COSMOS DREAM

Cosmos Dream is yet another one-man project, this time set up by French singer and multi-instrumentalist Charles Roman.Charles is not just another musician in line, he happens to be the son of keyboardist Jacques Roman, a founding member of the legendary 70's French group Pulsar.While busy with his own group Ellips, Roman decided to put an effort on his own, composing his first work ''Hope of dream''.It started as a work thematically based on Georges Orwell's ''1984'', ending up as a soundscape of questions by Roman around this world's consistency and future.Upon finishing its recording, Charles made this album freely available via Jamendo.

It would be just impossible the music of Cosmos Dream not to have some sort of influence by Jacques Roman's PULSAR and basically ''Hope of dream'' is an Ambient/Space Rock release with tons of FLOYD-ian moves and atmospheric soundscapes, characterized by the soft guitar touches, the New-Age keyboard lines and Charles' sensitive vocals.However the two biggest flaws of this effort are the way-too-accented vocals of Roman and the mass of minutes flowing in a very hypnotic, ambiental mood with little variations and the Lounge, relaxed aesthetics being the main focus.The album lacks dynamics and energy, relying way too much on ethereal keyboards and soft piano lines, while the guitars are performed with extreme security, offering breezy yet rather impaired solos.On the other hand the discreet choirs, the attempt of Charles' on pre-recorded multi-vocals and some of his melodies do show some great potential, despite the very strong PINK FLOYD resemblances.Especially the two longest pieces ''Be there'' and '' Candlelight'' are fine Space Rock cuts with atmospheric synthesizers, elaborate electric solos and good vocal arrangements, yet always suffering by the strong French accent.''About today'' is another decent tune with airy keyboards, distorted vocals and maybe the more sufficient work by Roman on guitars with a pronounced electrified mood after the middle.

This album is available for free, so anyone can explore Cosmos Dream's music at no cost.It's not something extraordinary and occasionally very soft musically speaking, but I can see plenty of PINK FLOYD/PULSAR fans appreciating it...2.5 stars.

I don't remember when I have downloaded this album and why. I have surely found the link on PA but what is sure is that I have totally forgotten to have done it. Only recently, while trying to put some order in my reviews todo list, I have found this album.

It has been a great surprise. This Charles Roman has given birth to an incredible album. The tracks are slow and atmospheric. The long instrumental parts are sad and his whispered vocals fit perfectly in the music. The main influence, especially in the guitar parts, is clearly PINK FLOYD, but the acoustic "About Today" makes me think to the PORCUPINE TREE of "Feel So Low".

There's a bit of sadness inside, but it's also a good album to relax. The production is not perfect but the overall quality is not bad and the compositions are so good that I don't care too much if the sound is not perfectly clean. Sometimes I prefer it in this way.

My fault is that I haven't given much attention to the lyrics yet. There's surely a concept behind but without the lyrics written in fron of me I need an extra effort to catch the meaning and in this case I prefer spending my neurons on the music.

Even without checking the lyrics, I don't have problems in rating this album with 4 stars. The originality is not its strength, but it's not a clone. It's surely going to finish to my mp3 reader.

Eh, I dunno guys. Opening your album with an ironic quote from George W. Bush is kind of a mid-2000s thing to do, especially when you chop up the speech to make him say something silly or monstrous. (Few people have been able to pull this prank off with the success of Chris Morris, and Charles "Cosmos Dream" Roman doesn't come close.) And musically speaking, I'm not hearing too much that I haven't heard before here. This sprawling double album does at least deliver in terms of quantity, though I have my concerns about the project's quality control, and it would honestly be much tighter if half the material were trimmed and the remainder were given some serious polishing.

French project COSMOS DREAM is the creative vehicle of Charles Roman. The official start of his endeavors as Cosmos Dream commenced in 2008, and later the same year he released his first album under this name, "Hope of Dream". Four years later he signed to the French label Musea Records for the release of the sophomore production "How to Reach Infinity", which was issued through Musea's Parallele imprint.

Charles Roman's Cosmos Dream project is one that should appeal to a fairly broad audience. The main influence for the majority of this double album appears to be later day Pink Floyd, and in this case a take on that sound revolving around a more ambient and cinematic based exploration of it, and combining that with ambient cosmic music and revolving the final third or so around that latter style a choice that will earn him some fans I assume. A production to be recommended to those who enjoy late Pink Floyd just as much as they enjoy artists like Vangelis.

