MONUMENT

This album caught my attention simply because it is listed as the very first progressive rock album on Rate Your Music. I had never heard of this duo before but I was aware of the first half namely Bo Hansson who is most famous for his symphonic prog album "Lord Of The Rings" (Sagan Om Ringen) which was released in both English and Swedish. Although it qualifies as progressive rock under RYM's multi-assigned genre system, I think the folks at ProgArchives rightfully qualify this as a Proto-Prog release since it is literally these two talented musicians and no one else performing on the entirety of this album.

What we have here is simply a very talented jazz drummer Janne Karlsson playing with the symphonic extraordinaire virtuoso keyboardist Bo Hansson who kinda reminds you of the Doors at times. This music is much better than you would think considering it is only two guys playing two instruments throughout the entirety of the album. The first three tracks are actually fairly exciting but where this album begins to wear thin is on the fourth track where it actually reminds me of soap opera music of the 40s and 50s with the tone of the organ. By the time I get to the end of this album I am well over it and end up wishing that this extraordinary duo would have formed a full band because despite it all they create an excellent atmosphere that actually works well as background music. The whole time I listen to this I imagine myself being in some 60s lounge setting sipping some cocktails and only half absorbed into the music itself.

For the reason of an incomplete sound I can only award this album 3 stars, but I do find the first three tracks and the excellent "H.K. Theme" to be worth the price of admission alone. As a musician I also find that because of the "blank canvass" feel to the whole thing that this makes an excellent album to play along with as an improv practice session. As a stand alone piece this is good but not essential but as an intriguing relic of the past this qualifies as a worthy addition to my ever expanding eclectic musical collection.