The Netherlands – The Overture to Life
Oddly enough, but being sort of a guitarist myself (yes, please refer to that one Willem Dafoe face), I rarely listen to shred rock. But I tend to enjoy keyboardists’ solo records more often than not. Lars Boutrup’s new solo record only confirmed my preferences. The Danish keyboardist is a regular guest on the DPRP pages, with seemingly his entire back catalogue being touched by reviewers’ team since 2006. The Overture to Life adds the fifth (that’s fifth, right?) chapter to his solo discography.
It shall not be a tough task to guess the nature of the record – yes, that’s once again a plethora of different keyboard themes supported by the rhythm section (neither guitarists, nor singers are welcome here, sorry). It’s not a good way to start with something negative, but at times it seemed to me that the bass and drums sound too basic and straightforward – maybe because they do not want to step into the spotlight and steal attention away from the keyboards, but in a couple of tracks it almost felt like Lars used e-tools instead of live musicians. Apart from that, keyboard fans should get just what they want from records like The Overture To Life: some ELP, some fusion, some Sherinian / Rudess.
Faithful to his credo, Lars does not include any heavy rock fragments, with all the heaviness one can get coming from the organ parts. Let me go over the tracks briefly.
Event Like Pearls balances between playful fusion-esque synth phrases and Keith Emerson’s purling Hammond (there are even short citations from Pictures At An Exhibition). Funky Man X is closer to Rick Wakeman’s solo experiments and harmonic thinking, with the same festive sunny mood, that Rick mastered in the 70s. Get in the Car delivers maybe a-bit-too-proggy structure to my taste, clearly wanting to embrace as many phrases and ideas as possible within a 5-minute running time (but if you love the kaleidoscopic aspect of prog, then check the track out). As if to balance the previous flamboyancy, Hero Time is a much more focused composition, moderate and built around a single main idea.
The Overture to Life serves as a centerpiece of the album, but actually together with the subsequent Perfect Friday they form a prog symphony diptych, where Lars channels his inner Keith Emerson at a yoga carpet. Both tracks instantly evoke memories of classics like Karn Evil 9 or Pirates. Somewhat oddly titled The King Went Well is the “charts-aiming” hit (meant ironically, of course) of the album, based on groovy tempo and synth extravaganza which reminded me of Eric Norlander solo efforts. The closing track Owed To Irving captures the atmosphere of 70s/80s cold war spy movies with a minimalistic, enigmatic atmosphere and moderate pace. This couple of last tracks I would deem as my favorites on the album.
There’s clearly a good deal of talent and efforts behind The Overture. This is one of those albums that fly under your radar, overshadowed by flashier, but often disappointing releases from famous bands. Not a masterpiece, but a rewarding listen and a good reference for those who prefer to dig deeper.
Reviewed by: Sergey Nikulichev