ORION

There is a well-presented booklet with lots of photographs and all the lyrics for what is apparently a concept album, but with all the lyrics in French I am afraid I cannot comment to much on that. Interestingly, this album has received quite a few 5* reviews, which I find hard to fathom as while it is interesting at some levels, it is also quite boring at others. Here we have a release which contains lots of keyboards and vocals, yet neither of those areas stand out and they all tend to wash into each other. Frustratingly there are glimpses of brilliance such as during the introduction of "Le Dernier Abre", which contains an interesting piano motif which is mirrored by the bass. However, it then all slows down and takes on a far more meandering and reflective manner and all sense of purpose is soon washed away.

There are elements of washed-out 70's symphonic combined with some of the elements of early 90's neo, and if I had been given this as a demo some 30 years ago from a brand-new band, I may have been more excited as it shows promise. But when a band has been around the scene as long as this one, and this their third album in five years, I expect a great deal more. Musically, this just drags and is rarely anything more than background music and not one to which I expect ever to be returning.

However, listening to the first song on this album was enough, on its own, to prevent me from giving this album more than 2 stars. I co-DJ a prog rock radio show with a friend of mine on our college's radio station; I, foolishly, didn't pay attention to the lyrics when I put this song on a playlist for one of our shows. Thank GOODNESS we have to pre-record our shows due to COVID, because not only did I immediately stop the song and pick something else to play in its place, but we actually would not have been able to play the song for its use of the word c*nt?and not even a very emphatic or effective use of the word at that.

I wish with my entire heart that Orion 2.0 had just written all of these songs in French, because while I can still understand the French lyrics, they're under-enunciated just enough that I can ignore them relatively easily and pretend like I'm listening to good music. This album has literally two songs that aren't lyrically detestable, and it's the two songs that don't follow the album's theme. The first one is "Run for Life", which is a tribute to the Run for Life Project?the lyrics are still boring but at least they aren't blatantly terrible, and it supports a good cause. The other one is "Shagreen", the closing song on the album, which is inspired by Honoré de Balzac's 1831 novel "La peau de chagrin". Once again, the lyrics aren't necessarily good, persay, but they aren't terrible, and they aren't droning on about the horrors of social media and digital technology. I couldn't decide on just one or two lyrics to quote in this review, because they're all so awful. So, in conclusion, I'd like to share some of the most awful lyrical moments throughout this album, so that I can thoroughly convey why Virtual Human is the worst album from 2019 that I have listened to thus far.

All from the title track "Virtual Human", which as aforementioned, is the worst one: -"Our minds and eyes focused on our phones / ... / Cos we're stream puppets chained by a news feed -"...driven by hypnotic screens / If we don't know what virtual friends have said and done" -"What will we become ? / If we don't twit or snap our face on insta / Is this poetry or real life ? / Such a slump of self-love is not so rife"

From the song "T.O.W.U.": -"Individualism still rules / But now the time has come / For us to stop actin' like fools"

From the song "La Nuage", translated by me: -"The cloud has now exploded, releasing forever / All our data / Our secrets we thought buried are now revealed" -"The network has shut down / Like once was human reason / We will no longer cheat behind our smokescreens / The mirror of illusions has broken / When the cloud no longer wanted our childishness"

From the song "Silicon Cirkus": -"From time to time you'll be given a piece of drug / Cause someone's liked or commented a picture" -"We hack your minds / We log you in to make you pay / Thanks for keepin' your brains wide shut" -"You're gonna waste your time on your screens / You need your digital dose by any means"

From the song "Silicium", translated by me: -"This morning it's decided / I take the train of modernity / Towards a mindless exile / I run from reality" -"I speak through a voiceless screen / Of my sluggish ego / I wanted so much to change my game / In silicon valley"

And lastly, I leave you with the single worst lyric I've ever heard, once again from the title track: -"Serendipity is just a tale / Are we c*nt users on our computers ?"

