I’ve spoken of them many times before on Twitter, I hear them all the time, yet I’ve never had a chance to write about them. I’m talking about one of my favorite bands, Pure Reason Revolution. They recently came out with their new album, Amor Vincit Omnia, but it is with their first full length album The Dark Third that my passion for them began.
Join me, if you will, on one of the most beautiful musical journeys I’ve ever taken.
Everyone likes cheering for the underdog. Leaders aren’t fighters, they aren’t crazy enough to do the things the underdog will to obtain success. Leaders have fought their way, gained their success and now live comfortably on their kingdoms.
In the music industry, some, if not most, of the most beautiful musics and soundscapes I have ever heard come from progressive rock bands, and there various reasons for that.
I love strings. Put a nice woman playing an acoustic guitar beautifully in front of me, and I wouldn’t trade her for Beyoncé or any other woman who couldn’t do what she did.
I love melodies. And it seems that more and more popular music has drifted away from melodic sounds and now most of them seem to be based around the hip hop, or rap genres, and then there’s the occasional punk rock band that appears on the spotlight that does very little to improve upon that. There was a video somewhere on YouTube that showed how a lot of popular songs at the time could be played using the same 4 notes. (If you know which one it is please do tell)
And then there are the Progressive Rock bands. The bands you’ll find occupying a few shelves on that dark corner of music stores. You think that only people with long black hair and spikes around most limbs listen to them. You won’t see them on Mtv, on VH1, you won’t be able to sing-a-long to their tracks with your friends, but you’ll experience a very melodic and sometimes experimental sound, unlike most things you’ve ever heard.
It’s strange at first, you’ll have trouble adjusting yourself to the rhythm because it changes over time. You’ll hear weird notes, weird mixes of instruments you’ve never thought of before.
But there is one album, that immediately “clicked” with me. After it’s two first introductory tracks I was immediately hooked and it became one if not my favorite music album of all time.
The Dark Third is one of the most melodic and rich experiences I’ve ever had with any album, or collection of albums if you wish. All of the tracks are neatly placed together like a masterful tapestry. Even though YouTube can’t provide the exact same experience, if you’ll listen to the first two tracks of this Youtube playlist, I think you’ll understand what I mean.
Imagine a beautiful acapella, accompanied by a beautiful string based melody, usually a guitar or a piano, that drifts over time and changes, not only in sound, but rhythmically as well. The Dark Third is like a musical fairy tail, if there ever was one. There’s nothing quite like it, not in this day and age, and never before as well.
I urge anyone who likes good music to listen to this album and purchase it, and if you do, try to obtain the special 2CD edition which comes with 5 additional tracks, among which is probably my favorite track of theirs, The Twyncyn / Trembling Willows.