SECONDS BEFORE LANDING

'Seconds Before Landing' was created in 2011 by John Crispino to create a concept series of albums. Three albums cover this original concept. In January of 2020, a new album called 'Cosmonaut' was released as a tribute to two of the first Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir Komarov. The stories of the cosmonauts are outlined on the Bandcamp page, so there is no need to recount them now.

The album line-up consists of Crispino on vocals, drums, synths and effects. Joining him is J.D. Garrison and Guy Bar Tor both on bass, Eric Maldonado and Steve Schuffert both on lead guitar, Rick Witkowski on rhythm and acoustic guitars, Jamie Peck on piano, sax and clarinet, and Vanessa Campagna on vocals.

The music is made up of several tracks that range from under a minute to close to 6 minutes, with one track exceeding 8 minutes. The music is quite easy to listen to, soft and mellow for the most part with a nice balance of keys and wind instruments, though the guitars are not very upfront for the most part. There are some nice, textural solos like the clarinet solo in 'My Best Friend' that almost sounds like an instrumental section from a Supertramp album, and there is a decent march-like rhythm with an enjoyable guitar solo in the last half of 'March In to Klushino'. As the album goes on, there are other decent solos like the sax in 'Waterfall' and the jazz inflection that backs the piano and guitar on 'Close to Heaven, but these solos, which are sometimes too short, are the best thing about the album. The music is pleasant enough, but seems to lack the dynamics needed to keep the attention of the listener, and it all comes across as being overly pristine. Unfortunately, the mellowness of the music tends to wash out the impact the music is supposed to have on you.

Crispino does his best to add some inflections and such to his vocals to make the story more character-like, but his vocals are not always the best and are maybe a bit weak most of the time. Adding effects here and there don't do anything to strengthen the vocals or the overall mellow instrumentation. By the time you get to the 10th track 'It's Time Now', you are screaming for some kind of emotional response to the music, but it just stays mellow, floating and meandering along at an even keel, that starts to make it all sound monotonous, even in the sections that were meant to convey more emotional flair to the music. That flair is pretty much just missing from the album. The longer track, 'Cosmonaut' is an 8+ minute instrumental that is apparently separated into 7 subsections. So much of the story is supposed to be told instrumentally here, but the music pretty much stays even keel all the way through. 'Oh How I Miss You' is a sentimental track sung by Vanessa Campagna, who is a much better vocalist with soft and sensitive tones and a lovely track backed with violin (probably an effect) and piano, very pensive and nice, probably the most emotional part of the album.

The album is nice if you want just soft background music, but that is not supposed to be its intention. There just isn't enough emotion or dynamic to carry the concept forward effectively. By the end, it ends up being pretty average with very little dynamic. Except for some occasional solos, there really isn't much to grab your attention, and the progressive level is quite low. The music is too pristine and lackluster to really generate any emotion for the listener.

This is the first SBL output which completely knocks me out. Okay, solely three songs are provided on 'Trio Volume 1', you may point out, but this nevertheless means about 15 minutes of serious creativity and originality. A groundbreaking statement by composer John Crispino. Music-wise the songs are provided with hints of Bowie, The Airplane, Talk Talk, just for a proper orientation. Progressive rock arranged with psychedelic vibe, plus some sophisticated pop appeal, one can say. And when it comes to the lyrics something challenging in the same way.

Maybe I'm A Weirdo comes along with ... humour? Sarcasm? Accusation? To whom is this addressed? While wandering between self-doubt and self-confidence the main refrain is just that brilliant. A perfect starter, musically put into practice alongside with very nice female backing vocals by Vanessa Campagna. The melodramatic doom tinged 1-9-2 lyrically offers much room for interpretation too. Seems to revive some dark and horrible periods in human history.

You Won't Deny Me convinces with some vocal variation, and surprises due to a sudden end. Haunting guitar solos all over provided by Steve Schuffert and Eric Maldonado. The extensive keyboard range, including diverse electronics, is also something which should be emphasized. If you are keen on enchanting stuff produced with heart and mind don't miss this mid-tempo compositions mastered by Andy Jackson. Hopefully it will continue in this way on Volume 2 ... and Volume 3 ...

