CONTRA-MANTRA

As the history of this band goes back to the 70's, it's no wonder that their 2005 release has a certain vintage sound to it; with 70's AOR/hard rock as the foundation.

However, Jim Johnston - who mostly made this album on his own due to former members not interested in participating - has seen to it to add quite a few elements to these compositions resulting in a somewhat eclectic collection of tunes.

Opening tune Anthem and fourth track Doing It the Hard Way are both epic tunes stretching beyond the 10 minute mark, the first of these vintage progressive rock US style and the second a pomp-rock tinged tune with ambient-tinged electronic passages inserted; and in fact dominating this creation.

The rest of these song all have additional elements to them too - from keyboard layers in true pomp rock style to ambient-tinged electronic segments - and there's even a ballad finishing this release off, evolving from a mellow acoustic guitar piece to a purebred 70's majestic pomp rock creation.

Overall an enjoyable and fascinating album, especially for fans of vintage US-based AOR/pomp rock.

It is hard to define progressive rock, and even after listening to it for two years you would be hard pressed to get an answer from me that properly encompasses all music that is considered progressive. For each person, their definition will vary, as will what they consider progressive or not. But for each person, there is some point where they can say, "That does not fit into my definition of progressive". The majority of this album, which is full of big keyboard sounds, roaring lead guitars, and choruses you almost have to belt along with, I cannot consider prog by my definition.

The Damage is Done, Better Living Through Anarchy, Vanity, and A Different World are all straight up rockers, with Better Living Through Anarchy being the catchiest of them all. All I See Is Gray could be described best as a ballad.

So the progressiveness exists almost solely in the two longer tracks (The Hard Way and Anthem). Each are alright tracks, with The Hard Way diverging the furthest from the sound of the rest of the album. It ably moves between different ideas, and has quite a few good sections. I'm especially a fan of the parts where the acoustic guitars are used - I must admit to liking Marty Prue's guitar playing better than Jim Branner's on this album, it has more characteristic to my ears.

If you're looking big stadium sounding music with a bit of a prog edge, this album is for you. It's good, but I have a hard time considering it prog.

The least that I can say is that their prior album (released in ?1983) was not exactly the type of album you would like to review / listen to. Prog was totally alien from this album which I could only rate with the minimum of one star.

It was then a major and pleasant surprise to discover the opening number from this work: the long "Anthem" is a very good song that mixes good hard-rock, solid keyboards parts, theme changes, and fine vocal harmonies. An excellent start which quite surprised me! But when it is good, one also needs to mention it.

Not all songs are on the same level: the musical style of the band reverts to its AOR oriented music; but even so a track like "The Damage Is Done" is not too bad. This album should also be considered as the work of one person (Jim Johnston) more than a band actually.

He is in charge of almost all departments and his vocals are quite good. Song writing is basic for most of the songs but the whole is acceptable; even if prog music is not too much present ("Better Living Thru Anarchy").

The longest song of this album ("Doing It The Hard Way") also features a more sophisticated treat just as during the opening song. The structure is similar: an instrumental intro, theme changes etc. Still, this one is less achieved but pleasant. The beat is oppressive and the vocal parts are very well crafted.

All in all, this album is not bad at all, but the majority of the tracks leans too much on the AOR side to rate it with three stars.