Customer Reviews

Doomsday Afternoon

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm old enough to remember back to the hey-day of the "Prog Rock" movement when purchasing an album was an experience. In those days, we weren't able to sample songs prior to buying them. And, at least where I grew up, we didn't have access to thousands of titles...a few hundred if we were lucky.

If we knew a band or singer we liked was releasing a new album, we would go to the record store at our first opportunity and hope the record wasn't already sold out. We would then pony up our $7.99 or whatever, and buy the album almost sight unseen. We may have had heard one song from the album played a couple of times on the radio, but we really had no idea what we might be getting. Once purchased, we'd take our 12" x 12" treasure home, unwrap the celephane and pull the record out of the cardboard sleeve. Then we would lay the needle in the track and start the experience. While we heard the music playing for the very first time, we would pour over the album cover and dust sleeve, absorbing every word of the lyrics, studying each photograph, and absolutely drooling over those fantastic paintings.

I can clearly remember the first time I heard such albums as ABBEY ROAD, TOMMY, GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD, AQUALUNG, THE LAMB LIES DOWN, A PASSION PLAY and CLOSE TO THE EDGE. Amazing in every way, and it was all new -like nothing I had ever heard before. I bought THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON without ever having heard a note of it on the radio! That was a night I can never forget because it completely and irrevocably altered how I looked at music, art, and the world forever...a truly life changing experience.

Well, I recaptured that feeling a few days ago when I purchased Phideaux's DOOMSDAY AFTERNOON. True, I was able to sample the songs here on Amazon.com, but I was unprepared for what an amazing and wonderful experience I was about to enjoy. The music is very much in the vein of all my old favorites...different passages do indeed remind me of Jethro Tull, Genesis, David Bowie and The Alan Parsons Project. Not nearly as lush perhaps as Pink Floyd or Yes, but the same spirit is there. But please don't get me wrong - this is not some retro cover band slogging out uninspired tomes. This band is completely fresh, fun, challenging and is breaking new ground. But somehow, they managed to capture the very essence of what made me love music so much more than 30 years ago.

If you love music, and especially the bands I've mentioned above, Do yourself the great favor of trying Phideaux. I can't wait to get the rest of their albums - they're just that good!

Once again Phideaux sets the bar even higher and creates a moody, beautiful concept album of recurring/overlapping themes (and effective use orchestral instruments as well). Easily some of the best new music I've heard this decade, this album incorporates killer melodies/songwriting, with creative arrangements and production... totally compelling and addictive. It's dark and deep yet fun at the same time, growing on you more with each listen. The influence of music like Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, and early Genesis is there but Phideaux's unique musical personality really shines through. Art rock at it's best, magical and passionate. It's been quite a while since new music made an impact on me like this.

As the latest in a stream of carefully crafted, complex and intricate music created by Phideaux in recent years, this album is the best yet. It is truly a concept album, with melodies, musical structures, themes and instrumentals that echo, resonate, recur and interweave . This musical play is a delight to the ear and a puzzle that rewards the mind of the listener. It is akin to an aural novel, in that it tells a story with song and music, but it is also a masterpiece of crafting and effect, moving the listener with themes and harmonies. If it were a movie, you would want to see it several times, marveling in the storyline and each time being rewarded by new insights. It is a work of art, including the marvelous booklet that illustrates each song with paintings by Molly Ruttan. Don't miss it; you will love it.

Phideaux's material, while often classified as progressive rock, is not overly complex as compared to most of the genre. At the same time, the quality of the song writing more than exceeds many of the more well known progressive rock acts. His music has the more immediate and intimate feel of a singer / songwriter which often captures the Beattlesque sound and feel. With Doomsday Afternoon, Phideaux embraces some of the more lavish extravagances of the prog-rock genre. Doomsday Afternoon is a concept album with lush textures and instrumentation throughout. The music is tastefully augmented with an orchestra, sometimes sounding like a mellotron in that it is part of the overall music and not the focusing piece of the instrumentation.

The music flows from simple folk music to The Wall era Pink Floyd (Thank You for the Evil) to Peter Gabriel era Genesis (Candybrain). Even in its grandest moments; the delicacy, intimacy, and almost folksy nature of the singer / songwriter style is never far away. In fact, it is this style which grounds the music and keeps things from becoming pompous or self-indulgent. At the same time, the music is never dull or lacking in dynamics. The almost perfect mix and production means that the listener can hear even the smallest detail. All in all, this is just an amazing work of art from beginning to end. 2007 has been an amazing year for progressive music and this album is no exception. Expect to see Doomsday Afternoon in many "Best of 2007" lists. It's definitely in my Top 5 and why I give it one of my rare 5 star ratings.

I am a fan of all Phideaux's music, but Doomsday Afternoon has instantly become my favorite. It is simply a masterpiece. I highly highly recommend it!
L

Phideaux is an unusual group. It has a large membership (9 on this album), though the two core members are Rich Hutchins and Phideaux Xavier. They draw on a number of styles to produce a very pleasant mix of genres, and would generally be considered orchestral progressive rock. "Doomsday Afternoon" is their sixth album and it is quite an excellent experience if you are unfamiliar with this group. This album was released on the 21st of June, 2007. In addition to the nine listed members, there are another seven guest performers, as well as an "orchestra" of an additional 16 members. This album is subtitled "An Eco Terror Tale", and it does have an underlying feel of foreboding from the very start. It also has several sections which are beautiful yet also very dark. The message of the album is not one of hope; it is one of being a wake-up call, though one wonders if it is already too late.

