JEREMY

In many ways it is somewhat surprising that it took until 2015 for Jeremy to release a Christmas album, as at my last check he has released more than fifty albums in one musical form or another, and given that he is also a church minister it does make a sense to bring the two things together. Anyway, here it is, and regarding musical stylings this finds very much in the area of power pop as opposed to his progtastic releases. I found one review that likened his influences to The Beatles, The Byrds, Big Star, Pink Floyd, The Hollies, The Kinks, Teenage Fanclub and another that pointed to the Undertones and Phil Seymour, but while bits of all these bands do make sense, there is no single band that can be heard to be prevalent above the others.

This is psychedelic power pop that is taking everything that came out from 1967 ' 1970 and melding it together in a fashion that is both enjoyable and fun, and that makes for instantly accessible music. Some of the songs are more evangelical than others, but the one thing they jave in common is that they don't really sound like any other Christmas song you;ve come across before. My favourite, though, just has to be 'Here Comes Christmas' which use the Batman theme to great effect. It just has to be heard to be believed. Overall, yet another fine release from Jeremy Morris.

Before I started writing the review I thought I'd get the CD down from the shelf, so started looking through my collection of Jeremy CD's and it took a while to find it. A short count later and I realised that I have thirty of his albums on CD, plus another four from the days when he was releasing albums on cassette, and I don't actually have everything he's done by a long way! The album starts as if it is one of his power pop albums, with a more evangelical nature, but the lengthy 'Clouds Are Lifting' soon turns into something quite different, as mandolins are riffed and dramtically change the feel of the whole piece and then we are into delicate piano and the realisation that this is an album that is looking back to his classic 'Pilgrim's Journey' in many ways, as it is refusing to conform into any particuar style.

There are a few guest musicians helping out here and there, but for the most part this is Jeremy doing everything himself. The rhythm section of Dave Dietrich and Todd Borsch may only be involved on a couple of numbers, but they have dramatic input into 'I Am The Eye' which is driving rock number, again with many influences and stylistic switches and changes. There are strong hints of The Beatles in particular, moved and pulled in many different directions and styles.

There is a refusal to conform, so that the listener never really know what to expect or what is coming next, although this is never harsh or grating. The jangly Byrds-style guitar at the beginning of the title song leads into a pop melody that in turn is twisted into something that could have come out of Sgt. Pepper. Jeremy has really puished himself with this album, and it feels his most complete work for some time. This will appeal to those who enjoy both his progressive rock and power ppop works as here is stretches both and delivers them in a manner that is always enjoyable and entertaining. This is refreshing and uplifiting album which is well worth hearing.

In 1996 Jeremy Morris re-released his guitar-oriented album ''Invisible'' on CD, after having pressed it on cassette in 1990, and the following year he returns with a second album on Kinesis, ''Celestial city''.This time he was helped by Mark Morris on drums, synths and piano, the rest of the instrumental armour was handled by Jeremy himself.

From the dreamy, fairytale cover of ''Pilgrim's journey'' we come to this one, which is much more spacey, additionally the keyboard duties of Mark Morris showcase a slight stylistical turn by Jeremy on this album.It's again another all instrumental work, but this time refered as balanced ''between TANGERINE DREAM and CAMEL''.I definitely confirm this statement.''Celestial city'' is the perfect title for a work full of orchestral electronics and multi-layered, cosmic synthesizers, that won't travel alone, they are always accompanied by Jeremy Morris' soft and emotional touch on guitar and the marching drums of Mark.The result is somewhere between EM and Neo Prog with certain retro vibes, PINK FLOYD are another group to spring to mind listening to this album.Beautiful compositions, rather lacking flexibility, but offering lots of amazing electronic backdrops, well-arranged synthetic soundscapes and brilliant guitar tones in the vein of Andy Latimer, David Gilmour and Steve Hackett, quite often having a slight Neo-Classical aura.This one sounds even pretty cosmic and fairly cinematic at moments, maybe even more compared to Jeremey's previous albums and, while being more of a trippy experience into atmospheric soundscapes, more bombastic passages are not absent either.

Great composer this Jeremy Morris.A sufficient mix of electronic and spacey textures with more classic, progressive sounds.Cathartic music, warmly recommended.

US artist JEREMY has released albums as Jeremy and Jeremy Morris since the early 1980's, and has a back catalog so extensive that it dwarfs the output of artists with a much longer pedigree with his more than 50 studio productions. "Journey to the Center of the Heart" belongs somewhere in the final quarter of that history, and was released in 2009 through Jeremy's own label JAM Recordings.

Jeremy Morris has explored a great number of different types of music on his more than 50 full length albums so far, and in the case of "Journey to the Center of the Heart" it's the type of music generally classified as power pop that is at the heart of the proceedings. Energetic, short songs that reference 60's and 70's bands such as The Beatles, The Who and ELO fairly often, with psychedelic guitar soloing and clever use of keyboards and Mellotron as recurring elements flavoring the songs. A well made album of its kind, and one well worth acquiring if you tend to enjoy music of this kind.

US artist JEREMY has released albums as Jeremy and Jeremy Morris since the early 80's, and has a back catalog so extensive that it dwarfs the output of artists with a much longer pedigree, and one that tends to hold a consistently high quality at that. "Kingdom Come" dates back to 2002, and was released through Jeremy's own label JAM Records.

Instrumental landscapes of an ambient nature is what Jeremy's 2002 album "Kingdom Come" is all about, with references to artists such as Gandalf and to some extent Tangerine Dream for the most electronic dominated parts of the contents, but where the greater majority of the landscapes explored contain acoustic or psychedelic elements that in sum makes this production one not directly comparable to those fairly well known providers of ambient and electronic landscapes respectively. Sophisticated ambient music with psychedelic and pastoral elements is probably the best way for me to summarize my impressions about this CD, especially if the word sophisticated is used in this context as well. And if that sounds like compelling music for you, I suspect you'll find much to enjoy on this disc.

The prolific trip of Jeremy Morris through the music world continues in 1994, when he released the album ''Faithful and true'', a so-called tribute to the sound of The Byrds, The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel and other Psych/Pop idols of the 60's.He returns to his progressive influences the following year.Morris signs a deal with the US label Kinesis and releases the album ''Pilgrim's journey'', only helped by drummer Dave Dietrich.

Jeremy's sound developed into a dreamy and atmospheric Neo/Symphonic Prog in this album, where his true love for the works of STEVE HACKETT, ANTHONY PHILLIPS, MIKE OLDFIELD and the exceptional style of GENESIS come in evidence.An endless source of inspiration and creation, Jeremy displays here 74 minutes of all instrumental, melodious music with stronger symphonic tendencies compared to ''Dreams come true'', maybe close to the sound of CHANCE, TEMPUS FUGIT and THE FOUNDATION, containing lots of synthesizers and crying guitar solos, downtempo ethereal soundscapes and some lovely contrasts between acoustic and electric explorations.Links with the British Prog sound of the 80's are also more than evident, while the album obtains offer a tendency towards Electronic Music during the grandiose, synth-drenched movements.No matter the length of the track, the music is well-composed, very emotional, sometimes changing from dramatic themes with the guitar in the forefront to more romantic stylings with ambiental keyboards.Of course the most risky bet here is the closing 25-min. title-track, which comes close to the sound of KEN BAIRD, a great combination of sound effects, symphonic Electronic Music and atmospheric guitar textures in the vein of MIKE OLDFIELD and STEVE HACKETT.

Jeremy is a dedicated fan of Classic Prog and ''Pilgrym's journey'' is the strongest proof.Nice product of instrumental, very melodic and cinematic Progressive Rock with symphonic flourishes.Warmly recommended.

Multinational project JEREMY & PROGRESSOR is a collaboration between US composer and musician Jeremy Morris, a highly productive and prolific artist who has somewhere around 50 albums to his name, and Uzbekistan composer and musician Vitaly Menshikov, arguably best known for being the driving force of this very website, but also a musician who has a handful of releases to his name in bands and collaborations. Following "The Pearl of Great Price" from 2005, "Searching for the Son" is the second collaborative effort Jeremy and Vitaly have made together. Just like its predecessor, it was also released through the Russian label MALS Records.

Jeremy & Progressor is a collaboration that has a lot to offer to progressive rock fans with a fairly broad taste of music made in the genre, and especially those who have a general fascination for music of this kind with an emphasis on both the symphonic and the psychedelic oriented parts of the art rock genre. There is a need, or perhaps a prerequisite, to be the kind of person who does want to invest a fair bit of time to get under the skin of a production to be truly able to enjoy this disc, but if you are such a person and you have a taste in music as described I suspect you'll conclude that "Searching for the Son" is a production worth spending time on, even if not at once.

The last time that Jeremy Morris released an album with Progressor (Vitaly Menshikov) was back in 2005 when they joined forces for 'The Pearl of Great Price', so it has taken them a while to get back together, but given Jeremy's recording output probably that isn't too surprising. They both provide different instrumentation, while Jeremy provides the vocals, but there are also a few other musicians involved, notably John 'Rabbit' Bundrick. I was playing his superb 'Moccasin Warrior II' album just the other day, so it was interesting to find him on here. I was asked to provide a much more detailed review on this album, something that I very rarely undertake just due to the amount of music I listen to and the time I have to write about it, but given that Jeremy and I have known each other for some twenty years why not? In fact, I finally got all my cassettes out the other day, and still have 'Green', 'Soul Saver' and 'Dreams Come True' from all those years ago! One never knows quite what to expect from Jeremy in terms of what style will be in place on each release, but this is mostly songs with vocals, Christian lyrics, and a musical style that is reminiscent of the last Sixties.

