OLD SOULS

Rick MILLER began his musical research in 1984, putting on albums to reach his 16th at the start of the year. Rick is moving further and further away from his idols PINK FLOYD and GENESIS with their guitarist Steve Hackett to offer a sound with a refined character. Dark, melancholic, borderline new age atmospheric rock for a return to his original love; in short, real progressive rock without frills with its breaks to melt the strongest of the Ameridians.

'Time's Way' or melodic rock with its progressive declination; a nice intro, a rhythm in ALAN PARSONS PROJECT, BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST for Kane's languorous guitar solo I suppose. 'Guinevere' bucolic title with hoofbeat, a spleen violin and it unrolls slowly. 'Haunt Me' just for the elaborate, nostalgic, meditative intro; always very melodic, Rick's soft voice, his guitar playing which transcends each piece. 'Virgin Rebirth' roaring intro, majestic and dark Kane's violin then the colorful synth that fills the room on a typed new wave 80 sound; final much calmer, hovering in decrescendo on a roll of waves and it continues with 'The Red Sky' where Mateusz's cello works wonders taking us to arid lands where depression becomes beauty; an oriental arpeggio disturbs otherwise it is a facsimile for the rest.

'Ixtlan Awaits' to a new age tune, you know ENYA; then we are on ALAN PARSONS with a solo of its own, grandiloquent, enlightened and luminous; space break inspired then final pop 60-70. 'A Stitch in Time' with again a Persian connotation where the flutes of Sarah and Jaye work wonders, the most beautiful piece with these celestial choirs. 'Lost Karma' continues with this atmosphere, flute and acoustic guitar arpeggio in medieval sequence. 'Don Quixote' and the river title that goes on a repetition; it was not without knowing the bugger who offers singular, stratospheric variations; one of the station wagons perfectly symbolizes the noise of the title hero's windmills and his disturbed thinking; final on a PINK FLOYD between 'On The Turning Away' and 'Animals' and the acoustic guitar. 'Time's Way (reprise)' at the end to make you want to listen to the first title again.

Rick MILLER releases albums frantically. He has an asset with his precise compositions to make you melt. He produces an album agreed at the start which is magnified over the listenings offering a hovering and languorous rock pop sound. For those who don't know yet it's just dantesque in the genre; for the others a good album a little more diversified than the last two. In short, it may seem conventional but it is very well done.

The following review is a satirical expose meant only to entertain and amuse, albeit with a healthy dose of sarcasm. No harm was done to any animals while writing this critique.

PROGLAND DISTRICT COURT - MONTREAL CANADA CASE No 147-22 ATTENDING JUDGE: tszirmay of the Prog Archives Legal Dept. The PROSECUTION: Ignoramus Bosch The ACCUSED: Rick Miller The CRIME: section 6b of the Prog criminal code: Blatant plagiarism of established Prog legend Pink Floyd RECENT JURISPRUDENCE: Dave Kerzner - New World

The DEFENDANT: Richard Norman Miller is a Canadian composer, arranger, and musician, starting out in 1983 and amassing a whopping 16 studio albums. His true musical inspiration is firmly entrenched in the atmospheric style of symphonic prog, with clear appreciation for artists such as Pink Floyd, the Moody Blues, Genesis and Steve Hackett. His latest opus "Old Souls" was released on January 6, 2022.

The EVIDENCE: Discography Starsong (1984), Interstellar Passage (2000), The One (2003), Dreamtigers (2004), The End of Days (2006), Angel of My Soul (2008), Falling Through Rainbows (2009), In the Shadows (2011), Dark Dreams (2012), Immortal Remains (2013), Heart of Darkness (2014), Breaking Point (2015), Delusional (2018), Belief in the Machine (2020) and Unstuck in Time (2020).

Both 2020 albums, "Unstuck in Time"and "Belief in the Machine" were stellar efforts that received the highest praise among PA panel of Collabs Tcat and kevrowland. Interesting to note that on progpositivity's review 2408326 of the latter albums, Mark clearly explains in paragraph 2 the similar aspects to PF in detail. But in paragraph 3, "This music has some differences from Pink Floyd that are worth noting" and proceeds to enumerate a fine set of factual realities that illuminates the argument for dismissal.

