GRAVEYARD MOUNTAIN HOME

Very good CD. I just got it yesterday (it took a LONG time to get here, it was ordered before Christmas), and I can't stop listening to it. There's several styles of music used; techno, space rock (like Pink Floyd), blues, folk, etc.

Track 08, Human Love, has a clip of a Bob Nekrasov talking in monologue over the music. It sounds as if the music is made for the speech, instead of the other way around. He doesn't speak in any certain rhythm as in rap, it's just a speech. But the music just flows so well with it.

The title track, Graveyard Mountain Home, has a nice folk-type guitar riff to open it up, and Kevin's soothing voice singing with the already relaxing music.

Track 10, Pure Laughter, is the opposite of what it implies. It's one of the saddest songs I've ever heard, and is completely instrumental.

On their website, www.chromakey.com, you can listen to the whole CD for free. That's what persuaded me to buy the CD the most.

The first thing that comes to my mind is that strange "style" this site has given to this band: prog-metal. Is as far from it as Neptune from the sun. This record is a masterpiece in it's own, because is a strange effort of creating music to an old movie, and getting the feelings and impressions of that particular event. The record is basically an ambient journey, a main carachter with no face, a very minimalistic show of music, textures, colors, voices etc., the music is so mesmerizing and beautiful that the continuty of the record makes you get lost and listen to it from beggining to end in just one breathe, in here there are no anchor points, no "best pieces" the album IS an entire perfect piece. With this record, Kevin Moore show us how mature has becomes, forgeting all of his formal education and finding a niche in the muscial graveyard of masters. For the cusrious listener this album is really strange beacuse is not the characteristic CHROMA KEY record, and not even close to Moore's background, is a different statement, a statement that will be timeless from now on.

Kevin Moore's latest work is amazing! It is a melancholic and dark soundscape which could be hard to listen to at first if you are a bit used to more technical prog (such as I) but then eventually grows in to be appreciated. I actually can't wait to see the film "Age 13" which was the basis for this masterpiece so that I can fully understand the music itself. Kevin Moore stated in an interview that the film can be downloaded for free though I have not found the site yet. Though not evident, I could at times discern hints of avant garde and use of odd time signatures in some of the tracks (check the tracks "YYY" and "Again Today", you will observe good use of counterpoint and polyrhythms thus I disagree that he had set aside his classical music education) while keeping a minimalistic sense to it by avoiding use of flashy keyboard runs which he used to do while with Dream Theater . I would agree with most that this is evidence of more mature composition skills, putting only the necessary timbres and musical textures to allow the listener to picture out the story and keep his attention in a more holistic sort of way. At times, the music sounds as if it has a hint of Vangelis in it, only sounding more depressed and darker. I could be wrong with some of my statements but if you carefully listen to the music you may, in my opinion, actually hear how intricate and how carefully constructed the music is.

Such a great idea to take a movie like Age 13 and pretty much it into Kevin's own. I even liked the actual movie. It moved me even more when I saw the Chroma Key version from putting the album into my PC and watching it play along with the slow motion Age 13. "YYY" is a terrific opener and "Sad Sad Movie" moves me just as much as it did on Moore's "Ghost Book." Another great release from Chroma Key!

it gives me a good mood.a music in mood of some films like 21 Grams...I don't know why? but it sounds great...some tracks like Pure Laughter and Sad Sad Movie are sad..I think kevin did a great job really...it' s in a different mood of two last albums. you should listen this album more than a normal album until enjoy it...then you won't leave it.I think kevin wrote these song influenced by a film.Human Love is like a dialouge. it's highly recommended for David Lynch and Innaritu Lovers!!!!

This release from CHROMA KEY is much more experimental than the other two previous releases, and it's actually mean't to be listened to with a film called "Age13" from which Kevin got his inspiration for this record. Apparently it really is the key to open this album and unfortunately I haven't seen the film so i'm just going by the music as far as my rating goes.

There are very little vocals on this disc but lots of samples. It's electronica for the most part with not as much melody as you'd usually get with a CHROMA KEY album. I'm not sure why I find this such a negative listen but I do. As much as I like Kevin Moore and the previous two CHROMA KEY records it's difficult to recommend this album unless your into that style of music, or can watch the film while listening to this.

A haunting and surreal album. If you can, pick up the special edition. You really need to see the images plodding along over the film. Its eerie and strangely powerful.

The music is a soft blanket of somber, sometimes transcendent, moments: the faux-marimba exploration" YYY," the train-like drive of "Before You Started," the shimmering beauty of "Sad Sad Movie" and the melancholy sadness of "Give Up Son." These are just a few of my favorite tracks, but they should really be listened to as a whole. Most of them segue into each other, thereby forming a thrilling flow to the music and an overall graet listening experience.

Can't wait for the next album.

Very experimental and out there, "Graveyard Mountain Home" is an eclectic offering of complex rhythms and psychedelic melodies very different than the more approachable "Dead Air for Radios".

Sounding very produced, "GMH" abounds with soft textures, sonic soundscapes and acrobatic rhythms. Moore's singing is very minimalist, the instruments and samples doing most of the speaking. His compositions are strong, but are not as memorable as before, making "GMH" great for moody background music and little else; it's too spacey to actively listen to and one certainly can't sing-along to it.

However, the complexity and layered sound grows on the listener after a few spins, and makes a fine purchase for one seeking a smart and fun diversion into the eccentric and ambient.

