THIRTEEN OF EVERYTHING

A band from Austin, Texas, that was formed in the early 2000s that is new to me (I've not gone back to listen to their two previous album releases).

1. "Timeline" (8:57) are these guys for real? The music, individual musicianship is so rudimentary, and the lyrics among the silliest, most forced rhymes I've ever heard. This would be fine if it were 1966 and prog had not already been defined and populated by many jazz- and classically-trained virtuosi of their instruments, but this is unacceptible for serious prog musicians. Either this was a very old song the band had been rejecting or hiding since their early days and the decided to haphazardly throw together in order to have enough material for this album, or they were in a real hurry to throw something together at the last minute for filler. (If the latter is the case, I'm surprised the band didn't throw it at the end of the album.) (16.75/20)

2. "Alternate Life" (12:02) at least this one has a true prog feel (and flow) to it. (21.75/25)

3. "Where the Time Goes" (5:32) some jazzy shifts in this one beneath the wailing solo lead electric guitar! Nice! All the while it's Brett Cosby's mesmerizing guitar play that keeps one attending. And no vocals with banal lyrics. This is nice. They're improving! (8.875/10)

4. "The Penultimate Flight of Armando the Pigeon" (7:11) Great title. Why go the ELP route (with the Hammond leading the way) I don't know. The vocals are well-intended (and the lyrics actually better than that embarrassing opener) and the guitar leads excellent, but the rest of the music is a bit lackluster--dragging along as the singer conveys his story (Armando's plight). The GENESIS/ANT PHILLIPS interlude in the fourth and fifth minutes is pretty--and it works very well when the music returns to the main motif at 4:45. There are hints of modern IQ, old Gabriel-era Genesis, and even ancient 1960s proto-prog in this. In the end, I like it. (13.5/15)

5. "The King of Istanbul" (10:35) With this song it becomes obvious to me that the singer of the song is the lyricist for this singer, the same as that of the opening song, here displays the same obsession with rhyming--no matter what the result--sometimes multiple times within the same phrase or sentence! It's just too much! The guitar work, as always, is wonderful, the keyboards, bass, and drums perform well as supporters, the song is constructed with some epic qualities--including multiple gear and directional shifts with distinctly different motifs, it's just that vocal performance--with its ludicrous lyrical content--that drags the song down. (17/20)

6. "Warmth and Darkness" (7:32) an attempt at a ORION or HEMINA-like Sci-Fi radio-teleplay. I like this ANDY TILLISON-like vocalist (ChapmanStick player Mick Peters) so much better than the other. He might be a little melodramatic, but his bombast is less offensive than the rhyme-obsessed lyrical mess of the other. A nice tune for the conveyance of a little dramatic fantasy. (13.25/15)

7. "Count All the Days" (16:33) This one feels as if it should be cohesive and coherent, but it's not. The multi-layered vocal is just too muddled--distractingly so--and disharmonious with the music; it's literally as if the singing tracks were done in one studio ignorant and irrespective of the music it was supposed to fit. The space-atmospheric section between 5:13 and 8:40 feels a duplicate of the Jon Anderson harp and Rick Wakeman organ interlude in the middle of YES' "Awaken"; it's nice but, unfortunately, we're brought out of it with a Peter Nichols/IQ motif that (like most IQ music) bores me to tears. In the thirteenth minute some synth and guitar play liven things up, but fail to convince the rhythm section to shift gears or change direction until the very end of the thirteenth minute (that's five minutes of IQ-ness! Yuch!) Mellotron bridge (again) into the "Awaken" harp motif (again) only this time Mick Peters enters singing in a very pleasant lower register--and the backing/harmonizing vocals that soon accompany do not deter or distract because the music beneath remains so thin and atmospheric. The buildup in the final minute, however, threatens to replicate the over-stimulation of the the opening section. I like a lot of the ideas here, even though the musical motifs are rather tame, and the subject matter and mood captured is quite cool; if only those vocals didn't clog up the works! (26.25/30)

Total Time 68:22

Reading more of the band's history and bio, I'm saddened for the lack of consistency in the compositional (and performance) competency of this collection of songs. There are some great ideas, nicely worked out, but then there are others that feel as if they got back up "B" or "C"-listers to fill in during the studio time. What happened. I only hope that if and when I go back to listen to the band's previous two albums I hear and feel progress in the band's development, that songs like "Timeline" prove to be the exception and never the rule. Also, having been a ChapmanStick player myself, I must say that I am none too impressed with Mick Peters skill on that cherished and powerful instrument. Fortunately, he more than makes up for it in the conceptual and vocal departments. Also, mega kudos to guitarist Brett Crosby for consistently saving many songs whenever he soloed. Thanks, Dude! You kept me going!