THE CASE: There are approximately 59,673 guitarists who have studied Gilmour as being one of the most influential of all-time, so Barry Haggarty or Kane Miller are just part of the faculty of the School of Rock and they do not disappoint throughout the recording. "Old Souls" kicks off 2022 with a brief bang that settles into an extended atmospheric voyage on "Time's Way", a languorous sweep where the electric guitar leads the way, Rick's deft keyboards and sultry hushed voice (quite different from David or Roger) in tow, a tight binary shuffle gently chaperoning. Just lovely. The charming "Guinevere" introduces a mournful cello, a galloping horse and some subtle acoustic, adding to the neo-medieval choirs and Rick's fragile voice, as pastoral as melancholia will ever get, "a tearful song" draped in the most beautiful melody. Beauty remains at the forefront with the poignant "Haunt Me", displaying a simple melodic elegance, dancing with a softly entranced lead guitar. Miller does not try to reinvent the wheel, he just expresses melody like no other, in a way more romantic fashion than the Battersea Station foursome. The somber cello echoes once again (as it will regularly again) , providing a most profound foundation for the melancholia , though on Virgin Rebirth" the pace picks up swiftly, a nimble synth motif egging the beat along , as the lead guitar wails in the blue skies above, before settling down to calm serenity. The blue skies turn red on "The Red Sky", where the classical toys enter the fray, delicate cello and flutes settle the score, as the piano eventually carves out the theme, in the most soothing and relaxed manner possible, unrushed, and mature. Rick's sorrowful vocal lament and spooky organ flurry welds with "angel's cry". Mateusz Swoboda' s cello buries the heartbeat. Celestial choruses greets " Ixtlan Awaits" , a faraway destination where there are subtle, sunny psychedelic reminders of Pompeii perhaps at the beginning , but then swerve into experimental oddity halfway through , only to rekindle the soft brightness as 'the dying sun has shone on you now', as the guitar lights up the darkening horizon.

"A Stitch in Time" is the owner of a magnificent flute refrain, adorned with sitar-like Taj Mahalian sounds, followed by a soprano synth ripple, and that tight beat keeping the heart pumping. The vocal recalls the early motif and instills a mesmerizing phrasing that edges on euphoria. Companion piece "Lost Karma" is again drenched in gorgeous melody, once again conducted by the magical flute (an instrument rarely if ever displayed by the Meddlers, who had a marked preference for the saxophone, me thinks).

"Don Quixote" is the master blaster epic on this release, clocking in over a dozen minutes, and pretty much serves to sum up all the inherent qualities of Rick Miller's music: the swooping sounds, the crystal-clear sound, the moody atmospherics, the slick flute and cello work, the sizzling guitar expressions and the rather expected Spanish guitar flourishes that seek to evoke the 'famed' windmill threat. Musical story telling at its most suggestive, with segments that clearly go beyond the frivolous and boring. The extended lead guitar solo is quite an achievement, sonic pirouettes laden with emotion and despair. To have the class of following up with acoustic guitar, percussion and cello to settle the warm Andalusian sun, well, its darn near perfect.

A reprise of the glorious first track puts the "Old Souls' to bed. The defense (the music) has spoken and now rests.

Finally, Mister Waters, in response to your incessant interference, I must state that you have made your "Money" and you are, without any known competition, the greatest political activist, narcissist millionaire and grumpy old man on social media (by your own words). You should be honored and humbled that, at least for musicians world- wide of all ages, your MUSIC remains a source of inspiration and creativity. As Pink Floyd, of course. But let's face it, Rick Miller has provided more PF music in terms of hours and minutes than you ever did in the same period of time, so please, just suck it up.

The VERDICT: NON COUPABLE (the Box's ''L'Affaire Dumoutier'' playing in the background)

4.5 Ancient spirits

Rick Miller's work is a great continuum, which could appear melodically very accessible (and many of us will not reproach him for it!), but which deserves however much more than a distracted ear, to seize all the inflections and the subtleties.

'Old Souls' opens the ball with "Time's Way", the epic of the album, in which Rick deploys all his know-how. Against a background of rather gloomy lyrics, evoking a form of obsession with reincarnation, the song travels along a path that is by turns mysterious, tormented, obvious, and reassuring. Few composers are able to bring all this together in one piece! And yet, it all flows. "Guinevere" is a model of amorous decay, for which Rick minimizes the instrumentation to emphasize the sense of melody. "Haunt me" on the contrary embarks its share of electric guitar phrasing, in counterpoint of the atmosphere of spiritual relaxation that it distils. "Virgin Rebirth" follows in the footsteps of "The Dark Lady" ('Heart of Darkness'), with its keyboard acceleration; it takes again the spirit and the approach, while proving however much shorter! A nice spin, especially since its title could be a wink to the one of its elder... "The Red Sky" is classically 'Millerian', with a long flute introduction, which leads to an eminently melancholic and mysterious development. "Ixtlan awaits" is even more connected to its musical anteriority than "Virgin Rebirth", because it seems impossible to listen to it without hearing again the female vocals of "Call" ('Dreamtigers') ! And I would dare to say that the semantic proximity is almost blatant, because the titles of these 2 tracks could be connected: "Ixtlan awaits"... for a "Call". "A stitch in time" provides the same nervous tension as "The Land and the Sea" ('Belief in the Machine'), but with a more oriental approach. "Lost Karma" is another demonstration of esoteric or medieval poetry (with its flute and harpsichord-like guitar), and "Don Quixote" almost closes the album, giving it its second moment of bravery. An instrumental break logically Hispanic, and a development less varied than that of "Time's Way", but in which the electric guitar expresses all its bite.

Rick's music uses an incredibly rich methodology to achieve, almost every time, the same result. It is very difficult to recommend one album of Rick Miller, rather than another, to synthesize his entire work. Most of his records could completely fulfill this mission! And yet, you will miss something if you don't have the opportunity to take the bridges that link the intentions and the dreams of the composer, from one album to the other. This music is a spiritual work, vast... and complex!

Here we have Canadian musician Rick Miller back with his sixteenth studio album, for which he has kept the same line- up as he had for 2020's 'Unstuck In Time' with Sarah Young (flute), Mateusz Swoboda (cello), Barry Haggarty (guitar), Kane Miller (guitar, violin) and Will (drums & percussion) although they have now been joined by an additional flautist in Jaye Marsh. Miller of course provides all other instrumentation, vocals, and produced the album as well as writing all the material. I have always felt that Miller is massively under appreciated within the prog world, yet he continues to put out wonderful albums year after year, and just seeing his name on the cover of a release is a guarantee of great music inside, although I must admit I have not heard any of his albums before 2009's 'Falling Through Rainbows', but the minimum I have given any of his releases since then (and I have been fortunate enough to review all of them) has been 8/10, with a fair few 10/10.

Pink Floyd has always been an influence, but there is also much on here that one could relate back to early Barclay James Harvest while Alan Parsons Project is also involved somewhere along the line. Miller is crossover in its truest sense in that he has no boundaries and instead goes where ethe muse takes him, so we can be symphonic in some places and folk in others, always with his emotional and haunting vocals bringing the listener deep inside. While many of his influences do reach back in time, this never feels like an album from nearly 50 years ago but instead is fresh and new. Designed to be played on headphones there is often a simple complexity within, so while the underlying structure may be fairly basic and moving quite sedately there could well be a complex guitar melody laid over the top, always with the layered vocals taking us along for the ride. There is never any stress or rush within his music, with an almost ambient feel to much of what he produces, and we are invited into his world as opposed to being hit over the head and dragged in, which is a refreshing approach and something I have become very used to over the years. He is a master of his craft, and I am not sure why he has never really gained the attention and acclaim he deserves, but here is yet another Canadian music producing progressive rock music on his own terms and very fine it is indeed.