SCOTT MOSHER

Ambient Earth is Scott Mosher's debut CD which I downloaded for free from his website along with three other of his solo albums. It is this album that probably most explains his inclusion in the Progressive Electronic category as his future albums head into a more progressive metal direction. This album consists of ambient soundscapes with numerous repetitive themes. The guitar work on this album is decent. The keyboard playing is decent at times, but I did find it to be repetitive and kind of samesy throughout. Take this for what it is worth as I am not a fan of ambient soundscapes. They generally bore me. I believe that this album is most likely to appeal to fans of Prog that borders on New Age such as some Tangerine Dream, solo Rick Wakeman, and some Mike Oldfield. It is not terrible by no means, it just isn't music that I find to be all that exciting to listen to. On the Prog Archives rating system I give it 2 stars as being music that is for fans of this type of progressive new age sound. I don't feel that it will have much appeal outside of this group of fans or except for those type of occasions that call for that progressive new age sound.

I will do the decent thing and post a review (as Bob suggests...). And this debut album is worth listening to and spending some time to write a review. However, I have to warn the reader of my little knowledge and connection to electronic music (which this album entirely consists of).

As far as progressive electronic is concerned, I have to admit that the resemblance between this album with complex progressive arrangements and variety of instruments is minimal. This does not mean that the sound is always 'flat' and uninteresting as there are several moments that the melodies are more than pleasing to the ear. The majority of the record is based on a (mostly repetitive) synth background with drum machine sounds - a clear disadvantage to the final outcome.

Influences from artists like Jean-Michelle Jarre and Mike Oldfield are obvious but add to the quality of the album. I found myself enjoying the more epic moments (i.e. Atlantis rises from the waves) where powerful keyboard lines are dominant and 'dreamy'/ambient intervals in tracks like Dreaming in Distant Worlds. There are also tracks based entirely on dark or tribal rhythms (i.e. Descent into the inferno, Tenochitlan, Where the river runs black) that give a different 'spice' to what the artist is trying to achieve with this debut. Spinning Binary Systems has a 'Vangelis' feeling that runs through a few tracks while Ozric Tentacles-like arrangements can be heard in City of a Thousand Lights. The impressive use of electric guitar in Eclipse clearly shows the technical abilities of Scott Mosher and makes this track a highlight.

If you have not already understood by now, it is quite complex for me to compile my thoughts over this debut that shows a high potential but generally does not impress. Clearly the length of the album is on the 'cons' side along with the 'empty' sound of the drum machine. On the 'pros', a few innovative ideas and a well-established ambient feeling that makes the album a - at least - pleasant experience.

Decent debut from an artist that makes you expect more. Fans of electronic music might appreciate this album more than I did...

After a few repeated listenings, I was always convinced this guy is without any musical talent at all. His other albums proved that I'm wrong, however I have issues with this debut.

Ambient Earth, as its name suggests, is an album full of ambient soundscapes, inclining towards the New Age music. I'm not a fan of that kind of music - but that's not hitting the nail of my disliking for this one. The timbres are lush, digital, ambient, majestic; sampled choirs are omnipresent. Occasional guitar moments, that could ad an extra dimension and warmth to an electronic number, actually sound more sterile and lifeless than keyboards - they're heavily clipped with digital distortion, sounding almost like bit-reduced. If that means nothing to you, let's just say that guitar sounds too artificial. Moreover, they're mostly thrown into the songs - playing a pattern and then ending abruptly. A sustained ending note or a fade out combined with altered keyboard tones would be much better - but it's not the guitar that is problem neither. Drum patterns are not bad, considering the fact they're a bit dull, and entirely programmed. So the drums are not problematic neither.

What bothers me a lot are two things: the first one is aforementioned choice of keyboard timbres; they're fine in their own right, but identical through entire album (which is too long anyway). Artist managed to reach a certain level of professionalism on this album, but it still sounds like it's entirely programmed on one mid-class keyboard workstation. Some change from time to time, please.

The second thing is the songwriting itself; it caused my harsh comment about a musical talent in the first paragraph. Chords, progressions, melodies. Take for example a title Atlantis Rises From The Waves (and what a generic title at that!): basic, basic, simple, non-demanding, un-original, you-name-it chords. The musician playing around his piano keyboard, discovering simple major and minor chords - but, pardon me, only white keys. And a scale entirely played on black keys. This applies to the most of the songs. The final result - song as a whole - is not actually that bad - but it had been heard before. Dozens of times. And it's long, long, unnecessarily long.

You may ask me: what do you want? It's electronic music, it needs to be somewhat simple, repetitive, meditative, to present a transcendental floating as opposed to a weight of everyday life blah blah blah. Well, I agree. And I like electronic music - from 50's experimental, 70's progressive, 80's poppy to 00's intelligent dance music. Some of it, of course. But you know, even if a simple sequence is going on and on, I need something that will pop out of the album and force my brain to pay a closer attention. This one is not doing it; Ambient Earth is flat as a flat Earth.

I like my progressive music to shock me, to burst because of density of ideas per song. This one is just playing it safe. Kudos to the artist for the maturity - he is controlling himself all the time, not letting the music go to far into pointless noodlings, which can not be said for many contemporary prog artists. But when it's too much, it's too much. This one is not moving too far.

There are a few good things though. The chord progressions, no matter how banal, are lovely. The timbre - and I'm not a fan of digital keyboards - are not annoying. There are some nice sequences and a few nice layerings. The usage of world music-like percussion sounds is also worth mentioning. But all this good things are few and far between; if released as a 10-minute single, Ambient Star would be fabulous. However, as a 74 minute album it's not so easy to digest. I must mention that the other albums by artist are much more worth checking - he generously offered them all free for download on his web-site, and I'm recommending them as he evolves his artistic expression through them. But the debut is forgettable.

The gloves are off

Released in 2006, "Deep Horizon" is Scott Mosher's latest album to date. As with the previous "Inferno", we have a mixture of shorter song based numbers, and a trio of longer tracks running to around 9 minutes. Here Todd Corsa, who provided vocals on the two previous albums, is only present to play guitar on a couple of tracks. He is replaced on vocals by Scott Oliva.

The opening 8 minute title track immediately announces that this album will continue to explore the heavy elements which characterised previous albums. Here though, Mosher moves deeper into prog metal territory, Oliva's vocals being more suited to that style. The overall sound here is more akin to Dio and Iron Maiden; it is certainly far removed from the Tangerine Dream electronics of Mosher's debut.

Thus the die is cast for the album. "The breaking point" is a straightforward heavy, driving rock number with a solid keyboards base and some fine lead guitar. There's not much prog on show, this is easily accessible stuff. "A path of pride" is even more in the Dio (and Rainbow) mould. Succeeding tracks such as "Light years and "Invisible darkness" continue in exactly the same vein, the album as a whole lacking the diversity of previous projects.

The only instrumental here is the 9 minute "re-engineering the mind", but even this remains a slice of power riffing and layered synths, perhaps to be used as the backing track for a further vocal performance. "Falling down" and "Zero hour" repeat the Iron Maiden style, the quick cymbals (like) driven pace of the former and pounding bass of the latter offering no room for subtlety. At a shade over 9 minutes, the closing "The space between lives" is the longest here. This mid-paced power rock song is as heavy but not quite as metallic as what has gone before, the vocals being a bit more gentle with slight distortion.

It is interesting visiting Scott Mosher's albums consecutively to witness how he starts out as a progressive electronic artist, then metamorphoses into a protagonist of power metal. With "Deep Horizon", that migration is complete and those seeking progressive electronic will have alighted from the bus. New passengers should however be joining, as this is an album which will undoubtedly appeal to those who prefer the prog metal genre. The music here is written and performed impeccably, so those who simply seek high quality performances regardless of genre will also be rewarded. For me, it is a matter of some regret that Mosher appears to have turned away from the electronic trance side which he was so deft at exploring.

While this is a highly enjoyable album, it slips just a little too neatly into the very competitive area it is rooted in, leading to the impression that it lacks originality. Had I come to this album directly, I would probably be hailing Mosher as a talented heavy rock musician. His previous albums though set the bar high in terms of diversity and originality, and seen on that basis, the progress made here is marginal.

This album can be downloaded free from the artist's website (see the link on Scott Mosher's ProgArchives page).

— First review of this album —

Sunburst finish

Having shown us through two fine previous albums that he was willing to experiment and diversify, Scott Mosher's third album has to live up to some high expectations. While he continues his diversification here, there is an element of settling in to a defined style. "Inferno" has much more in common with its immediate predecessor "Virtuality" than it does with his debut.

After the doomily atmospheric instrumental opener "Descent", the album bursts into life with the pop metal title track. The song reminds me a bit of Porcupine Tree's more recent commercially orientated material, with swirling synths, a catchy rhythm, incisive guitar, and the vocals of Todd Corsa. The tracks here sometimes segue from one to the next, giving a concept album feel. This is the case with the transition from "Inferno" to "Dark sun", the latter being a building keyboard instrumental reminiscent of Hawkwind's "Hall of the mountain grill" period.

The album settles into something of a pattern from here on though, with most of the tracks relying heavily on the vocals. "Mindfield", "Left behind", "Look into you" and "Ghostland" are all decent but unremarkable pop rock songs. On the plus side, Corsa's vocals sound less like Geddy Lee impersonations, but for me the overuse of vocals detracts from Mosher's immense instrumental talents.

At 9 minutes, the second longest track "Exile" is a rather odd blend of Tangerine Dream like ambient synths, and an Ayreon power ballad. The synthetic drums are striking, but lack the warmth of the real thing. The highlight of the track though, and indeed one of the album's highlights, is the fine lead guitar solo which bursts forward in the latter part of the track. While the guitar style has echoes of Steve Wilson, the solo is wonderfully enticing, another 10 minutes would have suited me fine.

The Porcupine Tree references continue in the heavy riffing of "Engines of industry", only the third instrumental track on the album. Even then, this is not really a vehicle for Mosher's virtuosity, although he does add some nice lead guitar to close.

The final official track "The world fades to gray" runs to over 11 minutes. The track is effectively in two halves, with opening section following the rock ballad style of some of the previous songs. The latter part is given over to some more fine lead guitar. While the song is enjoyable, for me it does not justify its de-facto status as feature track.

The album features a bonus track, a remix of "Season of fire" from the previous album. This trance based Tangerine Dream like instrumental harks back to Mosher's fine debut album, with floating synths and a pounding rhythm.

In all, another fine album by Scott Mosher, even if it does lack the progression and innovation of its predecessors. The generally shorter track lengths offer less room for development, rendering the songs more accessible, but ultimately less rewarding.

This album can be downloaded free from the artist's website (see the link on Scott Mosher's ProgArchives page).

— First review of this album —

Resembles Star One, but gets much more than one star!

Scott Mosher's second official release represents a definite progression from the fine "Ambient earth" of some five years previously. The brief opening "Upon the frontiers of infinite night" immediately places us in a much harder, more rock orientated environment than the Tangerine Dream like electronics of the debut might have led us to expect.

The second track though is even more surprising, as it features the first vocals to appear on a Mosher track. Tom Corso, who sings on about half the songs here, adds some decent vocals to this the title track. The track is awash with synth rhythms and pulsating guitar belying the "progressive electronic" tag he appears under here. The song is on one level simplistic and pop, while simultaneously offering a mix of prog metal and electronic trance. The drums here sound genuine, but as no specific credit is given it would seem they are programmed. Elsewhere on the album, it is more apparent that the drumming is electronic.

"Human: machine" has strong similarities with Arjen Lucassen's "Star one" project, the heavy keyboard driven rhythm also being reminiscent of Porcupine Tree's more recent albums. Likewise, the following instrumental "A season of fire" rattles along in a cacophony of sound. It is only when we reach the fifth track, "Attillon sunrise", that the album pauses for breath. This gentle, reflective synth piece has much more in keeping with the ambient new age sounds of Tangerine Dream and Rick Wakeman.

