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Derek Sherinian :
keyboards, shades, flares, showmanship
Steve Lukather :
guitars
Zakk Wylde : guitars
Simon Philips : drums
Tony Franklin : bass
Yngwie Malmsteen :
guitar
Al Di Meola : guitar
Brian Tichy :
additional guitar
Jerry Goodman :
electronic violin
Billy Sheehan : bass
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With his own Planet X formation,
keyboardplayer extraordinaire Derek Sherinian has delivered pure
instrumental fusion with a touch of darkness spread all over the unique
material. Having been a member of Kiss, Alice Cooper and Dream Theater,
for sure Derek is a true rocker and what better instrument to highlight
this passion for rock than the electric guitar. Hence the fact that
“Black Utopia” is not your regular ‘keyboardplayer turns solo artist’
album. Instead Sherinian has called his many friends in the metal field
aksing them if they wanted to share a bit of fireworks for his new
project. ‘The sons of Anu’ is the most perfect example of what Derek
tries to achieve here : a marriage between fusion and heavy metal. Here
he fuses the talents of Yngwie Malmsteen and that of Al DiMeola whilst
he is more than happy to play second fiddle. Talking of fiddles,
Mahavishnu Orchestra legend Jerry Goodman plays violin on no less than
six out of the nine songs on this powerful disc. Bass and drums
throughout the entire album are governed by Tony Franklin and Simon
Philips, with Billy Sheehan taken over from Tony on three tracks
resulting in a perfect album what rhythm is concerned.
‘Nightmare cinema’ to me could equally
come from a Liquid Tension Experiment album. The right ingredients are
used to make this the soundtrack to a dark, morbid, mysterious film with
Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist Zakk Wylde sharing his hard edged guitar
licks. With Steve Lukather taken over the lead in ‘Stony days’, no
wonder a magazine described this album as ‘ a guitar lover’s wet dream’.
The Toto leadguitarist contributes on three songs here, putting
Sherinian’s keyboards a little in the background. Don’t despair however
as there’s plenty to enjoy from a keyboard lover’s perspective as well.
One of my alltime Jeff Beck tunes, ‘Starcycle’, has been used for a
wonderful rock programme on RTL TV for years and years and I’m pleased
to find it here. Having played with Beck (Jeff !) no doubt Simon Philips
does an excellent job with more outstanding guitarwork courtesy of Steve
Lukather. For darker and creepy, aggressive sounds we need to demand
more help from Zakk Wylde and Brian Tichy. It’s Derek’s electric piano
which turns the song into another direction, calmer, more solemn if you
like giving way for Goodman’s experimental violin playing ending with
superb drumming from Simon and more develish sounds from Derek which
remind me of Ars Nova (our Japanese female friends) on acid !
What better way to contrast the power of the electric
guitar than by presenting the dramatic contents of the acoustic guitar.
In ‘Gypsy moth’ Al DiMeola does wonderful things whilst Derek tries his
best to emulate the unique sounds of Chic Corea as if you’re listening
to an ottake from Al’s very own “Land of the midnight sun”. Pitty it
only lasts under two minutes. I would have loved this little beauty to
be given the Return to Forever treatment and last me a lifetime ! If
ever there was the intention to release a single from this album then
surely it has to be ‘Sweet lament’. Lukather’s solo once again is ace
and holds the middle between virtuosity and accessibility in order to
deliver a song which is the right length for airplay the world over.
With the titletrack ‘Black Utopia’, Derek delivers a sample-card of his
many talents by putting all the elements he already used spread all over
the album into one compact whole. Accompanied by Sheehan, Goodman,
Philips, Tichy and Wylde once again Sherinian doesn’t swamp you with
keyboard antics. He uses his many keyboards and the right sounds to
enhance the feeling of each individual song as if they were mini movies.
Living in Hollywood I guess it kind of comes natural ! As happens a lot
these days, right at the very end of this album there’s a little teaser.
After a lengthy silence suddenly there’s this weird sound which sounds
like a mix between rewinding some tape and slurping the last drop of
coke from a can. With “Black Utopia”, Derek Sherinian has delivered a
slice of wonderful ‘metal fusion’ with enough melody to please loads of
musicfans around the globe.
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