CERMIN

It took almost five years to finalize and release the second album "Cermin" (Mirror) by God Bless. Just before the band was about to start writing this second album, the talented keyboard player and composer Yockie Soeryoprayogo left the band and decided to focus on his solo project and contributed to a movie sound track for what became a landmark in the history of Indonesian music: "Badai Pasti Berlalu". Abadi Soesman joined the band in 1979 replacing Yockie's position. Abadi Soesman contributed the development of this second album which was released in 1980. "Cermin" laid a solid foundation for God Bless in the prog rock scene. "Cermin" has critically acclaimed as an album which demonstrated major shift in God Bless music concept as compared to its self-titled debut album in 1976. Structurally, most of songs contained in this album are not straight forward and many complex arrangements and textures during transition pieces as well as music interlude. Abadi Soesman injected fresh nuance to the music of God Bless as there are many dynamic and stunning keyboard solo as well as rhythm section. The album has been influenced by big names like Kansas, Genesis, Yes, ELP, Klaatu and Gentle Giant.

Cermin (Mirror) kicks the album off with a ballad-based composition where the music starts with a nice melody followed with rich textures and more complex arrangement as as the music unfolds. From the opening part, it's clear how inventive the piano / keyboard work played by Abadi Soesman; and it flows beautifully accompanying Ahmad Albar's transparent voice. Guitar solo by Ian Antono is very catchy in many segments including that serve as fillers in between segments. As the music moves dynamically, Teddy Sujaya's drum work strengthens the structure in a solid way. As this album was made after the Indonesian music scene changed significantly in 1977 when a Genesis and Refugee-influenced song "lilin-Lilin Kecil" performed by Chrisye (RIP, ex Guruh Gipsy and Badai Band) became national hit, this song shared similar nuance like the music trend at that time. "Cermin" is definitely an excellent track.

Selamat Pagi Indonesia (Good Morning Indonesia) (6:16) flows beautifully in similar vein like the opening track, with nice piano / keyboard work, mellotron-like sound by Abadi, augmented by Ian's acoustic guitar fills. The music flows in a symphonic rock style with many breaks filled with catchy vocal and excellent acoustic guitar. The music moves dynamically in medium tempo with excellent combination of guitar and keyboard work. Yeah, I am proud that this local hero has made such an excellent composition like this song!

Musisi (Musician) (4:26) is probably the best prog rock song that God Bless has ever created and I am sure whoever has claimed himself as proghead would definitely say that this song is true masterpiece prog rock! It starts wonderfully winth an ambient nuance where Donny Fatah plays his "walking" bass with solid sound which sets the overall tone of this composition. Ian Antono's rhythm guitar follows the bass guitar solo, continued with drum work by Tedy and keyboard punches by Abadi Soesman. WOW man!!!! This is reallllyyyyy . greeeeaaaaattt! I am not exaggerating! You must try youself. When the music unfolds in crescendo with Ahmad Albar's powerful and transparent voice, the music begins to become more complex especially with intertwining work of guitar, bass, keyboard and drums. I think this is the song where God Bless can demonstrate the virtuosity of each member in playing their instruments. It's awesome! The vocal line by Ahmad Albar backed by Ian Antono and Donny Fatah is also producing brilliant harmonies. This is an adrenalin exploder track, performed in fast speed with great arrangement that any prog head would adore.

Balada Sejuta Wajah (The Ballad of a Million Faces) (3:36) is a very nice ballad with catchy melody line, great vocal harmonies and wonderful orchestration. Well, you can try the interlude part where the keyboard is played like an orchestra. This song, despite the nice composition, it also has powerful lyrics. "Is there any peaceful tomorrow .?".

Sodom & Gomorah (4:07) is an excellent rocker with complex arrangements even at the start of the song, it reminds me to the music of ELP during its opening track. There interlude part is interesting because it combines jazz rock music in fast tempo and complex textures. The middle of the interlude is so powerful and it reminds me to the music of Kansas.

Anak Adam (11:50) is another excellent song which in the opening part reminds me to Kansas but it is then followed wonderfully with the gamelan Bali in fast tempo. The gamelan part is really interesting because it merges smoothly with the keyboard song. Again, through this song Abadi demonstrates his ultra-skills in keyboard playing with more inventive punches even though there are bits of Kansas, but it sounds really excellent. As this is the longest song offered by this album, it also gives multi-part section with different styles and / or tempo. I really enjoy this song very much and it's definitely an excellent prog rock composition!

Insan Sesat (5:53) is another ballad with simpler arrangements as compared to first two songs in this album. Abadi plays important role to accompany Ahmad Albar's voice. It's a nice ballard. Ingat (Remember) (6:44) is a simple structure song performed in medium tempo with meaningful message conveyed by Ahmad Albar. The music has an excellent piano / keyboard as well as guitar solos. The album concludes with an excellent "acapella" by Ahmad Albar, Donny Fatah and Ian Antono performing "Tuan Tanah" (2:06). . It reminds me to the choirs of Gentle Giant.

Conclusion

Remembering the music scene in the 80s, this album had taken one step ahead musically compared to their counterparts who did not dare to play prog music. Yes, there was Guruh Gipsy, Harry Roesli, etc. in the extreme cases while God Bless "Cermin" is much more accessible which was widely accepted by typical rocker or proghead in Indonesia. Even though this was a seminal work by the band but it did not succeed commercially. It could be concluded that by that time prog music by Indonesian band was probably not that anxious enough or they prefer Genesis, Yes, ELP instead of local band. This is a wrong perception, if this is the case, because musically this album is really excellent. I put 4.5 stars rating. Highly Recommended. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW