THE EDINBURGH SUITE

Multi-instrumentalist ANDERS BUAAS (also known as Andy Boss) has been quite prolific in the music biz having played toured with Iron Maiden's Paul DiAnno as well as Judas Priest's second vocalist Time Ripper Owens but in prog circles he's much better known in small circles for his ambitious solo albums that narrate complex tales beginning with the three album trilogy "The Witches of Finnmark" which exhibited instrumental journeys based on the stories of the prosecution of witches in Northern Norway in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The trilogy caught the attention of the prog world for its adept mixing of styles with influences ranging from King Crimson and Genesis to Mike Oldfield, Al DiMeola, Marillion, Jeff Beck and even neoclassical shredders like Yngwie Malmsteen. The trilogy was followed by "Tarot," another concept album covering, you guessed it, the card deck that has bemused astrologers far and wide throughout the ages. The current calendar year finds the release of BUAAS' fifth release THE EDINBURGH SUITE which unsurprisingly is a concept album about the streets and history of the Scottish capital city.

The album of a classic prog album playing time of 42 minutes consists of only two tracks roughly around 21 minutes each both titled "The Edinburgh Suite" with track one evoking inspiration from the "Old Town" and the second track taking on the "New Town." Some would even call this a rock opera but i dunno, can an all instrumental album be called an opera? What we basically have here is a modern interpretation of Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" with shapeshifting musical motifs covering many different musical genres and stylistic approaches. The musicians recruited are impressive and include Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson, The Aristocrats, The Mute Gods, The Sea Within, etc.), bassist Tony Franklin (The Firm, Blue Murder, Whitesnake, Derek Sherinian, Rocket Scientists, etc.), keyboardist Richard Garcia and percussionist Christian Berg.

The musical genres covered range from progressive rock to bluegrass, Krautrock, jazz, heavy metal, piano rock and tubular sounds clearly derived from Mike Oldfield's classic debut. While impressive in scope and interpretation unfortunately this release fails to hold up in execution. For my ears the album is basically copying the "Tubular Bells" playbook a little too close for my comfort. Unlike Oldfield's classic golden age of prog recordings, THE EDINBURGH SUITE feels contrived with decent but not outstanding melodies to really yank your attention in and keep you fixated on the developments. On the contrary the melodic grooves are rather simplistic and seem overly fortified with tricks and trinkets to simulate a much grander experience.

The album seems highly revered but for whatever reason it really doesn't resonate with yours truly as i can't get past the fact that it lacks a deeper substance that warrants all of these elements convening for a greater musical sum of the parts. THE EDINBURGH SUITE is certainly a noble effort and by no means unpleasant in any particular way but it just seems that the ambitious nature of the project isn't matched by neither the musical performances or compositional fortitude. The production feels a bit sterile at times however the different styles do organically gel but considering the album is supposedly narrating the tale of the majestic Scottish city of yore and also of the present, not once do i ever feel like i've landed on Scottish soil! Perhaps some bagpipes would do the trick? Decent effort but not completely effective either.