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David Cross - The Big Picture CD (album) cover

THE BIG PICTURE

David Cross

 

Jazz Rock/Fusion

3.28 | 32 ratings

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Sean Trane
Special Collaborator
Prog Folk
1 stars 1,5 stars really!!

After a long passage from the music scene (at least the directly), David Cross came back with a few albums in the 90's, this one being the closest to a group effort. The group comes as a quartet (with his violin and a female keyboard player) where Dillon (the bassist) sings. As usual, one has to be very careful of early 90's "prog" albums, because the era is still unfortunately all too linked with the dreadful 80's. And indeed this album shows every weakness of that awful era, from programming drums to voice and fake midi-violins. While the booklet is nicely featuring the different works from an artist painter (some of which are quite nice) , the front cover represent an Asian child

While the bassist was obviously taken for his voice timbre that is reminiscent of Wetton, and there are few slightly red hints, we are far from the Crimsonian ambiances that Cross would've liked to emulate. Most of the songs are forgettable at best; irritable at worst; and not least the lengthy instrumental Minaret is a rather predictable with its (phony) Arabian feel. We are not far away from the full cheesy Asia fondue, filled will bad synth layers. Other tracks like barbed Wires and Black Ice hold definite and indubitable prog tendencies, but simply fail to interest this writer

More than a bad album (well it is, but not that bad, apart from a solid lack of inspiration), this album suffers from the enormous clichés of the era it was recorded in. In a couple of years would come the Scandinavian wave that would really instill a new life in prog, something so much lacking (as well as a solid dose from aesthetics) in this album.

Sean Trane | 1/5 |

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