Searching for the Son (8:07) Gentle bubbling keyboards lead way into a solid dose of psychedelic progressive pop, as the chords become more strident and the full band comes in. Dreamy, atmospheric and evocative, the addition of saxophone onto this track definitely gives it even more power and emphasis while the slightly strained guitar also brings back memories of a time gone by.

Future Flight (7:44) Gently picked guitar, and delicate mellotron combine with some 'spacey' sounds to lead us into another number that could have come straight from the end of the Sixties. Picked guitar and a driving bass leads us through a number that swirls, shifts and changes throughout.

The Blind Man's Dream (6:53) Layered keyboards and gentle 12-string slowly introduces to some phased distorted guitar, as the guys gradually kick into one of the heaviest numbers on the album. There is a real edginess to this one, with plenty of guitar soloing, and although it is only seven minutes long it contains many distinct musical sections, with the repeated lyrics and themes returned to nearer the end. Throughout, the keyboards act as a bedrock for the guitars to do very much their own thing, with more than a hint of later-period Beatles.

Distant Light (10:28) Lots of clarinet-style keyboards on this number gives it quite a different feel, as does the use of gently strummed acoustic guitar. But, as with others, this number has multiple sections, and when it starts to drive along there is a much greater impact due to the softness of what has gone before.

Wings of the Wind (11:16) The longest song on the album, this also has multiple sections, and brings in loads of different musical elements trumpet combining with electric piano at one point, with distorted guitars all adding to a very jazzy feel. In fact, it seems quite chaotic at times, very different to the more structured and laid-back feel of much of the album. But what really makes this for me is the wonderfully delicate piano that comes in and out throughout the song, and closes it out as a solo. There is wonderful touch and emotion contained within those notes.

Messiah Will Come (7:09) This starts as a far more orchestral piece with layers of synth strings, and some real trumpet, before it moves into a more psychedelic number led by some jangly guitar. Bill Morris' trumpet is again an important factor in this song, before guitar and keyboards dominate with some wonderful interplay.

Had Enough (4:34) This is one of three totally solo Jeremy songs on the album, and is the most poppy/psych of everything. A repeated chorus line gets into the mind and stays there, and there is a distinct groove and underlying emotional current that makes this a real joy to play time and again.

Way to Zion (6:01) A total contrast to what preceeded it, here we have a number that again is very orchestral in style, and it takes quite a while for the vocals to kick in, so much so that the first time I played it I wondered if it was going to be an instrumental. In many ways this reminds me of Gryphon, with synth instrumentation taking the place of the real thing.

The Mirror (6:29) The next Jeremy solo song is based much more on his vocals with gently picked guitar for accompaniment, with delicate keyboards providing some accents. This is quite an uplifting number, with less layering of the vocals and therefore more cut through.

On A Cherub (5:23) The final Jeremy solo finds multi-layered vocals on top of picked guitar, with delicate mellotron for support, before some phasing takes place that moves the music in and out. There is some fine jangly guitar soloing on this piece, as prog and psychedelia combine.

Sonic Dances (4:05) Vitaly provides the final song, apparently recorded back in 1993. Multi- layered acoustic guitar picking gives us a closing number that is musically quite at odds with the rest of the album, but somehow is a fitting final piece as it rounds it off nicely.

So there you have it, 78 minutes long, mixing lots of different influences together in a way that is enjoyable and fun to play. The final words must go to J&P, as on the booklet it states "Repeated listens required: Don't even try to dig it upon the first spin!" So there you are.

— First review of this album —

US composer and musician JEREMY is one of the more productive artists I have encountered over the years. With dozens of solo albums and a plethora of side projects of various kinds he tends to release or participate on several releases each and every year. "Love Explosion" dates back to 2012, and was released on the Spanish label Rock Indiana.

"Love Explosion" is an album of two halves and the odd one out, the first half staying put in a psychedelic rock and power pop oriented landscape and concluding with a garage rock inspired creation, while the second one transports us to landscapes with something more of a classic pop-rock oriented expression. Well made and well performed throughout, and I'd suspect that those who enjoy the likes of The Beatles, Electric Light Orchestra and Tom Petty should be something of a key audience, especially those who like all three of those.

