ED ZERO

Part 1 - Introspection (46:09) 1. "Alright It's Repeating" (5:35) sounds like second-tier hard rock from the late 1970s--early AC/DC, Golden Earring, or Head East. (8.5/10)

2. "Fragile" (5:10) Gorgeous. As if 10CC and STEVEN WILSON merged or collaborated. (9/10)

3. "Silence at Sundown" (5:03) excellent, emotional acoustic guitar work opens this one up--even when Ed turns to syncopated strumming to support his vocal track. Equally as engaging and balanced with the entry of the lush full- band instrumentation. The acoustic guitar work throughout is sublime--so perfectly conveyed and never overplayed. (8.875/10)

4. "Your Own Time" (7:44) an attempt at some prog bombast--with all the classic bells and whistles--but, alas! there is very little refreshing or exciting--except for the near-Allan Holdsworth start of the instrumental passage in the third minute. It's good but, in the end, not very refreshing. The ensuing bass and drums interplay is cool, but then the return to the opening pace reminds one of how bland and standard the foundation is--it's the solos that soar (as they should) but the three-chord rock foundation persists in weighing everything else down--plus, nothing in the realm of solos or sounds are very innovative. (12.5/15)

5. "Sailing the Vastness" (22:37) nice spacey electronica opening before turning into a CURE-meets-Angel Ontalvo Goth-Flamenco. At 2:40 flutes and vocals top the placid chorsued-guitar based Pink Floyd rock foundation. It's good though it does drag a bit. The electric guitar solo starting at 4:45 is nice. At 6:30 we move into an uptempo passage for some RUSH-like guitar and precision multi-instrumental interweaving. At the eight-minute mark we gently transition into a more quirky cabaret/theatric piano-led section reminding me a bit of PHIDEAUX--which pauses at 9:50 for a half minute before building back up for a synth-led instrumental passage before returning to the Broadway-like chorus. More soloing electric guitar throughout the 12th minute (with some nice drumming beneath) until another go at the chorus around the 13-minute mark. This is then followed by a rather stark and emotional spacious piano section over which Moog-like synth solos mournfully. The piano continues this mournful mood in the fifteenth minute until bombastic cymbal hits signal a shift into a more classic rock standard rock 4/4 motif. Ed sings forcefully in an almost Billy Joel like voice over this "Beautiful Loser" (Bob Seger) passage. At 16:45 the music shifts back to one of the previous themes for what sounds/feels like a "finish" vocal section before a very emotional electric guitar solo fills a minute between 17:30 and 18:30. A quirky staccato multi-guitar section ensues over which Ed sings in a kind of ending overture like way--as if he's summarizing the plight and fight his hero just went through. Synth solo and then a key change to help switch back to a previous motif for singing about the moral of the story. Sounds very much like SPOCK'S BEARD "The Light." (38/45)

Part 2 - Retrospection (48:00) 6. "A Whole New Beginning" (8:49) an interesting and entertaining mélange of seemingly disparate styles and moods, from heavy blues-rock to light Latin and more. (17.666667/20)

7. "Retrospection" (5:00) a very classic rock/prog-wannabe pop song (like The Atlanta Rhythm Section or mellowed out Buggles--or even Jackson Brown). Purely set up to rely on the impact of the words. (8.66667/10)

8. "Summer of Saudade" (4:56) another song that sounds and feels more like a conventional pop Indie- or techno-pop song--except mellowed out by Ed's rather smooth, Don Henley-like vocal. (8.66667/10)

9. "Imaginary World" (4:47) speaking of The Eagles, here's some acoustic guitar strumming that reminds one of BREAD or the mellower side of Bruce COCKBURN. Even when Ed's subdued voice joins in, his sensitive almost-melancholy delivery reminds me of BREAD ("Maybe I'm a Want You") or simple AMERICA. (8.3333/10)

10. "Beyond the World of Dreams" (24:28) From the opening notes here I am reminded of THE FLOWER KINGS: form and format, sounds and sound palettes, even the odd, unpredictable switches in motifs are so much like Roine Stolt's habit. The syrupy pop motif in the fifth and sixth minutes is a bit of a downshift, but then at 5:52 Ed shifts into a little more forward-moving direction with a catchy theme to help him end the schmaltz and transition into a more 1970s STYX-URIAH HEEP-like Hammond organ-led motif. The cow bell is a bit of distraction (thanks to SNL's Y2k sketch!) In the tenth minute we return to a little more prog-oriented rock with some syncopated drumming and portentous rhythm guitar play but then Ed's voice in the chorusy parts gets (too-)heavily distorted. Then there is a rather sudden and clear-cut door opening to a schmaltzy lounge piano solo to bridge us into a ominously heavy blues rock passage in the thirteenth minute. The blues guitar soloing within the left-center is pretty cool. Ed's voice joins in in the 14th minute and does well to maintain the mood until the chorus-part where all gets lost in major chord melodies that do not fit. But he chooses to return to the sinister motif for one more round before switching to an odd psuedo-Reggae rhythm after the second cheesy chorus. It's an odd (almost Genesis "A flower?"-like) until the 17-minute mark when a strummed acoustic guitar and disco rhythm section brings us back into a very Flower Kings-like passage. I haven't mentioned the lyrics which are about conquering one's (entirely unecessary) fears. They're also over-the-top trite and sappy in the way that power-of-positive-thinking aphorisms can get. At 20:24 another purely-1970s pop-derived passage over which Ed performs a decent guitar solo for over a minute. At 22:16, everything stops and the darkened stage is left with a doleful solo piano to take us out--with a very long fade out before radio-television static noises close out the song--and album. (42/50)

Total Time 94:09

While I admire the talent (and courage) necessary to pull together such disparate sounds and styles and sequence them into a convincingly-related flow--into one long suite--I am not as convinced of the overall songwriting skill of this artist--or of the completeness of his finished product; that is, I think the additional inputs of other collaborating artists would help provide the skill sets necessary from the instrumentalists in order to "fill" the soundscapes with more nuanced incidentals. I think there needs to be more than just Ed's ideas and renderings in order to bring these compositions to the next level. In the end, this is, to me, just nice pop- and album-oriented rock bordering on Prog Lite--which makes it arguable as to whether or not it belongs in Prog World.

C/three stars; a nice addition to any retro-rock-loving music lover's album collection. The album provides pleasant listening but there are many areas of Ed's production and skill levels that I hope to see improvement upon in the future--especially opening up to collaboration and engineering/production inputs.

Clocking in at about 94 minutes there is a lot to absorb here. While some of the tracks seem fairly simple in structure, there is a lot within them to unpack, and you really need to listen them a few times to catch everything that is going on. While the album is one release, it is at least conceptually a double album, Part 1 being the Introspection portion and part 2 the Retrospection portion. Each half weighs in a little over 45 minutes and is organized with four shorter songs of five to eight minutes, and closes with an epic fifth song of over twenty minutes.

In my opinion, the overall consistency of the entire work is very good, but I have to give a slight nod to the first half as being the stronger portion. The epics in both halves are creative, engaging, and of equally good quality. However, the shorter songs of the first portion seem to have a bit more diversity and prog elements in them than the second half, but the difference is probably marginal and subjective to my personal taste.

I am not sure if the album is self produced or not, but it seems to be a very well mixed album as all the instruments sound distinct and clear, and it's easy to focus in on any given instrument and isolate it. This is a great listen with headphones to enjoy the stereo experience. Also related to production of the album, I love the cover art. I can't quite make out if it is simply abstract or it is actually a picture of something, or in fact many things. Not sure if it's just my pareidolia kicking in, but I think there is a bird face in the upper left corner, or is it a fish, or is it just my overactive imagination? In any event, the colors are attractive and the art intriguing, a great stepping stone into the music.

As much as I like this album now, curiously enough, in its entirety it didn't immediately captivate me. Perhaps the 94 minutes was just too much to absorb. That being said, there were sections that ear wormed their way in, and I found I kept wanting to come back and play it again. Each time, I would hear something new that I had previously missed until it all fell together. There are no weak tracks and I can now easily sit through the entire set and it seems to go by incredibly quickly. This will easily be in my top 10, perhaps 5, albums of the year.