This has to be one of the most uncommon prog albums ever, something that I have rarely heard before, at least in such a 'one-man show' configuration. While the prog mainstay has often been highly polished instrumental extravaganzas with effective production values, the polar opposite is relatively sporadic, such as this minimalist ambient symphonic release that has as much of a relationship with prog as with alternative sub-genre shoegaze (My Bloody Valentine, The Verve, Loop, The Cure etc?), where effect-laden guitar chords and minimalist synth patterns swell into a storm of sleepy sounds, soporific, hallucinatory, subdued, contemplative and ethereal. There is an overt Pink Floyd element that surfaces on occasion, especially when a lead guitar is called for. It seems Jacques was mesmerized by a 2011 Roger Waters concert that covered "the Wall" and it turned out to be a massive 'punch in the face'. It took me a few spins to really appreciate the rather different flair presented here, it takes a specific mood to really appreciate the mellow musical quivering that multi-instrumentalist Charles Roman, son of legendary French band Pulsar mainstay Jacques Roman. He is a proficient musician, no true master of any tool but a crafty talent nevertheless. His voice is high-pitched but utterly pleasant like a cross between James Warren (of the Korgis) and Gilmour's whisper. I happen to be a huge fan of exquisite music that stands on its own merits and not some "prog by numbers" catalog of procedural wizardry. "Awakening of the Collective Unconscious" is the stellar opener, getting one in the mood, 'tout de suite'. While totally eschewing the multi-flanged odd meters and turn-on-a-dime technical prowess, here all is mood and air. Most pieces are dreamy floating clouds of achingly gorgeous melodies, some like the stellar "Fear and War" sections that are divided into 3 parts, where echoed voice, shimmering guitars flutters, minimalist keyboard carpets and light percussion combine to enchant and delight. On "Eternal Recurrence", the Gilmourian guitar and the Floydian tilt is obvious in its reverence and why not? The melody is stunning in its simplicity, a pure outlet for a sizzling lead guitar break within a glorious hymn. 'Fear and War, Part 3" actually chooses a gloomier reference, as if the fascist hammers reappear for one last march down the autobahn. A sensational track, easily a high point for this sedate, highly personal album. A piece like the achingly simple "Homeless" expresses perfectly the despair and the futility of being a nomad, a lost flotsam and jetsam in a turbulent sea, uncared for and even perhaps uncaring. The smooth organ howls gently as the siren-like voice urges some future comfort with absolute pain. Perhaps homeless is not hopeless! Then, a trembling organ rules the waves, as "Final Departure" and its companion "Unconscious of the Collective Awakening " (a reprise of the opening track) , oozes into the mind, highly hypnotic and compulsive pastoral chords overtake the listener, evoking a true sense of flight and irrevocability. The wobbly beat, jangling guitars, robotic bass and synth warbles give almost a The Cure-like feel, as the voice becomes obsessive and depressed amid the beautiful sounds. Bloody brilliant music!

Disc 2 continues the sonic voyage but suggests an even deeper inner trek, with denser atmospherics and longer tracks that truly develop the themes with added virtuosity. Also, the vocals will now take a back seat, as most tracks prefer an all-instrumental veneer. There will be series of 6-7 minute pieces that will , in my humble opinion, seal the deal. Firstly, "Never Back" has everything a Floyd fan would pine for, such as a killer melody, moody keyboard carpets, brash guitar, solid bass and tempting drumming. The vocals are urgent, beautiful, passionate and despondent. The lead guitar screams as if on fire, a familiar glow to its incandescence. Delish! The projects starts veering into another realm with the second master-stroke "Away", as it injects a forlorn acoustic guitar accompanied by a sad voice, all cotton and no candy, closer to 'Meddle' -era introversion, a sensational contemplation lush with fragility and grandiose disposition. Profound melancholia, deep psychedelics and immense talent, no hint of an impending guitar blitz. Peace. Finally the all-instrumental "Beyond Eris" gets even more glimmering, a sonic tapestry where puddly synth droplets cool the warm organ breeze, no hint of urgency whatsoever, building leisurely up to a symphonic/ambient crescendo. It's quite minimalist, yet heavy on the texture and the sublime melody blooming nonchalantly. The shoegaze reference becomes apparent here, delightful and omnipresent, pretty much to the final notes of the album.

"I Can See Andromeda" is a shorter reflection on star gazing (from your shoes to the skies) and succeeds in furthering the 'gauze', a Pulsarian ode to the fatherly influence, deeply emphatic and zooming near JM Jarre territory as its almost a synth-fest. A distant drum imitates the cosmic heartbeat. The majestic "Onion Arm" is another 8 minute vocal-less extravaganza, rivulets of liquid electric piano introduce a dejected scene, a perfectly restrained dirge of experimental space/cosmic prog, resonating deeply and with conviction. Wholly original, deeply moving and highly evocative space requiem. Then we get into the circa 17 minute, 3 part "The Pillars of Creation", a seminal section of this work, as Roman now dives head first into some serious experimental veneration, a colossal suite of highly ambient symphonics that blur the line between genres. Way more galactic than Floyd, it stretches into Jean-Michel Jarre, early Tangerine Dream, Karda Estra or Klaus Schulze territory, complete with echoed narration, as if the soundtrack to some ghostly film. This is so noble, it verges on the sublime. Synths and organs predominate, woven like some fine filigree into a cosmos of delicate sound and opaque thunder. "Inside My Little world" sums up this masterpiece quite succinctly, a fitting 'au revoir' from a musician dedicated to his muse and influenced by his genes. The gorgeous (I mean, dazzling) piano rules majestically, expressing profound feelings that go way beyond the garden variety, deeply reflective of incredible feelings of nostalgia, memories and pains. Wow! Quelle merveille!

While this is a massive collection of extremely mellow and otherwise ambient prog, it's not dulled by repetitive filler, or cynical plagiarisms. Yes, the Wall influence is there but presented in a completely personal package that is most alluring. Ideal for background music after a hard day's night, quite romantic in an afterglow-like sense, this is a phenomenal progressive work that is doomed to little accessibility for the mainstream and even the progressive rock community. That would be a massive pity! After all, Cosmos Dream shows us how to reach infinity!

5 visual universes