"The Pearl of Great Price" is the first collaborative effort of Jeremy Morris and Vitaly "Progressor" Menshikov. Jeremy has released albums ranging in style from acoustic guitar, piano, pop-style worship songs to progressive rock. Progressor is best known for his work with the band X Religion, based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Jeremy lives in Portage, Michigan, USA. Their second collaborative album, "Searching for the Son", was released in 2013. "The Pearl of Great Price" is an instrumental album, the sound of which is best described as a blend of space rock and guitar hero, with a dose of classical music thrown in for good measure. The atmosphere is full of synthetic sounds, befitting the space genre (blowing winds, slowly changing keyboard textures, electronic twittering and chirping), but is often overlaid with soaring guitar work. Jeremy & Progressor have put together a good number of pleasant themes and melodies, though nothing overly complex. The most successful tracks on the album are 'the title one', 'Desert Winds', 'Alien Nation' and 'Final Victory'. The 10-mnute 'Desert Winds' features some majestic guitar playing that at times reminds me of Andy Latimer of Camel in its beauty, especially in the second section, entitled 'Zephyr'. Piano lays down the initial theme for the guitar in 'Simoom' (section 1), but is almost lost behind the percussion and blowing wind sounds and occasional electronic horns tooting and triangle dinging. The keys are simply too far back in the mix, when the piano line just begs for the spotlight. Thankfully, that is resolved with 'Zephyr', and the percussion trades places with the keyboard for the limelight. When the guitar comes in it is beautiful. 'Alien Nation' also uses a strong beat, but this time advantageously. The bass and drum drive forward with a syncopated staccato, machine gun-like rhythm to the start of a crying guitar solo that melts into soothing chords played by a phase-shifted organ, overlaid with glockenspiel. This pattern repeats until sequenced steel drums bring the ending measures, reminding me a bit of parts of 'Lucifer' from The Alan Parsons Project album "Eve". 'Final Victory' is solid Kraut Rock, with its throbbing, driving, sequenced bass, rhythmic underpinnings and atmospheric keyboard work; some of the best represented on the album. About 3/5 of the way through, the storm that has been brewing throughout, opens up, resolving into an uplifting and hopeful theme that has the sound of triumph in it, carried by the guitar. The title track, 'Pearl of Great Price', is only seemingly simple. You should play it a few times running to appreciate all its majesty. Along with its predecessor, this is one of the most complex tracks on the disc. Ironically, the weakest track is called 'Battle Zone'. Just the title suggests dynamism and bombast, which are fairly lacking here. 'Battle Zone' begins with a single snare drum sounding as if it's in a room, not out in the wide-open spaces destined for conflict. It would have been appropriate to have an entire drum corps here, sounding the advance and not one lone drum. Also, I would prefer a true acoustic drum. When the musical skirmishes do occur, the drum machine kicks into double time. This is the moment the listener has been waiting for, when musical battle is engaged! However, only the drums produce the fury expected. What could have been a dynamic organ solo shows no fervor at all and is simply overpowered by the drumming, which is doing nothing spectacular, just pounding out a fast beat. The skirmish over, the march resumes to the next engagement. This time the guitar enters the fray, with much more enthusiasm than the organ showed, Jeremy's fingers in flight up and down the frets. All in all, with a title like 'Battle Zone', I expected more. 'Spiral Vortex' has some of the most distinctive keyboard work and features the only guitar solo on the album not done by Jeremy. The synthesizer solo is spacey and has plenty of chirping sounds flying around it, but the song just seems to go on too long for its own good, repeating itself needlessly. It would have been better to cut the length by half. 'The Journey Home' is the final and longest track on the CD. It has some of everything from the rest of the album (but no wimpy marching drums). It takes the most twists and turns thematically if only by virtue of being the longest track, something of a musical journey. There are numerous brief themes, a couple with Mid Eastern flavor. 'The Journey Home' even takes us to the beach, complete with the sound of surf and gulls before heading back out into space for the end. "The Pearl of Great Price" is a very good first effort by two seasoned professionals, but not without its shortcomings. The album is dominated by guitar, but although there is much keyboard work underlying it, the keys are extremely understated. They introduce or enforce the melodies, but rarely (only on the title track) rise to the same level of domination as the guitar. In texture and sound the keyboards are heavily synthetic. Although "The Pearl of Great Price" is more akin to Space Rock than anything else, it has the twist of featuring guitar solos, which are much more raucous than anything you would hear in New Age space music. This is not an audio tranquilizer - recommended for open-minded prog fans, as this doesn't fit neatly into an easy pigeonhole. Think space rock Think kraut rock. Think guitar hero music. Think light classical music. Roll them into one and you should have a pretty fair idea of what Jeremy & Progressor sound like on their debut collaboration. On their second album they do much more with keyboards, Mellotron and organ, exploring the symphonic sound and relying less on a synthetic one.