RELAYER

Despite named after the eponymous Yes album,the band doesn't sound really like their inspiration masters.The opening ''Anyone'' is a powerful prog rock piece with driving guitars,nice solos and a very personal vocal performance by Sahagian,not unlike TILES' prog approach.The long self-titled 20-min. opus is a total different story.This one falls into the modern Symphonic Rock category with an excellent result.Good performance by Ways on piano,even better synth and organ work,the guitar work is fantastic and somewhere between RUSH'es power and GENESIS' trembling,not to mention the fascinating solos,with Sahagian in full shape once again.An easy flowing essential modern prog epic.The following ''The river'' is somewhere between Heavy and Symphonic Rock with fantastic work on synths,ALEX LIFESON-influenced guitar work and very nice breaks and changing moods.''Wire Mill Scars'' is closer to the later style with grandiose keys,shifting moods and a bombastic atmosphere overall till the great ending outro.An hounorable mention must be done to the very tight and strong rhythm section.

''A grander vision'' was quite a surprise.An unknown US prog band delivering energetic,diverse,challenging and rich musicianship with elements from Symphonic to Neo to Heavy Prog,without any mistakes in a very tight release.Highly recommended.

Relayer plays a fine line between hard rock, emotive ballads, and pop ditties with classic progressive rock flourishes. I detect touches of Yes, Rush, Queen and Pink Floyd slithering within the music. For me, the highlights are the soaring vocals of John Sahagian. Combining the range of Freddy Mercury without the pretentiousness and vaudevillian flamboyance, with gritty rage and schoolboy charm, Sahagian delivers a powerhouse performance on each tune. LaRoi's guitar playing is really picking up some individuality, shifting between powerchords and intricate fingerpicked melodies. I'm happy to hear Tom Burke's bottom heavy Ric-o-sound intact and a busy as on previous releases. Bill Kiser's drums still sound great pounding out polyrhythms to keep the band moving forward.

"Slipstream" opens with a Rush-like open chord guitar melody, before the vocals take over with hopeful, uplifting, "don't miss your time in the sun" lyrics. A spiritual tune, "My Damn Self," is beautiful and heartfelt song that is part Styx, part Queen. "LaRoi's guitar work contains some Gilmouresque qualities on more than a few tracks. LaRoi even takes some lead vocals on "Bring Home the Sun" and "For Future Days," acoustic based songs that would have found a place on Animals or Wish You Were Here. "Parabola" is a fine instrumental workout with LaRoi's searing guitar and Burke's solid Rickenbacker bass-lines playing off Kiser's super-charged drumming. "Freedom" begins with a loose drum machine track and eerie guitar effects and builds into a galloping romp, a perfect driving tune, relating the freedom from a bad relationship. "Liberator 24" is another powerful rocker which screams to be cranked whilst cruising on the nations highways, with it many twists and turns. "Hope in Fairytales" would sound great tracked between "Too Late" and Spread Your Wings" on Queen's News of the World. I can't help but think RPWL when I listen to "Murdered a Friend." The fingerpicked acoustic reminds me of some 70's singer-songwriter music. Tom Burke's bass is in your face on "Pretty Toy Guns" opening moments, propelling the music along before LaRoi takes charge with a churning solo. Lyrically "PTG" has some heavy political overtones. "Mid Day Moon" features a sweet synth underlay for the verse and deft piano work throughout.

Relayer's Façade should appeal to fans of IZZ, RPWL, Singularity, Queen, Styx, Pink Floyd and those who just love melodic thoughtful music. I'm happy to hear the new music and hope for more in future days.

Roughly half of this album was recorded and produced by the band at a vacation home in Michigan called Three Dog Cottage (affectionately called Kamp Kiser for the weekend), which sits on the southern coast of Lake Michigan in the town of Lakeside. The setting allowed for few if any interuptions (family, phone, work, etc.) as Relayer poured out layer after layer of music, frequently using all 32 tracks to develop top-notch ear candy for their listeners.

Aspects of the weekend session (shorter than The Band's Big Pink, but in the same vein) included flying in an old-school friend Brigs (who has been a tertiary part of the band since its inception) from Colorado to support the group with food and beer runs, cooking, comic relief, and occasional feedback on the tracks. Recording time, by far, outweighed any other shenanigans that took place. From early in the morning to well past sunset, no less than 2 members and often all 4 members were hard at work tweaking virtually every aspect of each song recorded.

The lead singing and lead guitar were set off in a back bedroom while Tom Burke manned the computer and headphones for a majority of the time. Since Bill Kiser's percussion sections were already recorded, Bill spent much of his time offering his unbiased opinion on everything from the subtleties of the melodies to chord progression and synching the rhythm sections to the lead singing and guitar playing--sometimes his opinions were respected, other times they were respectfully dismissed, but by far, Kiser heard more of the recording than the other members. The entire crew did have a blast laying down the backround vocals late at night on Saturday, which included at some point or another every member of the band as well as Brigs and his tone-deaf pipes.

Interestingly enough, the DVD Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii was veiwed between recording days late into Friday night of the weekend session. Whether it was meant to inspire, divert, or influence the band in any way is unknown, but it was incredible to see the masters at work almost 35 years before. Other interludes included barbequing, utilizing the hammock, many visits to the firepit for smokes, a midnight shimmy to the beach, attempting to hail down a helicopter (with an ample spotlight), too much red wine, many many beers, partaking in a taste of the local fare, and walking through the serene forested, lakeside neighborhoods.

The remainder of the album was produced and recorded by the band in pieces over the next year until the masters were completed, but undoubtedly the weekend experiment of Kamp Kiser added some unique flavor to the often times mundane and taxing experience of recording, which hopefully resonates for the fans on the final cut of Facade.

Usually I'm not so fond of sharp rocking and loud guitars but Relayer rocks the way it just grabs you and makes you float in music. I can't help but agree with Danbo on everything - also lyrics are fine. Probably I could't ever list Relayer in my TOP 30 of prog bands but that's a matter of my long-time taste in rock styles. When I want harder stuff this could be my choice - but don't misinterpret me: this is NOT heavy or hard rock really. The last ethereal track 'We Swim' resembles a lot those moody long 90's Marillion songs, though the length 12:49 is not true. It could be faded out around 9 minutes. After the track has ended, comes totally useless little jamming. But that's only a small minus in over an hours total length. Very recommendable to any listener of louder (American) neo-prog of which I myself am still quite uneducated.

Poor production techniques are the main problems, along with a band trying too hard to create something epic. If I edit the first two and half minutes off the title track, A Grander Vision, they would have had a much better tune. The attempt at being artsy fails, with falsetto vocals and slightly off time gimmickery that just doesn't seem to gel. One other well intentioned mistake, is allowing one of the other band members to try to sing two lines. Steve Howe's ear ripping vocals would have been a welcome relief. The rest of the disc is okay, at best. A band still searching, questionable "la la la da da" lyrics when real words may have been more appropriate. Padding, the probable downfall of prog, is evident in more than a few instances. If you don't have anything interesting to say, say nothing at all. So what if the song comes in at 17:00 rather then 22:00. Keep it fresh.

I would say that Relayer learned a lot during this first endeavor and certainly improved their product, but if you have the money to buy this, use it for something else.

The vocals are the key here. John Sahagian has a voice that demands to be heard. He still has the Freddie Mercury inflections as I stated on the Teething Fashion review, but is more straight ahead here, then the playfulness of the past. For me, this is the strength of Relayer. The bass playing of Tom Burke really comes out in this release, nice heavy bottom, not flashy, just solid. Bill Kiser keeps things together with strong drumming and tasteful fills. Not flashy either. Simply a solid foundation for Tim Laroi's chunky guitar work. Laroi's playing is neither over the top nor understated. He plays for the song. It all seems to work in an organic fashion, everything meshes and creates a lush sonic cornucopia of tones and melodies.

They aren't playing anything new or groundbreaking, what they are playing is just great music with some key prog elements; shifting gears from quiet, soft interludes to powerful climaxes, long multi-segmented tunes with odd meters, highly professional instrumental passages and well written lyrics. This is an album made to be played live.

This disc would appeal to fans of Salem Hill, IZZ, Marillion, Jadis...... Queen? Only if you liked when Freddie rocked.

Since this release is from 1999 and they don't appear to have a web site. I'm forced to assume they are now defunct, however I'd like to be proved wrong.

Now Hear This: They don't sound like YES. Given the above comparisions, you'd expect a YES cover band, they're not. While not completely original, they sound like YES pretending to be someone else. Genesis, a little ELP (very little) even a touch of Dream Theater. Maybe it the Freddie link that makes this sound fresh and full of energy. I have a hard time obeying speed laws while this plays...

Two tunes that do have direct YES comparisions; Eleven Steps is 5% for Nothing meets the Fish, and My Black Cat,a solo acoustic piece, is Masquerade by way of Mood for a Day. Both songs are WAY TOO SHORT, but brilliant.

The 11 tracks vary in style, length and form, chugging rock to gentle acoustic, raging Hammond to tinkling piano. The rythym section lays a solid playful base, tasteful and not too busy. Standouts include the hard edged Madness, Genesis inflected Cairo, joyful Queen inspired Everyday Disguise and (my favorite track) Marburg Friend, a joyous ode to relationships that could be home on any Jon Anderson solo album. Primitive You is a light tune, nice acoustic guitar and piano with nearly Fleetwood Mac vibe to it. Weird, but it works. ...I Am has a bit more power, not metal but a little heavier than most anything else on the disc.

If you like Yes, Salem Hill, Echolyn, Rush, any melodic prog, Relayer will be a satifying experience.