GRAVEYARD MOUNTAIN HOME

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.

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...!!!

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.