OUT THERE (DVD)

While watching this DVD my memories went back to the early Nineties. It was after one of those legendary Dutch SI Music double concerts, including the new and promising UK neo-prog band Landmarq. I met their shy but friendly singer Damian Wilson at the end of the bar and we had a nice chat. I congratulated him with Landmarq their enthousiastic performance and told him that the crowd was stunned by Damian his powerful and very distinctive voice. He was very pleased with the compliments and told me about his ambitions.

Well, he has done very well because on this DVD he has an important role as a member of 'The Caped Crusader' his band! On the back cover of Out There we can read about Wakeman that this DVD is his first progressive rock album with his own band for 26 years. So I was very curious to the sound of this 'reborn' Rick Wakeman and I have to say that I am positive although at some moments the music sound a bit similar and in general also a bit polished. But we can enjoy Wakeman his awesome vintage keyboard sound like the Mellotron in The Mission, the Hammond in Universe Of Sound, the Memorymoog in Music Of Love and a majestic church organ sound in the bombastic final track The Cathedral Of The Sky. The guitar sound is harder-egded with some propulsive heavy riffs and lots of fiery and biting solos. Damian Wilson delivers strong and powerful vocals (he reminds me of the post-Seventies Jon Anderson) and the rhythm-section sounds dynamic and adventuorus. The visual element is mainly based upon aerospace images from the vaults of the NASA (it looks like the world of Carl Sagan, blended with some Terry Gilliam ideas) and studio shots of the band members. The special feature contains 'the story behind the making of the album and the subsequent live tour, this includes explanations by Rick Wakeman (with his typical humor and cynical views) and spectacular live footage from the band on stage.

An entertaining Rick Wakeman experience, my rating: 3,5 stars.

Great music, forgettable visuals

Warning! This is not a live concert DVD. This is a DVD version of the studio album Out There with some rather bad, mostly computer generated, visual content added. This visual content is not very interesting and comes across as home made.

The music, however, is very, very good! Indeed, Out There is actually one of Rick's best works ever! I will not comment further on the music here, however, as I will do that for the CD version. The music is the same here as on the CD apart from some added spoken word samples from NASA and longer breaks between tracks. I think the CD version flows slightly better.

If you already have the album on CD, there is really no point in buying this DVD unless you are a major fan or serious collector. The most interesting bit is the bonus feature which is an interview with Rick and some behind the scenes footage from the tour they did in support for the album.

The actual album is an excellent addition to any Prog collection, but this DVD version is not essential. Get the CD instead, it is highly recommended!

I was given this album by my uncle as a a gift for no occassion. He saw it at Half-Price Books and thought I'd enjoy it like I have always enjoyed Rick Wakeman. Well, I was a bit dissapointed. The album Out There seemed reminiscent of Yes, Dream Theater, and other Rick Wakeman albums. And as I have mixed emotions of this album, it sounds mostly of Dream Theater (which I am not a fan of). There are several jaw-dropping keyboard solos, all of which I enjoyed, and the bass (Lee Pomeroy) was absolutely amazing. The drummer (Tony Fernandez) , as Rick Wakeman said on the bonus feature, sounds similar to Alan White, but in contrast, he is too electric in his sound. Not to dissapoint metal guitar fans, but the guitarist (Ant Glynne) sounded like a drunk John Patrucci, and two wrongs don't make a right (if you catch my drift). Damien Wilson sounded like a dying cat to make it short and simple. I don't want to take the time to listen to each track over again so I could criticize each song, but I'll say this, Find someone else to get it for you, listen to it, then understand that you want it or not. -Prog Kid