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If you look at the cover of this “Straight To The Brain”, you can
only come to two conclusions: either the person responsible has a
horrible taste, or he’s got a weird sense of humour. In any case,
I’m pretty sure this album won’t win any prizes in some “best cover
art” competition.
But what counts is the music, of course. Heartscore is the
brainchild of German multi-instrumentalist and classically trained
Dirk Radloff and if ever the word ‘Art Rock’ was justified, this is
it. Radloff’s concept is pretty straightforward: take some poems
from well-known poets, and build songs around them. Nice idea, bus
does it work?
The music is pretty complex and quircky, and is clearly influenced
by classic 70’s prog bands, with a healthy dose of more modern metal
sounds. It isn’t too bad, and there are even some very fine moments,
but on the whole, it doesn’t exactly impress me. And some more bad
news: I’m afraid Radloff’s singing is pretty poor, plus he’s got one
of the most horrible accents I’ve ever heard on record, almost like
a parody. Hard to take seriously, and it definitely takes the power
out of these poems.
I
might have given this album a higher rating, but then there are
those vocals… If Dirk Redloff is ever to record a great album, he
really should look for a decent vocalist, as his singing really
doesn’t do his interesting vision justice. |
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Dirk Radloff: electric guitars, acoustic guitar, bass, violin, lead
vocals, choir
Stefan
Platte: piano, trumpet
Tim Warweg: drums |