"Re-define" finds Corso sounding more than ever like Geddy Lee of Rush, the lyrics also being suitably mystical and Rush like. At times though, the rhyming pattern can be a little stretched and ordinary (humanity/duality/reality/ideology/symmetry).

"The dreaming eye" returns us to the style of "Human: machine" with distorted spoken vocals and upbeat synth bursts. Most of the tracks here run to around six or seven minutes, offering plenty of space to develop them to the full. "Sometime after midnight" utilises that room through a fine blend of synth and guitar, the mood fluctuating between quick loud bursts and atmospheric waves.

"The promise of truth" is the most ordinary track here. It has the power of its peers instrumentally, but it feels like it is a pretty conventional AOR rock song, devoid of character. "Shores of a cosmic ocean" is an onomatopoetic title for a drift into new age waves of sound, while "Infinity burns" is a shorter loud repetitive dirge which leans towards post rock.

The album closes with the longest track Mosher has recorded up to this point, the 10 minute "Sorrow in a world of darkness". The slower pace brings out the melody of the vocals well here, the track bringing together the constituent parts of the album in a fine final flourish. Once again, my only minor grumble is the repeated use of fade (which even appears during the track here). This track cries out for a monumental and climactic finish, not the disappointing soft wind down it features.

This is another fine album by Scott Mosher, which sees him making a great effort explore new areas and not simply to rest on his laurels. Do not be put off or unduly influenced by the "Progressive electronic" sub-genre which accompanies this album, this will appeal to a wide range of prog fans, and especially to those who enjoy prog metal with plenty of keyboards. In all, it represents a major leap forward by Mosher, whose talent both in terms of composition and performance warrant much greater recognition than he has received to date.

This album can be downloaded free from the artist's website (see the link on Scott Mosher's ProgArchives page).

A distinctive Tang

Released in 1996, "Ambient earth" is American Scott Mosher's first CD album. He is very much a solo artist playing all the instruments on the album and recording and producing the album himself. You could be forgiven therefore for expecting the kind of music created by many budding artists in their own homes, with long drawn out ambient pieces of primarily new age music. Happily, this is not the case here.

Mosher certainly recognises the new age influences in his music, but there are dynamics and energies throughout this album which belie its home brewed connotations. Take the second track "Atlantis rises from the waves" for example. This features loud bursts of fanfare synths and powerful percussion. Before that, the opening "Descent into the inferno" has a trance like feel, with Tangerine Dream like sounds mixing with a solid rhythm.

The diversity of the music is further emphasised by the world music rhythms of "Where the river runs black", and later "Tenochitlan", by which time the album has settled down into a more defined pattern. The overriding sound is that of various synths, leading to inevitable comparisons with Vangelis, Jarre, and the aforementioned Tangs. "The burning sea" is more in the Jean Michel Jarre camp, with a strong rhythm and relatively simple melody. There is though a certain menace to the deep beat of tracks such as this and "Descent into the inferno" which actually bring to mind some of Porcupine Tree's more ambient work.

While the album is entirely instrumental, Mosher does like to use vocal samples to provide choral effects on some tracks. "Spinning binary systems", a Tangerine Dream ("Rubycon") like piece utilises these sounds well. My only minor criticism of this and other tracks, is the rather clumsy fade.

On "Discovery", Mosher combines the choral samples with some fine old fashioned(!) monophonic synth, to create an highly atmospheric piece which is simultaneously contemporary and retro. "Eclipse" features the first real burst of lead guitar, the soloing indicating that Mosher is extremely capable on a diverse range of instruments.

In all, a highly proficient and enjoyable first CD by this talented musician. Do not be put off by the "ambient" title, this is a varied album of dynamic sounds and strong compositions.

This album can be downloaded free from the artist's website (see the link on Scott Mosher's ProgArchives page). If you do download though, do the decent thing and post a review.