VICTOR GO

It has been a few years since I last heard from Ukrainian multi-instrumentalist Victor Go, but a few months ago he released his latest album. 'In A Trap of Anticipations'. I was not a huge fan of the one album of his I had reviewed previously, 2020's 'The Leap, so I was not expecting great things of this, but I must confess to being quite surprised. There are two drummers sharing duties, two cellists contributing to four of the tracks and a bassist on three, but everything else is by Victor, including the vocals. The vocals were something I did not enjoy on 'The Leap', but here they are not nearly as much of an issue, and I found I was soon enjoying this crossover prog release.

Victor says he is influenced by a wide range of genres especially rock (The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Queen), progressive rock (Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Emerson Lake & Palmer), and jazz (Pat Metheny, Al Di Meola), but here he appears to have been influenced mostly by the more commercial aspects of the first band mentioned, along with the likes of GTR and 3. Auto tune is still apparent within the vocal lines but here it feels far more like part of a modern production as opposed to grating. There are 12 songs on this album, which lasts slightly more than an hour, and there is nothing which stays for very long as it concentrates on middle of the road crossover prog with little in the way of edge as it drifts in and out of modern symphonic. There are times when this is quite Glass Hammer in style, but that is probably more to sharing the same influences as opposed to taking anything from them directly. It also has a very Eighties American feeling to it, more Rabin than Anderson, which is very easy to listen to without ever falling into the trap of being too full of sugar.

I have no idea what circumstance this was recorded under, and even whether Victor is currently in Ukraine, but I cannot imagine it was easy wherever he is. Of the two albums of his I have heard this is easily the superior, and one I enjoyed listening to a great deal while never being truly essential. I am looking forward to the next one already.

[Originally published at The Progressive Aspect]

The first release I heard from Victor Go was the Ukrainian multi-instrumentalist's fourth album, The Leap (released in 2020). The internet has provided opportunities for many a one-man-band to put their music out there, and I admit I tend to approach these sorts of artists with a fair degree of trepidation. It's probably fair to say that when it comes to one man projects, quantity tends to outweigh quality. However, Victor Go proves himself to be not just a talented musician, but producer as well - which, even when the musicianship is OK, tends to be where a lot of these one-man-bands are shown to be lacking. Not only did I really enjoy The Leap, but also two of Victor's three previous albums, so coming up to Tales from McIntyre Lake, things are looking good, with three out of his four previous releases all being well to my liking. And, I have to say, despite the new one not being as immediate as The Leap, it has certainly grown on me. Although I was unsure initially, I now think this might be my favourite Victor Go album!

I suspect the one sticking point some people may have with Victor Go are his vocals, and I say that only because they remind me a lot of those of Christiaan Bruin, who, though I love his vocal sound and style, I am aware that my affection is not at all universally shared. Victor's vocals are also often highly reminiscent of Peter Gabriel (to me), another singer that can inspire quite a Marmite reaction. However, in my case, it was when I first heard Victor's vocals that I sat up and paid attention, and realised his music was for me. It's actually very rare for me to pay much attention to vocals, and much of what I listen to is instrumental, or has vocals which I tend to not take much notice of. Victor's vocals are the type that one cannot really ignore, which is fine if you love them as I do, but means that if they are not to one's taste, it will make his albums hard to listen to.

The first thing I noticed about Tales, before I even listened to a note, was that the prelude and postlude are not the opening and closing numbers. Intriguingly, the album begins instead with a song that, although it is just under six-minutes, is more or less a mini epic! Given how accessible and melodic Victor's previous albums were from the get go, the way Tales launches with Perfect Time required a little time for me to shine as brightly. But shine it does. And even though the sound had changed from previous albums enough to surprise me initially, there were still plenty of the elements of Victor's music that are present throughout his work. The first, already mentioned, are the vocals. Somewhat related, I guess, given the light and breathy nature of Victor's voice, is that there is a fair amount of the poppy sound that infiltrated the '70s prog giants as they entered the '80s.

Now that is likely to sound off-putting to some, and indeed probably would to me, so let me quickly backtrack. I like '80s King Crimson, I like some '80s Rush, I wouldn't change the station if '80s Genesis came on (that's about as positive as I can be), and '80s Yes just makes me cringe. Yet, somehow, despite evoking sounds that aren't all to my taste, I really like Victor Go's music. Well, perhaps it's not such a mystery, as the sound of '80s (pop) prog is mixed with jazz and fusion sounds, while a lot of the more symphonic and melodic passages evoke the sounds of '60s pop through a '90 lens (a la Moon Safari). There are hints of the solo material of Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, and, most of all, Alex Lifeson (whose solo album was released under the name Victor), too. Basically, Victor is painting from a wide palette of influences, and the diversity of the resulting sound means even when those influences are not exactly something I'd normally choose to listen to, Victor makes them sound appealing.