I'm not sure where I got this 2014 release from, but I'm going to blame Olav, as he appears to be the logical source. I can't find anything in my emails or PA messages, but I did grab a whole load of albums from him to review so it was probably included in that group, which is a shame. I always prefer my music to be played by musicians, which is one of the reasons why I have so many issues with modern pop music and the use of studio trickery to get vocals on pitch, so to come across an album where it is electronic, poppy, with a few hints of jazz here and there, then I must confess that it really isn't the sort of thing I really want to listen to. John Crispino managed to get the likes of Trey Gunn and Tim Bogert to collaborate on the debut, but for one reason or another they're not on the follow-up. When the album is good, such as on sections of the Floydian "Hey Dad", then it is very good indeed. Unfortunately, those instances are very few and far between, and I soon found that I was checking the track listing to see how much I had to suffer before I could honestly say that I had listened to the whole album at least once. There has recently been a third release, but if it is anything like the second then it isn't something I will be searching out in a hurry.

Well, It took a long time, but it finally arrived.

I wasn't sure what to expect really, because Seconds Before Landings first and second albums were so different from one another.

What I got, was a pleasant surprise, which is a mix of the best elements of both.

I am not going to go through a song by song review of this album. I will however, mention what I believe are both high spots, and low.

First, the "High" spots. The writing style of Crispino, is getting better with each album. He seems to be maturing, and becoming even more confident. The messages in the lyrics, for the most part are similar to The Great Deception, but you can't help but be convinced, that this guy believe what he sings about.

He is, if nothing else, intense.

The musicianship is stellar. I don't know how he went about putting these group of people together, but he did a fine job. They all seem to believe in what he is doing, and it shows in their performances.

Another thing I like about this album, is he has limited his "guest" appearances to just one musician on one song. In my opinion, it doesn't detract from his group.

As it was with the first two albums, the sound is spectacular.

Now, on to my criticism(s).

First, I wish there was at least one more song on this album. It has 12, but there is an Intro, and what I would consider an Outro as well. 10 full songs in total. One more, would have made it "just right". And lastly, maybe not wait as long to do your next release. I think it tends to slow down the groups momentum, as far as being recognized as a true contender.

If I could, I would give this album a 4.5, but since I can't, and nothing is perfect, I am relegated to giving it just a 4. I really like this album.

US project SECONDS BEFORE LANDING is the creative vehicle of composer and musician John Crispino, and came to prominence in 2013 with the release of their debut album "The Great Deception", from which the song and accompanying video for the track Welcome to the Future in particular was taken notice of. "Seconds Before Landing II" is the second album to be issued under this project name, and was self-released towards the end of 2014.

Those who treasured the debut album by this project is in for a slight surprise on this second album by Crispino and the musicians he have chosen to work with here, as he has chosen to move away from the the dark, oppressive atmospheres of the debut album. Not that this is a light and jubilant production per se, but it is a different one, where the darkness in mood isn't as totally dominating. In fact, opening cut Big Train is a fairly positive and jubilant affair, revolving around a beefy hypnotic bass groove, elegant rhythms and a subtly jazz-oriented recurring saxophone solo. A songs you can probably dance along to without any problems at all.

It doesn't take Crispino all that long to move towards landscapes rather more familiar though, with the darker and distinctly Floydian Hey Dad. While not as dark and oppressive musically as the material on the aforementioned debut album, the lyrics are far from light in spirit, with a chorus section that in words and expression most certainly gives life to someone's inner, tortured demon.

As this production unfolds the songs does seem to follow some set patterns. Lyrics dealing with darker topics is a recurring feature, where especially the one describing how it is to live when suffering from anxiety attacks on a regular basis, Don't Want To Feel This Way, presumably will be a heart-wrenching experience for many. The lyrics on this one for the greater part expressed by way of what sounds like the sampled, spoken words of a woman, which is either someone giving us a glimpse into a tortured mind or someone acing an actors voice performance with an award quality performance.

