Customer Reviews

The Empyrean

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

John Frusciante is an amazing artist, a unique song-writer, and a remarkable guitarist (so expectations were high when I purchased this album). Initially, after listening to this album once (from track 1 to track 10), my thought was, "Great, John's gone soft. Where's the hard rock? Why do rock 'n' rollers go soft?" After I finished listening to the album, I was disappointed because I was expecting something heavier. (And by the way, this album isn't all soft; there are several moments of hard rockin'.)

Disappointment fades. I listened again...and again, a third time (from track 1 to track 10). Music has a tendency to grow on you when you take the time to appreciate it. Then, after several listens, I grabbed my dictionary and looked up the word, "empyrean." The "empyrean" refers to the highest heaven, or the Celestial Kingdom. Knowing this, I better understood the content and the overall feel of this album.

This piece of music, as John might say, is a representation of the empyrean, the highest heaven. Therefore, this music is meant to sound heavenly (not heavy or rock 'n' rolly). I was expecting a rock `n' roll experience, but John delivered a heavenly experience.

John: thank you for taking us to the empyrean with your guitar; thank you for taking us to a place where rock music almost never dares to ascend.

The Empyrean rocks...in a soft, heavenly sort of way. Buy this album and enjoy!

John Frusciante's web site describes this album as "...the ways in which a person strives for what is beyond his reach. In his effort to go higher with every step, he sometimes dives down, only to find that when he reemerges he is always higher than he was before. The musical dynamics work in tandem with these inner rises and falls he experiences. He necessarily remains in a state of confusion and longing but is grateful for that, as without that he would not be becoming anything."

The record's concept of hitting rock bottom before ascending to heavenly heights accurately reflects the tone of the music, which ranges from solemn piano-guided nocturnes to epic rockers which peak with seemingly unending crescendoes. In between lies lush electronica, VAST-like soaring choirs, eerie orchestrals, and ambient noise. If there is an album with which to compare this to, it remains unknown here; The Empyrean sounds like every other John Frusciante album in that it doesn't sound like any of the other John Frusciante albums. This is the trademark which makes the man's music so sincerely unique; the pinnacle which every great musician must strive for.

Longtime Frusciante collaborator Josh Klinghoffer returns to this recording on keys and drums, while Flea delivers his own unmistakable style to many of the tracks, the lack of The Mars Volta's Omar Rodriguez-Lopez being the all-star lineup's only letdown. Though the album is still new on the market, it has already sunk in it's bittersweet claws in that there are enough odd intricacies, fine details, and moments of repeated track listenings to guarantee this to be a record which will only sink in deeper with time. Forgive the cliche, but The Empyrean reflects Frusciante's entire musical career up to this point as a fine wine which only improves with age.

Excellent work. Gets better with each listen. Lush and beautiful melodies abound as we'd expect from John. The instruments and choral vocals are brilliant. Was wishing for a little more rock and roll guitar, but this album's more holistic in its musical approach. The guitar adds texture to these beautiful songs.

John's vocal range is much improved and very expressive. There's still that guttural cry of his every now and again; imperfect but highly expressive. Delicate falsetto brings the best out of the melodies.

Not many if any radio friendly tracks under 4 minutes or whatever, which makes this release all the more worth buying. An excellent record for fans of music.

The first time I heard of John Frusciante, (I have listened to the RHCPs, but didn't know about his solo work) I was reading a short blog where someone said they liked to drop acid, climb into a sleeping bag backwards and listen to a John Frusciante album on headphones. That was enough to pique my interest, so I started with The Empyrean.

On first listen, I thought it was pretty good. After 5 listens I was realizing I had found something truly special. After 10 listens I periodically wept as I listened, overwhelmed by the beauty of this man's work.

After a lifetime of listening to a wide array of music, from Prog rock bands like Genesis, Queen and Pink Floyd, to modern electronic marvels such as Shpongle, I am delighted to find an artist who is mixing a wide array of genres into a seamlessly beautiful masterpiece such as this.

Simply outstanding. I shall recommend this to all of my musician friends.

After "marinating" in this album for a week or so, I'd say that I feel this is his best album yet. It's quite a spiritual and emotional experience, and words cannot describe how much I'm loving this album right now!! If you're a fan of John and his music, BUY THIS ALBUM!

Initially, I was more impressed with John's description of this album than with the music itself. I found the the rhythms uninteresting, and his voice slightly difficult to get behind. But, something about the end of Unreachable drew me in, the amazing mounting feeling at the end with the guitar harmonies was an epic moment I kept re-listening to. And that drew me in to listening and accepting his vocal and the parameters of the album a bit more. In some ways the music is extremely classic, in others it's quite experimental and daring, and there are some extremely honest and startling juxtapositions - it reminds me a bit of a Jack Bruce album for some reason. Overall I'm left with a feeling of gratitude for this album- it's exceptionally honest, it's extremely ambitious and passionate, and written to appeal to universal themes as a way of reaching out with the heart rather than to 'strike a chord' with people. I'm very glad I put some extra effort into listening to it. John Frusciante appeals to me as an artist who keeps working and developing and he seems to view rock and roll music as something to develop over a lifetime rather than just maintain a state of preserved adolescence. Gets better on every listen.