Mr. Zero is a one man band handling all of the instruments and vocals, which seems rather amazing given all of the variety in this album, and yet there is an obvious cohesiveness to it all. It really sounds like the ideas of several musicians are here putting this together, but apparently that's not the case. There are some influences of other artists and bands in this work of which I may point out a few, but Mr. Zero's reworkings of those influences are fresh and enjoyable. His voice works well with his songs, and his abilities with the various instruments, especially the big four, drums, guitars, bass, and synths are quite impressive. I especially like the variety in his guitar work throughout as there is great deal of variation in his playing, and for the most part it seems fresh an underivative of the highly imitated greats, although there are moments that pay tribute to his influences, but for the most part he has his own sound and style.

So, some thoughts on the songs.

Alright! It's Repeating (5:35) The opening track breaks out with a lone distinctive 70's style hard rock riff. When drums join in the riff doubles in volume and intensifies even more, and then drops into a slower pace for lyrics. Keys are introduced and keeps trading back and forth with the intense and less intense guitar work. Nice instrumental build featuring keys from about 3:22-5:02, somewhat Kansas like. The variety of guitar work in this track is a great start and sign of things to come. One of the most intense tracks in the whole album. A great start to grab our attention! It ends with a spiraling synth effect that will be resurrected at the beginning of the fourth track to book end tracks two and three. (9.5/10) (Sidebar here, the opening song title is rather amusing as it seems designed for when you have played the whole album, and it auto plays again, and you think to yourself, alright! It's repeating!)

Fragile (5:10) A big shift in style and tempo here. A beautiful mid tempo song that just floats hypnotically across your speakers. Reminds me of softer works of Antony Kalugin's Sunchild project both musically and vocally. There are lyrics pretty much throughout, but there is a nice albeit short guitar solo at 2:30-2:50. One of those songs that immediately captivates and makes you happy to put on repeat for a while. (10/10)

Silence at Sundown (5:03) The first ballad and a good one at that. This compliments the previous track nicely opening with light acoustic guitar. Softly played electric instruments float in and out throughout. Vocals and lyrics are engaging. Again, while unique in its own right, the soundscape and artistic atmosphere of this is again in the wheelhouse of Sunchild, which is a high compliment in my book. (10/10)

Your Own Time (7:45) Here, another intense track. This one starts with a brief spiraling synth effect that seems to bookend the two previous softer songs with the end of the first track. This comes out big and bold with a driving washboard scratchy guitar propulsion immediately competing with a pipe organ sounding synth run, both paced by big drums. At 2:30 slows down for some instrumental guitar pyrotechnics which after a minute drop to near silence and spring back up with greater intensity that play out at about 4:55. The closing lyrics section arises and is sung over increasingly intense musical build up to a powerful finish. (9.5/10)

Sailing the Vastness (22:37) Otherwise known as shapeshifter one. The first big epic. As we will see this one is multi faceted with a number of different faces. Section one (0:00-6:30) opens with an ambient natural texture followed by acoustic guitar and builds up into an up tempo pace with full instrumentation. The acoustic guitar comes back and has a bit of Spanish traditional flavor and then melts into the opening lyrics. Has some very pleasant electric guitar soloing around the 5:00 mark. Section two (6:30-8:08) kicks up the pace and speed with driving drums and guitar, a new chord structure having just the slightest hints of eastern flavor in it. This suddenly steps down rapidly to section three (8:08-12:30) which starts with a tapping of the drum sticks into a lone piano that takes on a rumba type structure. For some reason this reminded me how JM Jarre did this type of thing with his Oxygene and Equinox albums rather successfully. However, in this case it transitions dramatically with guitars and drums quickly building over the top of it in an upbeat driving rock style, with lyrics over the top. Suddenly drops back into the softer rumba stylings just to build up a second time with some experimental guitar work finishing it out. After this powerful playing, section four (12:30-13:55) drops into a short synth and piano based instrumental ambient respite that quickly moves into section five (13:55-18:44) that opens with a very Supertramp piano vibe that quickly build onward and upward with guitar backing and then a very different piano sound with Mr Zero throwing in a "whoooo" to signal something fun and different is on its way. Something with a bit of funk to it, more popish and accessible with some nice keys under the guitar work, which again features some very nice soloing from 17:21-18:35. This section fades out reprising the opening guitar work as at the beginning of section one bringing things full circle. The final section, six (18:44-22:37) play out with acoustic guitar picking with the opening guitar work woven into it in the background and then fades into big final build up of synths and guitar work to bring the work and final vocal section to its conclusion. Some spoken word to wrap things up, a bit Dark Side of the Moon in nature. Definitely, a lot going on here. Initially, it may not feel particularly cohesive, but given a few listens it plays out well. (18.5/20 Giving double weight to this track because of its length)

A Whole New Beginning (8:49) This is the beginning of part two of the album, hence perhaps the title of the song. Starts with bright optimistic synth notes and positive sounding lyrics, another upbeat track with even more and different guitar works amidst the synths weaving in and out in small patches. At about 4:40 song dies out and metamorphosizes into a new phase of Spanish guitar and synth horns starts up which at about 6:10 morphs into a very beatles sounding chorus, and at 7:20 escalates back into prog structure and gradually fades out. An interesting and dynamic art rock track! (9/10)

Retrospection (5:00) Mid tempo song starting with piano & synth that sounds like horns, lyrically driven, some nice thumping bass around 1:55, nice instrumental interlude starting about 3:10, pace drops off for a nice bluesy guitar texture, reprising synth notes around 4:00 until the end. Fairly simplistic in overall structure, but enjoyable. (8/10)

Summer of Saudade (4:57) Immediately accessible, prog pop rock, builds up for about a minute and then moves into a drum driven song with ear worm type hooks and chorus. Great guitar works at 2:00 with big drawn out chords, then at 2:50 rolls into a more rockabilly style dissolving into a new lyrics section. Lyrics drop into a low volume spoken word singing and then powers back up with big guitar finish to the end. (8/10)

Imaginary World (4:48) This is by far the most stripped down song on the album, the second ballad opening with acoustic guitar and a gentle under current of synthesizer that has an almost slide guitar sound to it. No drums or bass in this at all. Not sure why, but I get a bit of the Stone's Wild Horses vibe out of it, especially at the beginning, but it gradually dissipates. Sound is consistent from beginning to end without the tempo and instrumental variety and style changes of the previous tracks, but it is still a strong track. (9/10)

Beyond the World of Dreams (24:28) The second big epic, otherwise known as shapeshifter two. Again, it travels musically all over, although perhaps not quite as diversely as the first one. As the last song of the album, it appropriately begins with the first section (0:00-3:22) being a semi bombastic instrumental overture with yet more clever guitar soloing. This leads into a quiet ballad section (3:22-5:55) with the opening lyrics, featuring some church bell type synth laced in it. The third section (5:55-10:40) steps up the tempo, and goes into what I can only describe as a Heart's Barracuda merger with a BOC more cowbell amalgamation. You will either get it or you won't! Ends with lyrics and music using an interesting echo effect. Good fun and entertaining. Section four (10:40-16:50) starts with hauntingly lovely lone piano for about a minute, and then deep bass guitar notes with big slow drumming, lyrics and singing, all on the eerie side, gradually building up. Lyrics then become more spoken word and lighter in nature, breaking into cleaner happier vibe with flute like synth, that eventually becomes wobbly and fades away. Section five (16:50-20:55) moves forward with upbeat acoustic guitar work, and more accessible vocal passage. You can sense things are starting to work towards the conclusion of the song as the guitar soloing becomes more powerful, and then totally drops off for quiet vocal. The final section six (20:55-24:28) bounces back with much faster guitar, bordering on light shredding, and big drum energy, and finally closes out with soft singular piano. Overall, another fascinating and enjoyable musical journey. This one seems a bit less experimental than the first epic, but because of that, probably a bit more cohesive as a single epic track. (18.5/20 Again, giving double weight to this track because of its length)

In conclusion, take some time and give this a spin, the variety within is pretty incredible. It should have something for everyone, and you may just end up liking the whole thing!

A tip of the hat to Patrishiou for first review on this album and bringing it to our attention. Hopefully this review will garner a little more interest. I have to agree with the ratings to date, that are as I previously mentioned incredibly few, and give this 5 well deserved stars.

Arguably his most complete work until now. Ethereal art-rock for the masses and epics with multiple layers of pure power and musicality. The Argentine composer pushed his own limits towards majesty, crafting a dense world of music designed for those in ache for multidimensional art rock, fantasy lyrics, excellent soloing and emotional awakening. Introspection / Retrospection is open to those who are willing to sail the vastness, and beyond the world of dreams.