The album opens with "Micro Softdeathstar", which is a tremendous opening piece that gives the listener a range of styles and sounds. This is followed by the instrumental piece "The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (part one)", which introduces key musical themes which will return later in the album. "Candybrain" is a much simpler piece than the opener, yet it fits in well and has the same overall feeling of darkness and foreboding as the other pieces, as does the instrumental "Crumble" which serves much the same purpose as the earlier instrumental in building the musical themes of the album without the distraction of lyrics. Next is "The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (part two)" which opens with a beautiful and dark section which then explodes to closes out the first act of the album.

Act two opens with "Thank You for The Evil", a dark piece which is haunting enough to become a single (at least in the eyes of the band). The next piece, "A Wasteland of Memories" is relatively short and revisits themes from the opening number briefly, before "Crumble" returns, this time with lyrics. "Crumble" is a beautiful song, but full of sadness, as if it were the death-song for our once beautiful planet. "Formaldehyde" is next up, and it opens with a nice instrumental section, though ultimately the piece when viewed as a whole is not quite as strong as most of the album, there are some fantastic sections even to this piece. The album closes with "Microdeath Softstar", a closing piece which pulls all the musical and lyrical themes together, a nearly impossible task which they pull off fairly well.

One is not surprised to learn that the group has been influenced by 70's progressive groups. One of the aspects which becomes very clear when listening to this album is that the group takes a great deal of care in making sure that the music is performed properly. This album was recorded twice because the first recording felt too rushed when they listened to it. Those who like 70's progressive will certainly enjoy this album, but it also does not suffer from feeling dated. It is a five-star album nearly from start to finish. If you are looking for something new to check out, there is no better place to start than with this one.

Excellent musicianship and lyrics. What I hear is the lighter side of early Pink Floyd (lyrics), Rush (voice), Jethro Tull (flute), and Emerson Lake & Palmer (organ). A lot of different instruments. I personally like a little harder with the above mentioned and Abigails Ghost, Riverside, and Porcupine Tree. I will keep this one on my iPod; just won't play it as much. I would give it another star if the females did vocals on the entire CD. I am 59 years old if this helps any.

When you listen "Doomsday Afternoon" you have the impression of being exposed to a gallery of progressive rock styles (symphonic, psychodelic, rock-opera, post-rock...?) as well as to quite a few music formats (opera, suite, symphony or....?), but the music emerges as something original, new. The lyrics could be compared to other's works, but the music is fantastically fresh and creative. The fact that a sort of a chamber orchestra blends with a rock band to bring into life this suite of ten highly structured songs, with long and not boring instrumental passages, bears out both the musicianship as the creative inspiration of the authors. This album is, therefore, highly recommended to fans of all forms of art rock.

Phideaux - Doomsday Afternoon (*****) 10 Tracks (67 minutes)

Listed as "Cross-over Prog" on some sites, I feel that, at least with album, that I would describe this music as Symphonic Prog due to the lush orchestration that accompanies most of the songs and very minimal electric guitar. But, first off, let me just say Wow! This is some of the best modern symphonic prog I have ever heard. It has a lot of variety to offer the listener. You get both male and female vocalists for instance. Sometimes taking turns like a duet, and other times supporting each other in harmony. Then you have all the instruments and musicians. There are nine listed band members with seven guest musicians. Some songs are stripped down to just a piano and vocals that slowly progress to include your standard bass, drums, and various keyboards. But, it doesn't stop there. Eventually you are treated to minimoogs, acoustic guitar, flute, violin, Hammond B3, electric guitar, and a small orchestra of violin, viola, cello, bass, French horn, trumpet, oboe, and clarinet.

The songs become so diverse with all these choices of sounds, even within the song itself, the song structure moves from simple and quiet to lush and orchestrated and back again. As I listened to the album for about the 3rd or 4th time last night I began to recognize some faint influences such as Jethro Tull and some Pink Floyd/Genesis touches, but all very subtle. It also reminded me of the Alan Parsons Project. But this is no copy-cat band; they definitely have their own style and uniqueness. I have not been this impressed with a band's music since I discovered Porcupine Tree years ago in their psychedelic phase. So it should come to no surprise that the band leader and creative talent behind all this impressive music is a multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter (similar to Steven Wilson) named Phideaux Xavier.

In fact, many people mention Porcupine Tree when reviewing Phideaux. I think this is mostly due to the comparisons both of these bands have had to Pink Floyd. Let me just make sure if you are reading this that you are not expecting music similar to current Porcupine Tree (PT) which is now more accurately described as "Hard Prog" than their psychedelic beginnings. This Phideaux album is down-right "mellow", but in a good way in my opinion. Heck, I think Supertramp have written heavier songs than most of these tracks. I think if you liked some of PT's early albums such as The Sky Moves Sideways, you will like Doomsday Afternoon.

There are so many bands that are new to me who play great music. Phideaux falls into this category and I'm glad I found this disc! The liner notes list nine people performed on this disc, seven are guest musicians, and there is a fifteen-piece orchestra who enhance a few tunes. Three of the band members play keys so the music is keyboard orientated sort-of-mellow folky style rock, with plenty of vocal harmonies and lush orchestra arrangements. Five band members sing, including three female vocalists, so the listener is treated to multiple vocalists on most songs. This is emotional music that is strong on song structure, melody, and a cohesive sound. It's a grower and gets better with every listen.