Musically one set of songs blends fairly sparse, electronic, voice and rhythms driven passages with more elaborate sections that channels the inner Pink Floyd of the creator quite nicely, while the other set of songs alternate between being atmospheric laden electronic mood pieces musically and at least on a few occasions of being closer to what one might describe as electronic rock. The subtly jazzier landscapes explored on opening cut Big Train returns as well, with the funky undercurrents that is a central premise on concluding track What Chu Do, a song that takes this album experience full circle, book-ending this production with a similar mood and spirit as found on the opening track.

The manner in which Crispino blends electronic textures and effects with various forms of rock music, with a certain emphasis on sounds and arrangements comparable to Pink Floyd, is as intriguing as on the first album, although not quite as bleak and oppressive. The more playful material here channels more of the character and style I associate with guest musician Trey Gunn, a musician that have proven on multiple occasions that he isn't a stranger in landscapes blending electronica with rock music and who fits quite nicely into Crispino's musical universe. Those fond of music of this kind, that use electronic effects and textures both in a mix with rock music as well as in occasional purely electronic dominated excursions, should feel right at home with the music on this production.

Composer, singer, drummer and midi player, that is the description John Crispino's name has on the album II, the second release of his personal project Seconds before Landing. On the album he gets the assistance of Steve Schuffert on guitars, JD Garrison on bass, Jamie Peck on piano, saxophone and flute, and Maurice Witkowski on acoustic guitar.

With a line up like that, there is a hint that this could be a jazz rock influenced release, which was also the indication the first track Big Train gives. However, besides the opening track, the only one that confirmed my expectations was Silent Bird, while the rest of the album has a more electronic and midi ring to it. That is not necessarily bad, but also not entirely my cup of tea - I prefer interplay between instruments over midi sounds.

However, there is still a lot to be found on this album for people who have a different taste than mine, and quite a few of those exist. The track Hey Dad for example is clearly influenced by Pink Floyd, think of tracks like Hey You or One of My Turns. Interesting detail in this respect is that the engineer who joined Pink Floyd at the release of The Wall, Andy Jackson, also took care of production for this album.

Two other highlights are The Great Deceiver and My Perfect Girl. The former is a rocky track, with a pulsing bass and a frantic guitar, with vocals that contain a slight hint of Alice Cooper in the vocals. The latter is darker and more industrial, reminding me of Transport Aerian.

Other tracks are more electronic, even ambient, and as said, not really my thing. This type of music has the habit of becoming slightly repetitive and makes me get distracted from it. However, this style does have its fans, so with a 'try before you buy' stamp on it, I'm sure this will still reach many satisfied listeners.

Also published on my blog www.angelosrockorphanage.com

Pittsburgh-based musician, composer and vocalist John Crispino is the only man behind this project, launched around 2011, when he started writing a concept story about a man, living in a future world, dominated by hate, corruption and war.As he handled the drums and keyboard effects on the album, he invited several artists to participate like King Crimson's Warr guitarist Trey Gunn and Vanilla Fudge's bassist Tim Bogert.The list of guests is quite long (about 10 more names), including performances on piano, guitars, bass, trumpet and vocals.The album ''The great deception'' was released digitally in March 2013.

Being a sci-fi concept work, ''The great deception'' demanded a set of appropriate musical soundscapes to pass through as well as a strong lyrical background for the listener to properly follow the storyline.This effort apparently was based on a standard contemporary PINK FLOYD-PORCUPINE TREE mixture of heavy, spacious and modern textures, which offers a palette of slow Heavy Rock, ambiental moods and electronic spices.But the addition of futuristic elements, like loops, vocal and instrumental distortions and pre-recorded vocal messages was considered as needed by Crispino.Let's set things straight by saying that this rather far from a Progressive Rock work in the way that we know it.No complex themes, sudden tempo switches or instrumental excess.''The great deception'' is a vocal-heavy modern Space/Electronic Rock album with some cosmic and heavier overtones, pretty easy-going in terms of structure and strongly relying on the combination of sampled and natural sounds and the display of intense atmospherics.Having chosen a path of lyrical inventiveness (which at moments reminds me of DAVID BOWIE's unique coziness), Crispino has made a drawback regarding his first attempt's instrumental depth.Some powerful rhythms, spacious ambiences and laid-back tunes are still charming, but the selection of a mass of digital soundscapes along with the rather straightforward approach on songwriting are not my cup of tea.Not to mention that some vocal parts still sound pretty dull and poppy.Of course the artist's concept background is more significant than what anybody wants to hear from an album for himself, but the result is close to instrumentally too thin and even monotonous, buried by the endless hypnotic, downtempo parts.