1. "Virtual Human" (5:24) awesome opener sounding like a cross between an old Big Big Train song (The Difference Machine era) or one from 3RDEGREE, The Long Division album. Great singing voice (in English!) and lyrical delivery. (9.5/10)

2. "T.O.W.U." (3:48) mature, poppy, tightly constructed with great melodies, harmonies, instrumentals and vocals. Quite similar to the sound, feel, and style of New Jersey band, 3RDEGREE. Great song! (10/10)

3. "Run For Life" (5:54) piano-based, a little jazz-bluesy, amps up after a few. Nice melodies. Interesting and innovative that the music sparsens for the delicate "jazz" vocal section. (8.75/10)

4. "Le Nuage" (4:31) I hear a lot of NEMO and its guitarist, Jean-Pierre Louveton, in this music. (8/10)

5. "Silicon Cirkus" (6:00) Is this what Jeff "Skunk" Baxter-era STEELY DAN would sound like in the 21st Century? (8/10)

6. "Silicium" (7:45) a late 1970s pop smooth jazz/jazz fusion song in the vein of Hubert Laws, Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Narada Michael Walden, and . Beautiful music with great melodies and harmonies, if a little simplistic. (12.5/15)

7. "Shagreen" (7:01) initially interesting and always pleasant, the song is diminished by its monotony and simplicity over the course of its entire seven minutes. Too bad! (12.5/15)

Total Time 40:29

Despite some great songwriting and delicious melodies, the collection of songs here fail to maintain either the strength of the openers as well as a stylistic consistency to which we can attach an identity.

Four stars; an excellent album of eclectically-inspired poppy progressive rock music.

The title track introduces this new climate of shimmer and gleam, expertly infectious groove that grows into a harder edge, propelled by a tight beat, chugging guitar that explodes into frenzied licks and Jerome's suave voice. Modern life with all its gadgets, social media platforms and cellphone /computer interfaces ruling our daily activity. Contrasting the robotic feel with the more organic style they now swear by, Horville adds a more aggressive guitar to the mix that ends the deal.

'T.O.W.U' aims at a proggier covenant, distorted sound snippets churning into a more complex soundstage, contrasting with the lighter vocal-led arrangement, the swooning synth break and some wicked lead guitar soloing that twists and veers like a fly by wire jet fighter.

Keyboardist Cribaillet favours his piano for the next piece 'Run For life' , draping a classical structure onto a more folk tune, aided by a sizzling guitar line , recalling the exploits of a lady athlete who died at too young of an age. The panting arrangement is asymmetrical and choppy on purpose, with only the soft voice remaining to convey the dedication of continuing regardless. The ensuing piano solo is magnificent, steeply rooted in jazz , with a slight Celtic tinge.

'Le Nuage' (the Cloud) is a more direct song that has that swirling guitar feel so unique to PJ Horville, quite a unique style to say the least, as the singer sweetly sings about the effect of an Internet crash and how mankind would cope with such a 'catastrophe' . The lead guitar solo is noteworthy in its simple/complex rhetoric , as its screeches wildly.

'Silicon Cirkus' is inspired by California's fascination for diversity, where sunshine and silicon chips vie for attention and the human/robot conundrum lives supreme , there is a lot going on in terms of musical options: a slide guitar country a la Hotel California, mixed in with some San Francisco Zappaisms, a touch of LA Van Halen feel, and topped off by a blistering 6 string bass solo! Now that is ballsy! Nigou even does some vocalizations that emanates from funk central! Creative to say the least.

The 7 minute ballad 'Silicium' is a slick experiment in progressive creativity, combining breezy George Benson-like guitar phrasings with a high-pitched vocal that hints at quality pop music. Its quality lies in its simplicity and easy listening sheen, sandwiched between the previous wild ride and the upcoming finale which is pure prog.

Another 7 minute epic , ''Shagreen'' (a play on the french word chagrin, which means sorrow) is inspired by an 1831 Balzac novel that offers another take on the classic Faustian choice of granting your wildest wishes at the cost of the Devil owning your soul. An elaborate composition that has moments of intense hypnosis and intensity, a sublime moog solo vying for attention and a satisfying ending to an entertaining , fresh, airy and interesting album.

Orion mark II is quite the discovery, with a bright future ahead. I am still enthralled by ''La Face Visible'' as it delved into subject matter that I hold dear to my heart as it relates directly to who I am and what I have become. It would be therefore unfair to compare it to this new release or any other prog album out there! If you enjoyed Siiilk, another super French band that has some similarities with Orion 2.0 than you will love Virtual Human.

4.5 Imaginary earthlings