Detailed Reviews [ Red32 - 2023 - "Red32"]

Prolusion. US band Red32 is spearheaded by artists Anthony Romero and Steve Bonino, the former probably best known as a music presenter and the latter a seasoned musician with a long history in the creative arts. With the majority of the material created by these two guys, they engaged fellow musicians from around the US to record and subsequently release an album's worth of material, with certain personal reasons detailed on this album being the reason behind the choice to call the project and the album Red32. The album was released through US label Melodic Revolution Records in the summer of 2023.

Analysis. As far as the flavor of progressive rock that is explored on this production goes, it is a rather accessible variety of the form and tradition we get on this album. Most of the songs come with a solid dose of pop music sensibilities, with well defined hooks and compelling melodies at the forefront. At the same time the music is anything but simple, and the number of planned and probably also accidental references are way to numerous for me to get a good grasp of. As such I suspect reading whatever reviews this album manages to inspire will be quite the enjoyable affair, with a large and substantial potential for both good hits and solid misses. Here we have songs that sounds like a poppier version of Pink Floyd given a dirty blues makeover, creations that comes across as a minimalist variety of Yes paired with Austrian keyboard wizard Gandalf, quite a few Jon and Vangelis references, a few nods in the direction of psychedelic rock as well as the folkier side of the psychedelic landscape, and even a song that may or may not combine elements from Nine Inch Nails and Vangelis on the dark and haunting cut 'Mean'. Ambient and dreamladen creations existing side by side with harder edged escapades that also slide in some symphonic elements for the sake of it, a little bit of funk flavoring here and emotional vocals with more of a soul orientation there. And, possibly, a little bit of a nod in the direction of The Police too. And what may or may not be an ever so slight flirt with the landscapes of Tangerine Dream. I also get the impression that quite a few playful features have been added in the mix and production department, enhancing some elements there and enchanting a few others there, to enhance contrast and add a few subtle but unexpected audio twists along the way. It sounds like this has been quite the fun album to create, but possibly also with a few frustrating moments along the way. Very much depending on how aligned the creators have been with their individual creative impulses. With that being said, this is also quite the interesting album to experience. While this isn't an album that comes with all that much of a uniform identity, it comes with sparkling and captivating creative impulses, where the common denominator is how the different songs combines accessible and captivating features on one hand and more subtle expressive undercurrents on the other, all explored inside of a context with a liberal amount of pop music sensibility present. With a few shining moments of captivating audio magic as the icing on the cake.

Conclusion. Those who tend to favor well made progressive rock where the expressive attitude and challenging features exist as subtle undercurrents in landscapes defined by more accessible elements and appealing properties should feel right at home with this album. Ambient landscapes and the poppier side of progressive rock given a little bit of a hard rock push at times, and with a liberal array of layers beneath and quite a lot of depth of details for the consummate listener to enjoy. For those who prefer their direct references, if you can imagine someone using a combination of elementns from Jon and Vangelis, Yes and Pink Floyd as the foundation from which they expand outwards this might give you a little bit of an idea of where the material on this album is heading.

Progmessor: August 2023
The Rating Room