LALLE LARSSON'S WEAVEWORLD - INFINITY OF WORLDS

Well, I'm really impressed with this album, last year Lalle Larsson's Weaveworld I loved it, but now Infinity Of worlds is a masterpiece, is an incredible progfusion where you have elements of jazz fusion, symphonic passages and classical sounds of progressive rock, This keyboard player is awesome and in this álbum is accompanied by great musicians , Infinity of Worlds to my point of view is the best instrumental album that has made this year and deserves to be one of the best general progressive rock albums of 2010, this album is really highly recommended for any lovers of progressive rock.

I using a translator of Spanish to English in my reviews.

All The Best.

This album is a nice surprise for me. Usually I am not a big fun of instrumental rock albums, too often they are repetitive and boring to listen after first few songs. Not this one.

Lalle Larsson is very competent keyboardist, and musicians on support are all of the high class. Best known as musicians ,played with Karmakanic and Agents Of Mercy, Lalle shows his strong potential as solo artist on this album.

Album was released on Reingold Records with Reingold himself playng (fretless) bass. Music on this album, even if influenced by other Larsson/Reingold projects, is energetic, quite melodic and technical mix of instrumental prog rock and fusion. Some compositions contains even straight jazz-rock inclusions.Both guitarists are great, and it's nice all musicians work as a real team.Even if it's a keyboardist solo album, guitars,bass,drums and keyboards all are equally important in album's sound.

Very competent album of modern progressive instrumental rock. The only thing I really missed there was absence of experimentation, searching on something new. But possibly such releases has another target and different listener,than my ears,angry for musical evolution (and revolution).

One of the best mainstream instrumental prog release of 2010.My rating is 4+!

My problem with this music is that it sounds like a classical or jazz lounge piano player trying to make a "progressive rock" album--the music feels very forced and unnatural, and often New Age-like--as if Richard Clayderman or Liberace were trying to make a popular, genre-busting album. "Lemuria" is, for me, the only one whose music and instruments blend well enough to sound cohesive--to sound almost balanced and natural. In my humble opinion, neither Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson, nor Renaissance ever made an album sounding this forced and unnatural. I rate it 3 stars "Good" only because I do respect the quality of musicianship on this record.

OK is the surprising this year , the best in my opinion, many harmony, Lalle Larson is really good player, many pianos in all tracks, keyboards are not forgotten, I think much jazz and guitars, but not in pejorative sense, is good, is not my favorite subgenre, and I admit is a excellent album, certainly i will rehear sometimes , in my opinion have a heavy atmosphere, and at same time clean. Is different and eclectic way. Some times i think Lalle play keyboard with piano timbre, and repentantly change to keyboard effects, in eg, first track, i like the last two tracks. I will not do a five because i dont think a masterpiece but is need in good collection, so a 4.25 star is good note.

Judging by the amount of instrumental Prog albums these days, Prog singers must be a species near extinction. When it comes to the more symphonic and mellow fusion types of Prog you won't hear me complain about it. There's a delicate balance between tension and mellowness in this music and often vocals tip the scale too much in poppy directions. At least that's my experience, with Karmakanic for instance, where Lalle Larsson spends some of his time when he's not involved with one of his other other projects.

Infinity of Worlds presents top-professional playing from 2 guitarist, piano, drums and fretless bass guitar, and if you are mainly attracted by musicianship then this is a sure winner for you. Most tracks are built up around basic rock ingredients, an intricate mix of complex riffs, melodic leads, dazzling solos, splendid drumming and virtuoso keyboards. A perfect example is the excellent Beyond Shadows

However, I get a bit distracted by the influences from easy-listening jazz. When they leave the rock path for a fusion break I have troubles going along with them. I've never been a fan of this type of ear-friendly mainstream jazz. Most tracks could serve as an example but the first couple of tracks are probably the clearest examples. Lemuria on the other hand is a nice piece of mellow fusion.

I'm quite sure this is an excellent instrumental album for fans of virtuoso playing that don't mind mainstream jazz. I do appreciate at least half of the music here, but I do miss the rich atmosphere, the excitement and the experimentation that I expect from jazz-rock.

When I recently entered my favorite record shop, the owner was just putting a new cd in the player and soon the shop was filled with astonishing keyboard orientated progressive jazz-rock. Upon inquiry it appeared to be the latest album of Sweden's top-keyboard player Lalle Larsson. Of course I bought the album and I have heard it lots of times since. Sweden has a long tradition of excellent jazz playing and lots of great jazz-musicians have come from Sweden. "Infinity Of Worlds" is another proof of this tradition.