An attempt on hypnotic Electronic Rock with sparse heavier echoes and lots of futuristics sounds on vocals and instruments.When the lyrical department becomes more attractive than the music itself, then something is propably going wrong.At some point, rcommended only to fans of PINK FLOYD or STEVEN WILSON's side projects...2.5 stars.

Seconds Before Landing has a prog soup whose ingredients include electronica, smooth jazz, and the dark sides of Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver, and Wilco. The bands philosophy on their second release seems to be to throw everything they've got at the wall to see what sticks, and most of it does. All of this works to a theme of dystopia, but it doesn't always feel that way. "Hey Dad" and "My Perfect Girl" feel like missteps, but otherwise we have a good album chock full of ideas and directions, even if the theme suffers a bit. From the jazzy "Big Train", to the Gregorian-esque vocals opening "The Great Deceiver", followed by a wailing guitar, to the claustrophobically self- loathing "Don't Want To Feel This Way", to the nice electro-prog of the other good tracks, there's plenty to love here, and the album works in the end. If you loved "Corvus Stone II" and want a new and different buffet, try this obscure record out.

Albums opens with a dense rhythm accompanied by news reels and interviews connected to the Roswell incident. This sci-fi mystery pretty much sets the stage for the content of this album. 'The Great Deception' obviously deals with the prospect of alien presence on our planet, and the authorities' efforts to keep the truth hidden from public. Also, there is a certain sense of apocalyptic visions present in these tracks.

Seconds Before Landing is the project of John Crispino, who pretty much composes and performs many instruments, with great aid from a selection of most experienced musicians. Reading from the bands website, the album follows the conceptual idea of a dystopian world, mirrored through the mind of the composer. The use of spoken word and sound clips from newsreels and vintage radio commercials on top of instrumental parts is used with (mostly) great effect, although a bit exaggerated in places. Album ends with 'Message in a field' with narration of what is supposed to be message from aliens in the form of crop circles. The famous 'Crabwood alien' which depicts and alien shaped head accompanied with a (compact?) disc, encoded in 8-bit ASCII. A rather unpleasant and dystopian prophecy, but still with a glance of hope!

John Crispino sings on a number of the tracks, and quite successfully so! His somewhat fragile voice fits in very well with the mood on the vocal tracks. Musically, the album hovers around in the symphonic/bluesy prog landscape, with some soaring guitar work for the most part signed by the versatile notarity of Trey Gunn. Also Tim Bogert (from Vanilla Fudge, and Beck, Bogert and Appice) contributes on some tracks. Echoes of Pink Floyd are obvious, but in a modern context more closely linked to Porcupine Tree, and a number of bands associated with their pocket of 'Eclectic Prog' (Disconnect, Demians and even Peter Thelen's 't' project comes to mind). A few tracks lean too much towards plain pop music for my taste and some parts must be considered fillers, but with 14 tracks (mostly in 5-7 minute category), there are plenty of pieces to enjoy.

John Crispino thinks we are not alone. That certainly bargains for more musical journeys into sci-fi territory in the future. This debut is worth checking out for all of you sci-fi fans out there. 3.5 stars, rounded up for his devotion to the great mysteries of our time.

The truth is out there.

First, let me say that, setting aside a quibble or two, this is almost certainly my favorite album of 2013. And that has less to do with any specific personnel, "song" or individual aspect of the album than it does with the fact that the old adage "they just don't write'em like that anymore" does NOT apply here. This is a "progressive" album in every sense of that term, and is somehow able to both evoke the heyday of a particular genre of progressive rock (i.e., have a certain "timeless" quality to it) and to be both timely and relevant in the present.

