Detailed Reviews [Teru's Symphonia - 1990 - *"Fable On the Seven Pillows"]

Teru's Symphonia (Japan) - 1990 - "Fable On the Seven Pillows"
aka *"A Fable, Told On the Seven Pillows"
("Musea"/ "MIJ")

Prologue. In the period of the last two years I've had a possibility to listen attentively to some other albums of Teru's Symphonia, but actually, I've listened to each of them just once. In other words, I've rejected them just after the first listen to each of them. Shame on these 'experimented' ears that are fixed to each side of my head! So, it's clear that me, who recommends everyone not to believe his ears after the first listen to any of the albums of the Classic Progressive Rock genre, wasn't all that wrong in this respect. Of course, if I had to review some of those albums that I underrated some time ago, having listened to them a few times (running), I was on the right way with regard to describe these albums and, of course, to them themselves as they really were in their primordial status. Thank God, since the beginning of 2000 I just have no time to listen to any other albums, apart from those that I have to review. So I believe that for the last two years my ears have grown more experienced than ever before.

The Album. Despite the fact that wonderful female singer-chameleon Megumi Tokuhisa sings in her native language and all lyrics in the booklet of CD are, to my surprise, also in Japanese, it isn't hard to understand that "A Fable Told On the Seven Pillows" is a concept album. Fortunately, the people at the "Made In Japan" label didn't forget at least to translate the titles of the songs (though there are some errors in the album track-list, beginning already with the album's title), though already the music itself will convince you that "A Fable Told On the Seven Pillows" is a concept album. Created in the best traditions of Classic Symphonic Art Rock, this album, nevertheless, has really a unique sound, and I personally have never heard anything like this. Performed with only traditional "Rock" instruments, this music sounds as if it were played with the help of oboe, bassoon and (English or French) horn players. It is really amazing how skilful Teru Hirayama elicits all these specific sounds from his (probably, arsenal of the) digital keyboards, let alone his great composing and performing capabilities. On the whole, the music of this album sounds very symphonic, though, at the same time, it is also just saturated with a kind of royal-medieval spirit, so there is a full impression of reading a fairy-tale while listening to the album. Anyone of the musicians demonstrates an outstanding musicianship the album throughout, and all the instrumental parts (that are mostly large-scaled here) are filled with highly intriguing and original arrangements, some of which are in many ways exotic in comparison with the classic ones. Although there is less of vocal parts than instrumental arrangements on the album, Megumi uses her outstanding vocals in such a diverse and effective way that, being deeply impressed with the overall musical palette (that I can't now imagine without such rich vocal colours), I even forgot that I understand not a single word from her singing, as well as that there are no lyrics translated into English in the booklet of CD.

Summary. First off, having in my CD collections a lot of real progressive masterpieces, released by Japanese, Soviet and Czechoslovakian bands and performers in the both halves of the 1980s and also keeping in mind that Prog Metal flourished then but went unnoticed, I am now inclined to (quite officially) declare that actually there was no "dark decade" nor even a couple of dark years ever in the history of Progressive Rock. Of course, such a brilliant album as "A Fable Told On the Seven Pillows", released by Teru's Symphonia in the last year of the 1980s decade, just crowned that decade, with each of the two halves richer in progressive albums-masterpieces than the first half of the 1990s. The latter, though, was a period of the revival of Progressive Rock just in the West, whereas the whole World, called Earth, was never aware of any raises and falls of the eternal Art, the eternal Classic for the Future, called Progressive Music.

VM. September 19, 2001