Songwriting: 4 Instrumental Performances: 3 Lyrics/Vocals: 2 Style/Emotion/Replay: 4

Chroma Key/Kevin Moore digs deeper in the experimental mood which was already featured in their previous release.

Well, to be honest I have to say that this one is not as bad but still: ecstasy is not on the rendezvous while I listen to this work. These synthetic and electronic moods are not my cup of tea; and when they are just performed like here, I am even less keen to appreciate.

Some tracks are above average and rise a bit the global of this effort (Mother's Radio. But most pieces holds as much passion as a faded rose (White Robe, Salvation and the awful and repetitive Before you started).

It might well be a good remedy if you are insomniac: just put this CD into your player and it is guaranteed: you should fall asleep pretty rapidly like during Come In Over even if some guitar at the end might slightly wake you up.

Like Jeff perfectly summarizes in his review: this is a background music album. In this case, it might do the job. But while you are listening to it in a concentrated way it definitely doesn't. At least I feel so.

Two stars.

Deep and Though ambient... kind of depresive and sad... but great still...

I always came to the music of Kevin Moore waiting for something that really makes me dive into another reality and let me flow into a strange ambient... this is really succeded in this particular album, wich is properly a soundtrack of a weird movie... that I don't have seen yet... and I really don't mind to...

Musicaly, the theme is repetitive and slow pace through the whole album. Someone could say is boring... but really you have to let you flow through... The samples, the repetitive keys, the soft guitars, his robotic voice, the slow drum kit, everything moves you to a relax environment where if you aloud yourself, you can discover depressive feelings... So yeah, is though to get into this album if your'e too happy or excited... is ideal before you go to bed, or in a rest time period... is really something that demands more than attention to the structure, it's just about an strange scape trhough deep emotions... guess Moore always was an emotion type and we find some in his Dream Theater fase...

So, for the prog fans, aloud yourself to let aside your addiction to fast and crazy rock solos and get you to another level of understanding of music... the feeling... yes, this is too sad for some people but that's the exciting thing, at least for me... music is about feelings... and this piece can really mess up your mind... and your emotions... so is good for the heart... really...

Then, listen to the speech in the song Human Love... is kind of crazy, but you really get somethings that you won't find nowhere else... I recomend this album for anyone who wants to get emotion from music... is very experimental and ambient... ideal to listen at night... 4 stars... it really worth it...!!!

'Graveyard Mountain Home' is a unique masterpiece of art. Kevin Moore chooses an educational film, slows the movie down so that the time of it doubles to 53 minutes (the length of the album), then composing and arranging the music over the movie.

This album proves that simplicity breeds beauty. There exists such an overwhelming meaning in this album that almost everyone may feel connected to it.

The atmosphere is rather heavy, greyish and mysterious. Creativity lurks in every corner. Kevin just knows how to beautifully express himself in simple chords, melodies, arpeggios and rhymes. The lyrics are short and full of emotions at times.

If you are looking forward to finding meaning in music listen to this album.

It is an interesting concept to take a public domain movie and slow it down to half speed, and then write a soundtrack over it. This is what Kevin Moore (Dream Theatre, OSI) has done on this album. Sounded interesting enough to me to investigate further. Other Chroma Key albums that I have heard were too plain and I have never been a fan of the vocals in OSI, but the concept sounded interesting enough.

What you get here are some electronic musings, some with vocals and some without. I appreciate what he was trying to do here, but for some reason, these tracks just don't have the same effect on me as, say, listening to a Vangelis or Tangerine Dream album. This is basically Kevin's take on that type of music. There is some experimentation, ambience, and so on, but what comes out of this venture is some pretty straightforward electronic music that comes close to space or psychedelic rock. There is some beauty here, but there is a lot of repetition that doesn't really prove anything. It seems, for the most part at least, there is a lot of sound, but not a lot of substance. It sounds like a first try at electronic music, even though it is well produced, it sounds a bit like what it is....someone trying their hand at electronica.

I suppose I'm not that big of a fan of Kevin's style, but I'm telling it from my own "audio viewpoint". The vocals once again, don't do anything for me, and the stylings here just aren't adventurous enough. It is at least a good attempt at expanding his sound, but in trying to create something new, at least with this attempt, it just seems he tried and didn't quite make it.

I had hopes for this one after reading about it and being a fan of explorative and inventive music. Maybe, with time, things will improve, but I'm still not convinced that Chroma Key or OSI is top notch material. At least, Kevin has the sense of adventure with this one. 3 stars...because there is a lot of music out there that is so much better, but at least he is trying.

Kevin Moore's third Chroma Key album marks a distinct Departure from his two previous albums, it is way more musically varied and eclectic compared to them and less focused on spaced out keyboard sounds and more on creating sonically rich melodies and textures, this sounds nothing like his first two Chroma Key albums nor any of his Dream Theater albums.

Based on the film "Age 13", he loved making a film soundtrack so much to Ghost Book (Soundtrack to the Film Okul) that he made a fake movie soundtrack to a public domain film that he found from the prelinger archives, so most of the spoken word that is characteristic of his music comes from that film, the album cover is also taken from it.

I'd consider this to easily be the peak of his career, nothing that he really made before or after this is as good as this. The only thing that bugs me though is just how drastically different tracks 7 and 8 are. These songs really move into a completly different direction that is different from the overall serious and sombre tone of the album. This record all and all though really is an absolute masterpiece.

Favourite Tracks:Give Up, White Robe, Graveyard Mountain Home, Sad Sad Movie, True and Lost.

Least Favourite tracks:Before You Started.

10/10