The primary writer here is John Crispino, about whom little seems to be known except that he is a "composer and musician." (He plays drums, keyboards, and percussion, and provides most of the vocals.) He is joined by a distinguished group of musicians, most notably Trey Gunn (King Crimson) and Tim Bogert (Vanilla Fudge, Cactus).

The effects-laden album -- which is a somewhat loose concept album about a dystopian future -- is quite dark and grim most of the time, evoking some of the darker aspects of Pink Floyd and King Crimson. Indeed, if I had to describe the overall "effect" of the album in one sentence, I would say that it was the bastard child of Pink Floyd (particularly parts of The Wall, The Final Cut, Momentary Lapse of Reason, and Division Bell) and King Crimson (particularly parts of In the Court of the Crimson King, Construktion of Light and Power to Believe), with a dash of Porcupine Tree, and an overall "atmosphere" of Alan Parsons. [N.B. It is astounding to me that of all the possible influences on this album that have been noted in dozens of articles, not one of them mentions Parsons -- yet it is HIS overall approach to concept albums (as well as writing and production) that jumped out at me almost constantly.]

In fact, the "associations" here are quite remarkable. Parsons, of course, engineered Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother, and its genre-definitive Dark Side of the Moon. The engineer on The Great Deception is Andy Jackson, who assisted on The Wall and The Final Cut, and was primary engineer on Momentary Lapse of Reason and Division Bell. And Trey Gunn provided bass guitar on Construktion of Light and "Warr" guitar on Power to Believe. [N.B. All of this makes me wonder (without taking anything away from Mr. Crispino) how much influence both Mr. Gunn and Mr. Jackson had on the WRITING here, and not simply the guitar playing or engineering.]

Of course, few bands were as able to evoke "dystopianism" as Pink Floyd (particularly with The Wall and The Final Cut). And although those dystopias were in the "past," the near-future dystopia evoked here owes much to those albums.

Approximately half the tracks on the album have actual "lyrics," while the other half have either spoken-word vocals and/or "recorded" voices. Re the former, Mr. Crispino sings all but one of the songs, and has a pleasant voice that is (mostly) expressive of the particular song. Re the latter, we get both male and female spoken and/or recorded voices, the latter being mostly of the type heard in some Pink Floyd tracks (think "Run Like Hell" or "The Trial" from The Wall). The female recorded voice is used to excellent effect in a few places, where its oh-so-calm voice is betrayed by what she is actually saying (mostly castigation and threats).

The music tends toward heavy bass lines (including a few truly infectious rhythms), with most tracks featuring a guitar solo at some point. These solos, mostly by Mr. Gunn (using a variety of electronic effects) are evocative of (in order of percentage) David Gilmour, Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, and John Frusciante, and are all quite good, and always appropriate for the track.

One of the more?interesting aspects of the album is the inclusion of mini-ads for a variety of products, which appear between the tracks (a dozen in all). These ads (which may or may not be for real products) evoke ads of the 40s and 50s. On first listen, I found these ads somewhat jarring. Even now, I can only think of two reasons for their inclusion. One is to simply break the "grimness" of the overall album. The other is to evoke a sense of "normalcy" amid the dark, dystopian atmosphere (which would also explain why it would be ads from the 40s and 50s). In either case, I am not certain they needed to appear between EVERY two track on the entire album; half that number (or even less) would have sufficed. (This is one of my quibbles.) For the record, these ads include hats, cigars, foodstuffs, "iron" and "vitamins," and a variety of bathroom products (hair cream, nose drops, pimple cream, shampoo et al).

My quibbles? The inclusion of the ads (or, at least, so many of them); the "opening-guitar solo-closing" structure of almost every track; and the inclusion of the song, "Mikey Get Your Accordian." While it is a truly lovely, even haunting, song, I am at an even greater loss as to its presence on the album than I am about the ads.

Yet, all that said, The Great Deception exhibits an excellent channeling of its influences, and superb musicianship, production and "atmospheres," and is a fabulous achievement in progressive rock. I can hardly wait for the next album.

[N.B. Although not quite a "masterpiece," I would give this album an extra half star if I could.]