On this album Lalle has surrounded himself with a couple of top musicians. Dutch top jazz-guitarist Richard Hallebeek is going for most guitar-leads, assisted by second guitarist Stefan Rosqvist, while the rhythm section is taken care of by drummer Mickael Wahlgren and bass-player Jonas Reingold who alternates between fretted and fretless bass. It's not just another vain display of incredible playing techniques as is so often the case with this type of jazz/fusion bands, but every composition on this album is worth enjoying to the last bar. Beautiful themes are alternated with impeccable solo's, the guitar playing of Richard Hallebeek being very impressive indeed. The keyboard playing of Lalle Larsson isn't just limited to the electronic keyboards. There are piano passages to be enjoyed that have the same gentleness of touché that remind me of that other great jazz- pianist/composer Duke Ellington. A Demon's Kiss alternates solid jazz-rock in the style of the best Return To Forever with very melodious piano-playing, while the beautiful sound of Richard Hallebeek's lead guitar leaves its clear mark on this title, a very strong opener. Otherwordly is built around a haunting and somewhat mysterious theme, that would do good in a suspense movie, the sequence of sounds (piano/guitar/synths) is chosen well and the composition is captivating right to the end. In my opinion City Of Lost Souls is the highlight of the album. It starts of with a subtle piano, soon joined by the splendid acoustic guitar playing by Stefan Rosqvist and the fretless bass of Jonas Reingold. In this composition Lalle's piano playing reaches the highest level of Duke Ellington subtleness, while the song moves up to a strength otherwise only reached in the best pieces by Chick Corea. A more heavy electric approach is to be found in Beyond Shadows, leaning on a heavy riff played by bass and guitar, sounding threatening throughout the piece. Beyond Shadows is constituting the solid stage on which Lalle displays all his skills on his electronic keyboards. In Lemuria a more dreamy and mysterious atmosphere is once more depicted. It starts of with some seashore sound effects, memorizing a civilization vanished into the depths of the sea. Once more the sound of Richard Hallebeek's guitar proves to be an excellent match for the full electronic keyboard sounds layered over this song. The longest composition and title piece Infinity Of Worlds starts, after a short synth introduction, with a piano, soon joined by a pulsating rhythm by bass and drums, working up to a climax, followed by another theme in a more symphonic mood. Infinity of Worlds takes us through worlds of different themes and changing atmospheres. It may not be the best possibility to end the album, because it doesn't conclude with the strongest theme, I still have to admit that "Infinity Of Worlds" is one of the strongest progressive jazz- rock albums I have ever heard. It will certainly please listeners who have enjoyed The Romantic Warrior by Return To Forever and it might just be possible that in compositional regards it even surpasses this other landmark of symphonic jazz-rock. Infinity Of Worlds has showed me a side of Lalle Larsson of which I would love to hear more, but that ofcourse is up to mister Larsson to decide.

If one could still have doubts about the compositional skills of Lalle Larsson, one should try to obtain the limited edition and get an extra disc containing an excellent live rendition of his Seven Deadly Pieces, showing Lalle as a composer and player of true modern progressive music. Being this an album that belongs in the collection of every true symphonic jazz-rock lover and regarding the fact that both the performance and the recording are of top quality the rating can only be a five star one.

Erik de Beer.

Very nice instrumental album by one of Sweden´s top new players of the new millenium. Lalle Larsson has made quite a name playing on several bands like Karmakanic and Agents Of Mercy. So I was a bit curious of how he would do on his own. Well, the good news are that although this is mostly his baby, he is, in fact, backed by a real band. Not surprisingly the bass player is the ever present Jonas Reingold (Midnight Sun, The Flower Kings, The Tangent, among many others). And Larsson does use the best of his musicians for a quite good team work.

I don´t know about his previous CDs, but this is mainly a Jazz-rock/fusion efford, with some symphonic rock tendencies, classical music overtones and even bits of heavy prog a la King Crimson (as on Beyond The Shadows). The results are pretty good. The music in general is quite nice, pleasant and inventive mostly of the time. The production is top notch and the musicians shine all over the record, specially the two guitarrists, both skillful and creative. Larsson´s keyboards are beautiful and fluid. If it was not for the annoying presence of some jazz-rock/fusion cliches, I´d gladly give this album a four star rating (bear in mind I´m not a fusion fan). So, to my taste, the rocking A Demon´s Kiss, the languid City Of The Lost Sould and, most of all, the epic title track (with a stunning build up at the end) are the CD´s highlights.

Final rating: 3,5 stars. Better than just good, but not really essential.