Back to that opening track. Once one pays attention to the lyrics, and this is one of those rare albums that compels me to do just that, the inclusion of a track before the prelude makes a lot of sense. Perfect Time is more or less an overture, presenting the entire album in a TL;DR version ? or, at least, that is how it appears to me. The first two minutes or so present the protagonist on the eve of his suicide bid; the final two minutes, his fresh start after deciding to live; and two minutes in-between the existential crisis. As I said, I was compelled to pay attention to the lyrics, and I couldn't help Googling in an attempt to find out where McIntyre Lake might be. There are several around the world, but the one that seems most likely to me is the one in British Columbia, which is an icy "Shallow Water" lake, and one of very few places in Canada where one can see a pelican in the wild (there being a sanctuary in the vicinity).

Once the story has been outlined in Perfect Time, it is told in greater detail. After the instrumental Prelude, we are taken out onto the shallow waters of McIntyre Lake. Over the course of the album, while it's not revealed to us why he has come to this conclusion, it becomes apparent that the protagonist has decided to join the famous '27 Club' of musicians who have bowed out at the age of twenty seven years. Slap bang in the middle of the album is The Eve, where the options are spelt out: float or drown, live or die. As the album moved from negativity and despair to doubt in the first half, so it now moves from doubt to positivity and hope in the second. And appropriately, though the album ends with a track following the postlude (to bookend it nicely), the order of which is the vocal track and which is the instrumental is reversed. It's a really nice touch. "Little joys happen now and then. They are not random for sure." I can say, without doubt, that Tales from McIntyre Lake is one of those little joys.

As is often the case these days, Victor contacted me through FB and asked if I would be interested in hearing his new album. Seeing as how I have a personal policy of always reviewing anything when an artist contacts me directly, it was an easy answer, so now I am listening to what is an intriguing and interesting album. This is the fourth album from Ukrainian multi-instrumentalist Victor Go and comprises eight songs with vocals and three without. It is probably the vocal treatment which is probably going to get the most criticism from some as they have obviously been quite heavily treated. I do not know if this is due to Victor having poor vocals or is because he is looking for a deliberate sound. I think it is probably due to the latter as opposed to the former, and they are not an issue for me as it is so obvious ? very different today to many of today's (non-prog) "singers" who use auto-tune as they are unable to hit a note and are generally in the charts due to the way they look/dance and studio trickery as opposed to any innate musical ability.

This is a solid crossover album, mixing progressive rock and more commercial sounds, and while in many ways it owes much to the Nineties' Neo Prog scene, there is also much here which is somehow reminiscent of Camel. I particularly like the use of fretless bass and the sliding in for some of the notes, as that provides some wonderful warmth against the multi-layered keyboards and guitars. The use of acoustic guitar here and there is also a nice touch, as is synthesised violin, and numbers such as "Pilot: Dream" are delicate and fresh. There is not a great deal of breadth and depth to the album, but it is certainly an enjoyable release, containing different elements which mean that while not indispensable it is also something that should not be dispensed with on first hearing as the more it is played the more there is to be obtained from it.

This album reminds me of a lemon. You cut a slice, then you squeeze it to extract the juice which will have Pop Art flavors with the vocal resemblances of PREFAB SPROUT (excellent group!), You recover the pulp as an instrumental texture with YES tinsel, you peel a zest whose yellow color will evoke the sun and the beaches of the Californian coast to the dazzling BEACH BOYS, you add a little sweetened sugar for a voice soberly retouched by the vocoder and sensations somewhat synthesized by numerous keyboards. You mix it all together, you taste and you will notice that the alcohol is missing which gives the necessary strength to a totally successful cocktail. Even if this opus contains some great successes, the recruitment of one or two seasoned accomplices with experience in the matter, could have made this affair more difficult by bringing a greater general basis, but this is only my humble opinion. Notwithstanding this presentation, the multi-instrumentalist VICTOR GO, who is at the origin of everything, gives us a fourth singular and worthy test, stamped Crossover Prog. This gentleman declaims his influences with the BEATLES, prog groups of the 70s such as YES, ELP, GENESIS, GENTLE GIANT, the icons of jazz fusion PAT METHENY, Al DI MEOLA, CHICK COREA. The main theme of this cake is the bisextile year 2020 with its hopes and alarms.

With "Once Again" and this album in general I can't help but think of PADDY MCALOON the singer of PREFAB SPROUT with his recognizable phrasing, which will be audible on many titles to come. On a tangy pop base devoid of catchy melody are grafted little jazzy tunes, one or two very short guitar riffs, and many synthetic and cinematic effects. At 3:35 you will notice a well-constructed passage with a dazzling synth nicely interwoven in a false rhythm, bringing a real little extra to this first track. "2020. Hopes and Alarms" begins like VANGELIS with soft and airy harmonies, sewn together by a pretty pianistic melody incorporated into a brassy and electric orchestration. The tone darkens and becomes chaotic as indicated in the title, with some drum rolls and a strong six string. "Last Hope" is almost a repeat of the first song with the blatant impression of listening to "Fly From Here" by YES mixed once again with PREFAB SPROUT ... I wouldn't speak of plagiarism, but of exaggeratedly obvious influences! "Pilot. Dream" contains from the beginning to the end of the multi-layers of enlightened keyboards, interpreted with a lot of subtlety, a jazz fusion chord of good quality will come to complete this very pleasant interlude. To wonder if it's not better without singing ...? "Tension" doesn't offer anything really new with the feeling that we are going around in circles. Here we show off our knowledge and musical abilities without placing structures that really hold up, it all seems superperficial and inconsistent, no fascinating melody to call out to us, nothing that catches our ears, I'll skip my turn ... " Pilot. Conceit "captivates me already more, surely because of the absence of voice which gives free rein to an instrumentation which seems improvised and freed from vocal constraints. A singular jazz rock going all over the place nicely merges with a complete electronic panel and the most modern special effects, despite a short performance, we go up a notch here! "Flywheel" begins with an acoustic guitar and a neo-prog-looking synth moving towards pop and folk sensations, this time supported by a real melody and a song which wanders more easily in this setting. The arrangements are much more coherent and offer better positioned spatial harmonies. "Pilot. Anticipation" is a sunny song with sweet sensations that the BEACH BOYS surely would not have denied. VICTOR GO here gives us the desire to travel to infinity with synthetic and electric instruments imbued with harmonious fullness, but also by an irradiating song that invites us to discover an ideal life that only exists in dreams or in dreams. skies ... it's nice and finely played!

With "2020. Move On" we land on the longest title with an unmistakably progressive approach. Indeed many genres are audible in this score, we can hear some fragments ranging from KING CRIMSON to GENESIS, from YES to PREFAB SPROUT ... again ??? But fortunately this pot contains a well simmered broth, with extremely brilliant keyboards, pieces of guitars with diverse and sparkling expressions. The quiet parts are associated with voices coming straight from paradise, surely angels ....? You can find almost every possible and imaginable style there, constantly scaffolded by avant-garde music ... the rack has just gone up two notches at once! "Pilot. Triumph" is a playful song, built around violins and cherubs positioned in the background accompanying a song resembling a bard pouring out her triumph, while the drummer hits his drums like an erupting KEITH MOON, a bit too sometimes! This harmonious event can easily be incorporated into a compilation for pleasant travel. "Everlasting Quest" is profiled like an atmospheric and futuristic intermission, a guitar interprets some soaring arpeggios accompanied by vocoded voices and special effects reverberating on a cinematic canvas ... this performance will be heard without stopping! This album managed to surprise me happily and conquered me, despite the few weaknesses mentioned above. VICTOR GO deserves his artist name because he alone has achieved the feat of having produced everything from A to Z, having played all the instruments and being at the origin of all the voices ! This work is a complex compendium of paradoxical influences with a unique concept, merging pop with prog music, the two genres blend admirably in an almost natural way with a surprisingly atypical result. Modernism and the use of instruments which are just as modern are the basis of this production. It contains all the symptoms of a joyous radiant intoxication, acting on our neurons almost permanently. We cannot blame VICTOR GO for transmitting the blues to us, because here the music gives the feeling of coming beyond our land borders and suggests to us that the prog is elsewhere and that it must remain positive.

To start off, I should send a personal apology to the artist because it has taken me more time than usual to post a review on this album after his request. There are three reasons for this: 1) the postal service, 2) personal events and 3) wanting to give the album a fair review after several listenings. It's combined complexity and pop style is to be admired, but not always to my taste.

After releasing 3 albums in 2018, we finally have a release (in 2020) from Victor Go, a multi-instrumentalist from Ukraine. Victor has been involved with other Ukrainian artists, including the founder of "Modern Rock Ensemble". On this new album named "The Leap", Victor uses his compositional and instrumental skills to compose a semi-thematic album with some complex, yet very pop sounding tracks. It is not an easy task to accomplish, yet he shows off his talent in these two areas which results in some nicely, bright tracks.