B/four stars; a very interesting set of musical ideas that every prog lover would probably enjoy experiencing; definitely a band to pay attention to for future growth.

This is the second album from the Texas-based progressive rock group, only some fourteen years after the debut. I have no idea what has happened in the intervening years but the core of the band has stayed the same with Mick Peters (vocals, Chapman stick, bass, pedals, guitars), Ted Thomas (vocals, drums, percussion, synthesizer) and Joe Funk (guitars, synthesizer). Thad Miller (synthesizer) who played on the first album here only features on one track and has been replaced by Bruce McIntosh (piano, organ, synthesizer) who plays on the rest, plus there are a few guests.

Here we have a band who are taking the classic influences of Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant, King Crimson and Camel and combining them into something which feels fresh and inviting. There is a power here, a real depth to the music as it swirls and combines. The real joy of this is one is never really sure where it is going to be lead as the path has many branches and they are taken at will, sometime coming back to the main route, others finding a new way, while at others just going around to take you back to where you started. The use of different instruments to provide the bassline allows the music to mutate gracefully and with ease, while Thomas is obviously at home playing anything but a standard rock pattern, which again brings us closer to the Seventies. But the songs and arrangements are modern, with great vocals (there are three different lead singers on the album, as Rick Clark guests on 'Walk on Water').

There is huge variety on the album as they bring their influences to bear, and the more attention and time the listener gives to it the more they will get out of it. I can only hope it isn't fourteen years until the next one.

US foursome THIRTEEN OF EVERYTHING sets the year 2000 as their official year of foundation, and following a demo in 2002 they were signed to French label Musea Records for their debut album "Welcome, Humans", which was released in 2005. The band have released one more album since then, "Our Own Sad Fate", which was self-released earlier this year.

Thirteen of Everything strikes me as a talented bunch of men, and while they probably use a bit too much time to produce their material to become a staple in the progressive rock circle there's no denying the talents of the band. The ones that primarily should take note of this album will in my view be those who have a just about equal passion for late 70's Genesis and early 80's Marillion. Many of those who love and treasure those eras of those bands should find this album to be a real treat.

"Thirteen of Everything" is a Symphonic Prog band originally founded in Texas, who released their first album in 2005. It has taken 14 years to release their 2nd album, "Our Own Sad Fate", released in June of 2019. The line up of musicians is consists of the same 4 musicians that recorded their debut album; Mick Peters on vocals, Chapman stick, bass, pedals, guitars and percussion; Ted Thomas on vocals, drums, percussion and sythnesizer; Joe Funk on guitars and synthesizer; and Thad Miller on synthesizer. However, Thad only appears on one track. Bruce McIntosh has replaced Thad as a core memter and plays piano, organ and synthesizer. Other musicians that help out on some of the tracks are Brett Crosby on guitars, Rick Clark on vocals and Mark McMillan on violin. The album consists of 7 tracks and has a run time of over 51 minutes.

There are obvious influences in their music, namely Camel, King Crimson, Genesis and Gentle Giant. In fact, the idea for the band initially started after two of the founders got to talking after jointly attending a "ProjeKcts" concert. That is when Mick decided he wanted to learn how to play the stick. However, keyboard lines and percussion/drum patterns definitely will bring to mind several progressive bands from the 70s, plus the additionof Melltron and harpsichord. The band also brings in influences of their own state with hints of folk throughout.

"Dark Energy" brings in an interesting synth riff and then the addition of piano and drums, and later the guitar joins in with its own contrasting riff. Vocals start before the 2 minute mark. The music is bright and upbeat despite the title. After the first verse, there is a tinkling of cymbals and then the guitar comes in with a new riff and an instrumental section builds off of that adding in keyboards and then the guitar later. At 5 minutes, the sound mellows out to a soft mellotron and guitar section before the original vocal theme comes back in with the full band again. "Storm Season" is an instrumental that begins with a pensive piano solo. It's not until just before the 3 minute mark that the full band kicks in as the piano continues an arpeggio pattern and the drums and guitar play a progressive passage with each other. Things eventually follow into a more steady feel, but the progressive start/stop sound contrasts with the simple piano beginning. It's all pretty good though.

