger part 3". For me "Big Face" is one of the best song of the album. Then the very weird "Macondo" , surprised with his female vocals. "Don't tell the kid" attracts me with is rock mood and his very good lyrics. Another songs that i really enjoy is the instrumental "Conspiracy"and the closer "Poussière de lumière" sang in french by Claire Vezina and his symphonic final. 4.5 stars to 5 stars

Big Face is the third release from the neo-prog band The D-Project. The D-Project plays a form of classic neo-prog that is showcased by bright uplifting riffs that mark the sign of a great understanding of musicality within the group. Also, there is always a slight hint of Pink Floyd without their music, whether it is in the vocals or in the guitar riffs that are scattered throughout the album. Stéphane Desbiens and The D-Project have, over their past two albums and on this one, had the great opportunity to play with classic prog rockers from bands such as Dream Theater, The Flower Kings, and Echolyn. All this has been a great influence on Desbiens, who plays keyboards, and the rest of the band. On this album The D-Project is joined by Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel), Bartek Kossowicz (Quidam), Claire Vézina, Lalle Larsson, Jack Lavoie, and Giovany Artega.

One thing about this album is the mixture of pop and prog. At times it can be very pop sounding such as on the track "So Low" and other times it is very progressive, like on "They". But even most of the pop sounding songs are enjoyable because The D-Project never strays too far from their progressive rock base. "They" is a great song that any fan of Pink Floyd would love as it almost sounds like them. On this track Stéphane Desbiens's voice sounds almost exactly like Roger Waters and the song features very Pink Floyd-like riffs accompanied by great sax playing by Giovany Artega. Giovany Artega is an awesome sax player and can really belt out his music, and that is shown both in "They" and on "Conspiracy" where he has a great jam session at the end with bassist Mathieu Gosselin, and guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Stéphane Desbiens's.

The orchestration throughout the album is fantastic especially on the more pop sounding track "Anger I & II". The violins on this track, played by Sandra Poulin and William Foy, are excellent as are the rest of the string instruments. Branching off into a more classic prog rock song, "Anger III" is a very Yes like track that offers up some great guitar playing that reminds me of Steve Howe's style. Perhaps the best song on the album is the title track, "Big Face", in which they travel more into a Pink Floyd type song. This song is by far the most progressive on the album, and that's mostly the reason why I like it so much. The only weak track on this album is "Don't Tell the Kids" which is way to pop sounding for me. But, this is coming from a prog fanatic, so if you like pop songs then you might like this track. "Poussière de lumière" is sung totally in French by Claire Vézina and because of that it adds a much more eclectic taste to the album.

Overall Big Face is a hit for me and I'm sure lots of prog fans around the world will enjoy it as much as I have. The good thing about the combination of both Pink Floyd-like prog and pop on this album is that for casual listens it will be easier to listen to but still please hard core prog fans such as myself. This album definitely deserves 4.5 stars.

The difficult trade-off between diversity and cohesion.

The D Project is the brainchild of Stephane Desbiens, Canadian singer, guitarist and keyboard player. The music on Big Face can perhaps be described as dark symphonic prog rock (King Crimson, Pink Floyd) entwined with some 'deviant' prog metal elements - in the spirit of Devon Graves' Deadsoul Tribe where the rhythm distorted guitars are kept low in the mix and the bass and voice take a leading role.

The highlights of the album are definitely its gloomy atmospheres (check out the first couple of minutes of the opener They to see what I mean) and Desbiens' amazing guitar solos - it doesn't get much better than when excellent technical skills are combined with expressive guitar playing. On the negative side, I feel that the album somehow lacks cohesion - the listener is taken through a mixture of styles (pop/punk, AOR, some mainstream rock as well as more proggy parts) that don't always stick well together. It is almost as Desbiens decided to throw in the mix as many influences as he could to make the songs interesting and original. This approach can be as unsuccessful as it can be rewarding. Unfortunately, in this case it just does not work. The impression that Big Face is a rather disjointed album is further aggravated by the fact that the quality of the music is not steady across its 9 songs. For sure, the album contains some excellent songs: They is a brilliant opener, half way between Pink Floyd and King Crimson, with a great bass groove provided by Tony Levin and amazing sax parts courtesy of Giovany Artega; the title track Big Face is a fine dark rock song where Quidam's singer Bartek Kossowicz delivers an excellent performance as lead voice; Conspiracy is an adventurous instrumental that grabs the listener attention and doesn't let go. However, on Big Face there is also plenty of rather uninteresting fillers (e.g. the ordinary punk/rock aggression of So Low and Anger III, or the boring AOR ballad Kids Will Never Know).

Overall, this leaves me with mixed feelings about this album. At the end of the closing song, Poussiére De Lumière, I often find myself tempted to give the album another spin so that I can immerse myself again in the beautiful sombre atmospheres that some of the songs manage to create. However, I then remember the boring bits - and at the thought of having to go through these, I often give up and reach for some other musical adventure.

Between 2 and 3 stars, really.

1-They; Great song with a strong sax and guitar solos, The end of the song reminds me King crimson with Tony Levin Levin on bass. 5 /5(8:46)

2-So low; A strong hard rock song (3:40)4/5

3-Anger part 1&2 , the most beautiful song of this album with a strong genesis influence,symphonic parts, and don't forget this great guitar solo.(9:19) 5/5

4-Big face . Good Peter Gabriel's vocal style on this song .(7:47) 4/5

5-Anger.part 3 The most heavier and shorter song ( a bit boring)(2:34) 2.5/5

5-Don't tell the kids,; great lyrics, a more commercial song(3:39) 4/5

7-Macondo ,story about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill (5:15)4.5

8-Conpiracy,; all instrumental works, featuring a stunnig jazzy saxophone solo (5:36) 5/5

9-Poussière de lumière; Claire vezina singing in french and the incredible keyboard solo by the virtuoso Lalle Larsson.(4:25) 4.5/5

To be widely supported...