PHIDEAUX XAVIER: FRICTION

"Friction" is the debut full-length studio album by US progressive rock artist Phideaux Xavier. the album was released through Bloodfish Music in 1992. Xavier later went on have a relatively successful career in progressive rock/art rock working purely under the Phideaux monicker, and although "Friction" may once upon a time have been considered Phideaux´s debut album, Xavier today considers the album a demo and often doesn´t mention it at all on his official sites.

"Friction" is a concept release with lyrics centered around the elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth. There are both elements from progressive rock, folk rock, art rock, and even 80s UK electronic pop on the album. The individual songs (which there are over 20 of on the album) are organised in four parts. Xavier is often complimented by a female vocalist and the vocal part of the album is decent but not great. The material is relatively well composed, but that´s about it for the positives, because both the instrumental performances and especially the sound production are below par for the genre. So I fully understand that Xavier sees "Friction" as a demo rather than an album which is part of his Phideaux discography.

You can hear promise now and again, but listening through almost 80 minutes of bad sound quality art rock/progressive rock which isn´t even that well performed is honestly a bit of a chore. I´ll give points for creativity and the will to finish this recording and a 2 star (40%) rating isn´t all wrong.

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