"Event Horizon" is another instrumental track, this one exceeding 8 minutes. It starts with a piano and distant guitar. A violin comes in after a minute. The distant guitar starts again as things meander around without drums. When they do come in, it is a lilting, almost folkish style. At 3 minutes, it goes in a different direction as the guitar and drums work together to establish a moderate beat with progressive stylings. Instead of developing into something however, it ends with a choral synth effect, then the piano brings in various voices speaking incoherently, the piano slowly builds and the guitar and drums and piano finally establish a steady beat as synths provide a nice solo, but this doesn't really come together until just before 6 minutes. A nice guitar solo finally develops, but it has taken a long time to get to this point, and the journey there seemed a bit unfocused and arbitrary.

"Walk on Water" is over nine minutes and starts with a soft guitar and falsetto vocals, and then a slower ballad-like rhythm starts up. This strangely enough, sounds like a very early "Scorpions" track (from around the "In Trance" album) to me at first. After two minutes, it gets minimal with just the voice and synths. This atmospheric and minimal section continues on for quite some time and drums don't come back in until the 5 minute mark, and then there is a quick build up. There is something about the vocals that bother me, the melody doesn't exactly fit the passion or something. Also, the instruments just sort of meander around without really developing anything. "Life is Change" is the track that features the original keyboardist and most of the guests mentioned earlier. It make me think it might be an older song. It seems to be a bit more upbeat and more straightforward, but the vocals continue to be uninteresting along with the melody.

"West Texas" is another instrumental track. It starts with haunting effects and acoustic guitars. The sound is expansive like wide open spaces. Soon, sythns come in to back it all up and give it all a lonely feeling. It's all a nice depiction of the area it is named after, giving the listener a lovely soundscape of the open expanses. It never really develops much however, and the hope that you are going to get something more expressive like "Valley of the Gods" never really happens. If you are looking for an effective soundscape of this sort, I would recommend that band. The last track is the 9 minute "Plague". It begins with just acoustic guitar and soft vocals. Drums finally come in and the vocals develop a bit more but when it slips into an instrumental interlude, it tries to sound progressive but comes across as being clumsy. After 4 minutes, it becomes more intense and the progressive sound returns with a lot of guitar, but it's a bit clunky.

The fact that there is a lot of variety in this album should work in its favor, but it doesn't. The album is all over the place and nothing really comes across as being authentic. Things that should work, don't. The music seems awkward and the vocals are not that great either. The band has some impressive influences, but this album just doesn't echo them very well. It seems they are trying to put a little bit of everything here, and they would have been better off focusing on being more concise. There is a lot of meandering going on throughout, like they are working up to something spectacular, and then it never happens. When they do let loose, it seems that everything is just off a bit, giving it all a harsh and clunky sound. The ideas are there, they just don't come to fruition very well. Anyway, there probably is enough good there to consider it a 3 star album, but I'm afraid it isn't a very strong 3 stars.

Thirteen of Everything (intristing name) is a relativly young progressive rock band from USA formed in late 1998 with only one album in their pockets so far, released at Musea records in 2005 named Welcome humans. I was very pleased what I heared here on this first offer of this texan band. Taken the influences from Genesis (Trick of the tail and Wind and wuthering era), Thirteen of everything manage to create a very solid and pleasent symphonic prog album, filled with excellent keyboards arrangements and some great guitar lines. The music is complex, beautifull arranged with some very memorable parts. The album is up tempo with little moments of respiro like Semprino, an acustic piece with nice keyboards in background . The voice is very good for this kind of music, he did a great job, nice passages from light voclas to more in vein just to come with the atmosphere of the piece, good voice. The main man of the band , is to me, Thad Miller - the keyboard player, who did a very strong and solid job here, the most intristing parts on this album come from this guy, who I must congratulated him because he done such a beautiful work with his instrument, from more balance moemnts with the guitar duo to amore solo effect, the keyboards always shine here, really some fantastic parts on Flying est, the dark Sleepdance and on The bird in hand. Well done guys overall, nice album, I like it a lot, with an excellent cover art a painting made by James Janknegt and inside booklet, with no more then 12 pages. So, I will give 4 stars easy, one of the most pleasent albums from progressive rock I've listen latley, with memorable and intricate arrangements and very good musicianship. Even in places the album has a touch of Genesis '76-77 era, Thirteen of Everything needs a better view, because they worth it evry push from us. Album available at Musea records.