Well, Lalle Larsson is an eclectic symphonic composer from Sweden, whose variety of music themes and harmonic solutions are getting increased of personal experience: in fact, especially within his jazz-progressive style, enriched by means of classic prog-rock, his performance is better in comparison to his execution at the keyboards along with Swedish bands such as Karmakanic or Agents of Mercy...but unfortunately the present work is an instrumental solo project and- except on a few albums like "Epilogue" by Anglagard or "Escenes" by Gotic, being recognized as well structured instrumental albums that perhaps I've appreciated till the end without getting bored, in this case I'm a bit perplexed and confused about it...don't get me wrong, his attempt in the prog fusion sytle is appreciable and moreover Mr Larsson is well supported by a Dutch musician, Richard Hallebeek and Stefan Rosqvist, without forgetting Walle Wahlgren, already drummer in the mentioned above Agents of Mercy. Nevertheless the sadness all along the compositions let me stay a bit depressed for a while, even though the main structure of this work is played by the bass player Jonas Reingold, obviously conscious of his role as a "rhytmical guide". "A Demon's Kiss" is a powerful tune, whose sense of nostalgia is growing towards the end; instead "Otherwordly" is characterized by Larsson's acoustic piano, enriched by means of some occasional guitars and other keyboards, able to create a good "coloured" wall of sound, this time more delicate in comparison to the opener of the album; then you can listen to the similar "City of Lost Souls", where the support by Jonas Reingold is important, being able to maintain a kind of melancholy and reminding me of the atmosphere in the early albums by King Crimson (if you "erase" the acoustic piano). At the end I cannot get crazy for the heavy-rock song entitled "Beyond Shadows" , but immediately after I appreciate the fusion prog of "Lemuria", enriched by means of a few "Holdsworthian guitars" and a pretty piano as well, until the final title track "Infinity of Worlds", in the vein of a Swedish jazz band called "EST", which concludes the work in the best manner.

It' not equal to Clearlight's "Symphony", a special French fusion prog band or like some other fusion/symphonic Canterburian works a-la Isildurs Bane, but it's worth checking out at least (add an half star in the evaluation, especially if you are completely fitted into such a versatile fusion prog music)!

Lalle Larsson is one of the most acomplished keyboard player of the last decade, that's for sure. Being member along the years in bands such as Agents of Mercy, Karmakanic, 3rd World Electric, he was able to bring in each band he played something of a real intrest to prog listner. Lalle Larsson waveworld he released 3 albums, Infinity of worlds being his second offer and I think his best solo album. I knew already that he is very skillful and extremely versatile artist and inventive keyboard player, in fact one of my fav on the last years, with this album he reaches a level hard to bit by many musicians. Besides great almost perfect musicianship, he concentrated aswell on melodic lines not only tecnique, the result is impressive. Helped by some excellent musicians in jazz fusion world, some of them work with him before like bassist Jonas Reingold or top notch guitar player Richard Hallebeek. A special mention for drumer Mikael Wahlegren, he has some truly amazing chops here, what a drumer, brilliant and technically impressive. All pieces are from great to excellent, like the opening track A demon's kiss, Otherwordly or Beyond shadows (dedicated as booklet said to legendary Dio), this tune absolutly kick ass with a darker passages and out of this world musicianship. Each musician shine on this record and is one of the best I've heared from progressive/jazz fusion genre. Lalle Larsson proves with Infinity of worlds that is a musician to be discovered by a wider auditorium, he is a renowed player and one of the best of his field. recommended for sure, love the art work , that blue blurry type of the art work is also excellent, a theme that was present on previous album and aswell on their third one. 4 stars easy, damn fine album.

Who can imagine my surprise, when I noticed at the bottom of the rating line of one of my other top favourite artists, the same morose line up of two star raters as I noticed below District 97. Again a line of silly names like marfish, purplefloydfish, daemacho and waeguk, all entered practically at the same time, all rated "Infinity Of Words" at two stars. What is this???

"Infinity Of Words" is one of the most beautiful albums, that entered my collection lately. A superb blend of keyboard based jazz and melodic progressive rock, embellished with a tad bit of metal influences is producing a wonderful set of beautiful fully instrumental compositions. Of course: Lalle Larsson is the glorious central figure on this second album of his Weaveworld trilogy. But what to think of the guitarists Richard Hallebeek and Stefan Rosquist. They blend perfectly with the well-chosen keyboard sounds of Lalle Larsson. With a superb rhythm section, consisting of bass player Jonas Reingold and drummer Walle Wahlgren, you can't go wrong.

Not a weak moment on this album, but if I had to pick a favourite title, it would probably be "A Demon's Kiss", with its beautiful languish piano theme. I played this album over and over and over again and I just keep on loving it!

Screw the depressing two star raters, mine will be a well-deserved 5 star !!!

progpig66.

The recent five star review of "Infinity of Worlds" inspired me to give it another spin. I remember that it did not sound particularly inspiring when I bought it back in 2010 and has been gathering dust on the shelf ever since. But I was willing to give it another chance. I usually order 6 CDs at a time so sometimes a disk may not get the appreciation it deserves.

Definition of Masterpiece: a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or to a work of outstanding creativity, skill, or workmanship.

The musicanship is good but some of the compositions meander rather aimlessly with a mixture of styles sometimes wandering into the realms of jazz. Track 3 in particular shows this tendancy and sounds like elevator music in places.

Track 4 "Stony Days" is about the best, its heavier than the others but still nothing exceptional.

The final track, the title track, is also quite good but the best piece of music on the entire disk is at the end when it morphs into industrial noise. At least this sounds interesting, just a shame there wasn't more of this throughout the album.

Overall despite some fine musicanship this is really rather uninspiring, offers northing new that hasn't already been done to death by the likes of Derek Sherinian. It's no masterpiece, nor is it an essential part of a prog collection. Its only saved from a two star rating by Track 4.