In contrast to his earlier album "Going for the Sense", this time he also includes his own vocals on most of the tracks. This is where this album falters as his vocal production here is enhanced by electronic effects, and this results in a starchy sound that really affects the overall quality of the album. The vocals sound very nasally, fake and almost completely without emotion. This is quite unfortunate because the composition of the tracks is quite good.

The album tracks are organized by beginning with what would be considered a major track and then following this up with a track that are more like an "intermezzo". The rest of the album follows in this pattern. Two suites are broken up throughout the album, one titled "2020" and the other one titled "Pilot", and these tracks that make up the suites are actually the intermediate tracks that lie between the major, longer tracks.

Personally, I find the shorter, instrumental tracks to be more enjoyable than the tracks that are supposed to be the more important tracks mostly because of the vocals. Another reviewer suggested using other vocalists to sing and I would have to agree with this. Either that or return to the more instrumental style of "Going for the Sense". The vocals leave a lot to be desired, and actually drag the album down.

However, the longer tracks still manage to have some nice instrumental breaks in them and that is what keeps me listening. For example, in "Tension", there is some nice piano and synthesizer work, and in "Once Again", there is some nice heavy guitar sound in there that give the tracks some nice variety.

Once the album is finished, even after multiple listenings, it seems to be difficult to find anything that stands out, however. The nice musical passages sound great while you are listening, but in the end, the listener can be left feeling unfulfilled as there is nothing really memorable. I believe the artist is on the right track here as is evidenced in his compositional skill and his instrumental work. But, it would be better to have un-enhanced vocals done by other vocalists with a lot more dynamic in the overall album. When all is said and done, I can't help but agree with what most of the other reviewers have felt about the album.

Very good, very interesting and diverse Neo Prog from Ukrainian veteran. I hear Keith Emerson, Pendragon, Andy Didorenko, and many classic and classy Neo Prog hooks and tricks in this music. Victor is definitely a gifted composer and engineer--the sound mixing (and choice of instrumental palettes) are always a notch above average or classic Neo Prog. Emerson keys, fretless Jeff Berlin-like bass, solid somewhat-Bruford/Alan White-like drums; and Allan Holdsworth-like electric guitar with vocals all over the place.

1. "Once Again" (5:15) nice catchy pop-prog. The instrumental parts are interesting and refreshing. The nasal vocal tone needs some getting used to. (8/10)

2. "2020. Hopes and Alarms" (3:39) A top three song for me. (9.5/10)

3. "Last Hope" (6:54) excellent prog song with a slightly dated keyboard sound palette. Once the vocals enter I find myself reminded of some of JON ANDERSON's solo material as well as a lot of JOHANNES LULEY's projects. (13/15)

4. "Pilot. Dream" (3:30) slow building atmospheric instrumental--until the dance hall rhythm tracks of the third minute. Interesting and fresh! (9/10)

5. "Tension" (6:39) piano-bouncing classic rock foundation given a barrage of proggy incidentals. Vocal is like one of THE PSYCHEDELIC ENSEMBLE's poorer ones. (8.5/10)

6. "Pilot. Conceit" (2:49) a jazzier, almost ADIEMUS/World Beat take on the "pilot" themes. Cool! (8.75/10)

7. "Flywheel" (6:27) A tension-filled, top-notch Neo Prog song and one of my top three. Victor's best vocal tracks on the album. (9.25/10)

8. "Pilot. Anticipation" (4:24) very cinematic. Good. ALAN PARSONS PROJECT/TONY PATTERSON-like. (8.75/10)

9. "2020. Move On" (8:37) what if Keith Emerson played with BRUFORD instead of Dave Stewart? This is what we might have gotten. 80s YES/ASIA-ish bombast for the second half. Such an amazing imitation! Also reminded of JON ANDERSON/TREVOR RABIN-era YES. (18.5/20)

10. "Pilot. Triumph" (3:09) a little hokey in its Broadway pit-orchestra imitation, yet competently executed. Unfortunately, the vocal takes away a little. (8.25/10)

11. "Everlasting Quest" (Bonus Track) (6:00) electronica? Kind of. If you combined 1978 jazz fusion with Klaus Schulze, this might've been what you got. Interesting, to be sure. (8.75/10)

Total Time 57:58

Victor Go has the unusual talent of being able to successfully forge multiple familiar musical styles and instrumental styles into interesting and engaging songs. Very well worth your while to check out for yourselves--especially if you like solving musical puzzles/games (e.g. "Where have I heard that before?") My suggestion to Victor: experiment with guest vocalists to sing your songs; you might find it adds new life, new dimensions to your music.

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music.

I have very mixed feelings on this album. No, I definitely don't consider this music bad. It's just that there's something to irritate me on a purely subjective level. It mostly concerns the vocals that have a slightly artificial, technically treated tone. Victor Go from Ukraine kindly sent me not only this new album but also Going for the Sense (2018; one of the three albums releaded that year!) which I actually prefer, due to a larger portion of instrumentals.

His music is modern-sounding and, despite highly sophisticated, small-scale complex musical texture, quite poppy in the overall atmosphere, especially when it has vocals. Prefab Sprout with a proggiet twist. On the instrumentals the classic prog influences (that are emphasized on the artist bio and some reviews) are more audible, for example twisted rhythms and some nods to Keith Emerson on keyboards, but I don't much sense Symphonic Prog flavour. A little bit of Fusion spirit I do hear. There's no denying Victor Go is a gifted one-man- band and producer.

This album is almost 58 minutes long and it has 11 tracks. It would help a lot if they would at least flow more seamlessly. I get a feeling that all songs sound quite the same. There are no memorable melodies, nor do the lyrics have any emotional connection to me (which again doesn't mean they're objectively pointless). The worst thing however is the constant use of autotune or whatever device instead of normal acoustic recording of vocals. As an instrumental album I surely would enjoy it more. For all the professionalism in playing and producing I round my 2,5 stars upwards.

"The Leap" released in early 2020 sounds like kinda one-man-show by a multi-instrumentalist Victor GO. His musical characteristic can be explained as 'music polymers with different melodic components along with simple rhythmic lines', let me say, and this creation is clearly expressed as mentioned above. Basically it's quite a tough work (and simultaneously a niche) for Crossover Prog artists to merge pop essence into complicated sound description, and sounds like he would try to do it hard in this opus.

For example, in the first shot "Once Again" catchy flower-ful phrases based upon a bit complex melody lines can be heard, that reminds me of something like symphonic Genesis or Gentle Giant (oh yes it's said he's inspired such great symphonic vanguards). You could feel of so-called stability even in phrasal eccentricity. And "2020" would have been one of his hopes and movements ... the current situation all over the world is a disaster for every artist though ... in "Hopes And Alarms" are his gentle keyboard works plus lyrical uptempo music-water flows. "Move On" reveals exciting atmosphere via acceptable sound fruits.

"Pilot" suites are other appearances of Victor. Guess he weave into his mental, spiritual, and of course auditory impressions, just as the subtitles "Dream ~ Conceit ~ Anticipation ~ Triumph" says (anyway I love soundscape upon "Conceit", not only dark, depressive but also strict, unmovable). The last "Everlasting Quest" sounds like an expression of his final settlement in the rock scene, flooded with challenging but rewarding opportunities. Cannot avoid his sound essence is puddled with Pioneers' music element pieces but vitality and vivacity for progressive rock of this versatile artist should be enchanting.

Just received Going for the Sense CD from store.cdbaby.com/cd/victorgo. Music of Victor Go contains something special I couldn't find in most nowadays prog releases: spirit of 70's prog legends such as Yes, ELP revival. Imagine those guys just having become 40 years younger, all alive and full of creative force.

However being charged by Gods Victor Go's got his own bright style. I listen carefully to his music details, look forward to and find moving themes and exciting stresses, thrilling freshness and imperceptible naïve optimism. Listening to the music of such a kind gives a feeling of holyday unlike listening to most current bands. Variety of images, associations, moods, all those things making us love prog-rock, personally I have found in this nice work.

Thanks for that.

I surfed through unknown prog-rock artists on Spotify and was lucky to find that amazing album of Victor Go 'Going for the Sense'. I am very glad to see it here, on Progarchives.com. From the opening track to the final song each piece is filled with unpredictable and sophisticated composition moves and keyboard experimentation. Music is full of Emerson level keyboards, touching guitar parts, novel and recognizable lead vocal, nice polyphony, powerful lyrics and thrilling electronic tricks. If you are an old school prog-rock enthusiast and like to listen to numerous details, you'd definitely enjoy this amazing album. The influence of great bands of 70-80s is obvious, but in spite of this music is actual and new. Songs 'Stream' and 'Elation' are special. They really cannot be categorized: beautiful, original and unique. Victor Go's work takes 5 from me.