This Texas quintet's debut cd is one of the better releases in the symphonic prog genre that's come out over the past few years. With a musical style that's rooted firmly in the Genesis model, they still manage to update their sound with IZZ-like harmonies and a relaxed, Glass Hammer-like recording style. You really get your money's worth with 73 minutes of melodious music, including the 26-minute album-closing suite "Late for Dinner" ("Supper's Ready"?...). Even some Canterbury-ish humor sprinkled in here and there! I do like the production of most of this cd, but I feel like the drums were sometimes mixed rather flatly or subdued - could have used a bit more high-end and "punch" for my tastes. Aside from the music, you get some decent album art, and an extensive cd booklet reminiscent of some of the earlier Flower Kings cd booklets. Overall, a pretty enjoyable and worthy album!

I'll go 3-1/2 stars

Really talented little Texas band doing intelligent and melodic prog rock that, although shows influence from all over the prog spectrum, doesn't imitate. Quite symphonic at times with excellent rhythms, great keyboard parts, tasteful angularity and touches of avant humor found in bands such as Genesis or Cartoon (American band). The singing is a little scattered and the production muddy at times, but I could say that about a lot of good first albums. If you miss your classic prog and crave a new voice in it, Thirteen of Everything's 'Welcome Humans' might be a nice surprise.

Texas is not quite the Mecca of progressive rock, but it is home to some damn fine musicians. Thirteen of Everything (T.o.E.) have actually been around for a while under various names and line-ups, but finally released this, their first album this year (2005). Heavily influenced by Genesis, Yes and Gentle Giant, T.o.E. put together a fine debut that showcases the individual talents of the members and gets their name on the prog map. They boast three vocalists, guitar, drums, keyboards and a Chapman Stick/bass/acoustic player. All the tools needed to create interesting and challenging music.

Welcome, Humans features six medium to longish pieces and one twenty-six minute epic that is broken into seven subtitles. The dynamics are played well, as themes change and build, break into soft acoustic piano or guitar with subtle vocal sections, then swiftly turn into full group flurries of electric bliss. The music doesn't drag, it consistently moves steadily forward and maintains strong melodies and attention grabbing meter shifts.

The only "problem" I have is the less then stellar recording mix. The drums sound boxy and dull. Ted Thomas is a talented drummer, the mix lacks snap. The vocals are good, not great. Mick Peters has a Peter Gabriel styled delivery, but lacks range and emotive colourings to his voice and often sounds strained. Guitarist Joe Funk has a voice best used to enhance a lyric, not really harmony, just as an effect. Ted Thomas, drums and percs, has the best voice in the band, however seems to have a jazzer delivery. Hopefully the band will either get a "true" lead singer or invest in making better use of the the talents of Mr. Thomas. The lyrics don't really carry the songs,they seem more of an afterthought, as T.o.E.'s strength is in their hands. The epic "Late for Dinner" is a bit too "war of the Worlds" in it's alien take over scheme.

It's hard to point out the highlights, because the music is consistently well played and melodic. Semprini is a beautiful respite in the center of the album, subtlely played guitar with a synth undercurrent. None of the tracks get too heavy, the balance between vocals and instrumental sections is nicely achieved.

This disc should appeal to classic-prog fans and musicians.

This is a USA band on a French label, reviewed on a Canadian site by a Dutchman, progrock has no borders! The music reminds me of Rush and Kansas (concerning the ideas, not the sound) because of the dynamic and alternating climates and the good skills of the musicians. The instrumentation is varied: piano, organ, synthesizers, acoustic - and electric guitars, bass, Chapman stick, bass pedals and drums and percussion. The seven compositions deliver lots of progrock pleasure: beautiful electric guitar with volume pedal use and fiery runs, bombastic organ and boogie woogie piano or flashy synthesizer flights, powerful vocals and dynamic interplay and many shifting moods. The 'magnum opus' is the long track "Late for dinner" (almost 27 minutes): although sometimes my attention slips away, most of this composition strong because of the good soli on keyboards and guitar, the great build ups and the moving grand finale. On this CD Thirteen Of Everything evokes Pink Floyd (guitar and organ) and Genesis (twanging guitars and Banks-organ) but in general this bands tries to sound original. A PROMISING DEBUT-CD!

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