John Frusciante is one of those rare artists that manages to evolve from album to album, explore new concepts and ideas, while still keeping a core recognizable sound and style. The Empyrean is a very introspective album that is based around the idea of intangible elements in the universe. This album is a concept album and manages to flow together from beginning to end. Frusciante is able to create many abstract textures and sounds that manifest themselves overtly and covertly throughout all of the tracks. Frusciante is able to relay his feelings to the listener, not through lyrics but through the soundscapes he expertly creates on each track. The result is a consciousness challenging, thought provoking, psychedelic head trip in the span of 54 minutes. Frusciante is at his best here, technically, vocally, emotionally, and spiritually.

The Empyrean is a recommended album to anyone wishing to expand their consciousness through music. If you are receptive to the message, you will walk away from the music a slightly different person.

Five stars.

If you are a fan then this is a must own. if you are looking for an album that will take your mind on a wonderful voyage then buy this album.

The first thing I'll make clear is that I'm every bit as much of a Frusciante fanatic as the authors of the rest of these five-star reviews. I can't give 'The Empyrean' five stars though. Four stars is enough, and it's a good score. I'd give 'Inside of Emptiness' and both Ataxia records four stars, and I'm a big fan of all of those.

I'm not surprised John Frusciante wanted to flesh this album out a little more than his last few records, considering the time he's spent contributing toward the mind-bending studio-tweaked Freakout melting-pots built by his good friend Mr Rodriguez-Lopez. But John's attempts at sonic manipulation were always going to be more serene than Omar's relentless audio confrontations. It's his nature. And the last time John attempted to really saturate his recordings with textures and bold psychedelic orchestration it resulted in 'Shadows Collide With People', which was as warm and lush a pop record as any Flaming Lips you'd care to name.

'The Empyrean' is explicitly a concept album. After this 'disclaimer', John has allowed himself more freedom and space in the structuring of the songs, and their shape when built into an album. Lyrical and musical themes recur, the sonic landscape is consistent in its variety, and John's voice takes on the role of Navigator through the dense and colourful hour from start to finish. Vintage keyboards and phase effects abound, and the use of reverb is key to the atmosphere created. The sound of the album certainly matches its celestial title.

I'll keep it brief from here: 'Before the Beginning' is beautiful, minimal, expressive, and expansive. 'Unreachable' is the most comparable song to anything from his 2004 records, and is where 'Empyrean' truly kicks into gear. 'Dark/Light' does a 180 from melancholy piano to s'...Record Only Water...'-style drum machine euphoric bass groove. 'Central' is perhaps the standout track, the last three minutes of which may be the amalgamation of every hard rocking moment John has done across the sound spectrum since he rejoined the Chili Peppers.

There are a couple of small problems though. Frusciante's songwriting is quite reserved and seems at odds with the heavy, prog-rock-esque arrangements and production. I don't know why he chose to alter the pitch of his voice on 'One More of Me', and I'm not sure 'Song to the Siren' serves much purpose here. Buckley's 'Star Sailor' version was definitive, John sings it conservatively, and more importantly - why cover it? Its lyrics fit, but John is one of the few musicians capable of writing songs as beautiful as '...Siren', he's done it before. Some kind of sister song to 'Leap Your Bar' or 'My Life' would have been better.

But as the title of this review states, these issues don't amount to much when the whole piece is as assured, honest and unique as 'The Empyrean' definitely is. Flea, Josh Klinghoffer and Johnny Marr appear too, and their contributions are as fitting and concise as you'd expect from these experienced and unpretentious players. The thematic unity and the successful exploration of textures is what makes this record great, as well as John's ever-improving voice.

I've always felt writing a review serves no practical purpose. I don't believe reviews actually influence how other people feel about a certain product. But here I am, writing a review, and I do it because I feel the need to give credit to John for creating an album with such a good sound quality.

Most records these days are mixed and mastered to make everything in it sound "loud", damaging the sound quality permanently (google *loudness war* for more information and see why I wrote *loud* in quotation marks). But The Empyrean is not a victim of this process and as a result, it has a great dynamic range. You can hear every instrument clearly and the differences in volume in the songs are still there to be enjoyed.

The reason I give John credit for this is because I know he not only worked on the music on this album, but also took care of a lot of the technical stuff. Good for him, I say.

Also, the music's pretty sweet! And because it was recorded, mixed and mastered appropriately, you get to actually be able to play it like John advised, as loud as possible, without feeling like your ears will fall off.

Bottom line: The Empyrean is a great listening experience. For me, anyway.