Robbery of Murder [Import]

Salem Hill | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 25, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Cyclops Records
• ASIN: B00003IE2F
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #314,489 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Overture

2. Swerve

3. When

4. Someday

5. Blame

6. Dream

7. Father And Son

8. To The Hill

9. Revenge

10. Trigger

11. Interlude

12. Epilogue

13. Evil One

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When Great Writing Meets Inspired Performance, September 23, 2000

By 

Ralph G. Jones (Phillipsburg, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robbery of Murder (Audio CD)

Salem Hill's The Robbery Of Murder is the type of instant classic that I didn't think anyone could make anymore. A compelling true story of the loss of a father at the hands of a drunk driver and the tragedy's long term effects on his son is set to music which so perfectly captures the layers of emotional trauma that you'll feel like you lived through the experience yourself, or watched it happen to a close friend. The story takes turns you don't expect, at times keeping the listener on the edge of his/her seat. And the music? Well, put the best music of ELP, The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Kansas in a blender, throw in some Tommy/Quadrophenia-era WHO passion, and you've just begun to scratch the surface of describing Salem Hill. Somehow they have taken all the familiar elements of prog rock, classic rock and pop and combined them in new ways thru creative arrangements that sound fresh, powerful and alive. Add to this the infectious passion in each musician's performances and we have here an album of tremendous depth and range that has indelibly imprinted itself on my soul for a lifetime. One for the ages...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Progressive Rock Classic, April 8, 2008

By 

Kurt Harding "bon vivant" (Boerne TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Robbery of Murder (Audio CD)

Since I was fortunate enough to find this CD here six months ago, it has become one of my favorites. The way the powerful music helps the moving lyrics to tell a story make The Robbery of Murder a progressive rock classic that begs to be reissued.
It didn't take long for this to become my favorite Salem Hill CD, overtaking Be and Mimi's Magic Moment in the scramble for ear-time. The story told in The Robbery of Murder is of the life of a boy whose father was killed by a drunk driver and how the boy dealt with his loss as he grew up. We feel the sadness, the rage, the chance for sweet revenge, then finally how all those negative feelings melt away into a new outlook on life and hope for the future. We even get a look into the feeble mind of the drunk driver who blames his parents for his drinking and society for failing to provide him "free" psychological counseling; blaming everyone but himself, of course. All this is done in the manner of a symphony with each story told in successive "movements". The father speaks in one movement, the drunk driver in two, and the boy/young man in six. Instrumental passages introduce the story and then serve as transition mechanisms at the appropriate points in the "symphony".
The music is memorable indeed, but to really appreciate this CD you should read the lyrics as you listen. That ought to bring home to you the true greatness of The Robbery of Murder. If and when this becomes available again, I would urge you to buy it before it disappears once more. Put this at the top of your list, you'll never be sorry that you bought it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece of neo-progressive rock!, May 3, 2010

By 

Mark Stephens "ProgPositivity.com" (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robbery of Murder (Audio CD)

This album is a masterpiece of neo-prog. It is simply one of the most cohesive, compassionate, gritty, realistic and downright coherent concept albums I've ever heard.
Overture begins with a free-style sequence signaling that something different is on the horizon ? something darker than we are used to hearing from Salem Hill.

Swerve begins reminiscent of an introspective interlude from Pink Floyd's "The Wall". How were they to know that a drunk driver would soon end a life? The textures drops into a lone and pensive section of piano. Slow-hand electric slide guitar ushers in tasteful drumming. Church bells ring in the background to transition us seamlessly into the next song?

The denial is utterly clinical in the song. "When's he coming home?" The painful answer is that he's won't. The arrangement builds with violin, a plucked harp tone, even a music-box type tinkling piano sound. Everything drops to pensive solo piano again. Another Pink Floyd-fest ensues with slow-hand melodic electric guitar and keyboard strings taking center stage. The song ends with a surreal utterance of "Dad?"

No few years have transpired when we rejoin our bitter and vengeful protagonist screaming "Daddy!" to kick off the song "Someday". Just when I think the music is far too bouncy to be reminiscent of Floyd? the lyrics do the trick. "You chronic pretender, you rank elbow-bender"? I almost expect a subtle "ha ha ? charade you are" to follow? Groves convincingly spews an angry vocal timbre on this one. "Someday I'll get you, you sorry excuse? I'll carve out your heart if you have one to carve? because you hardened mine? because you poisoned mine? You reckless lifetaker? You ? mocker of life". The 5/4 section of the song is one of the catchiest and naturally flowing odd meters you'll find. Ragsdale's violin naturally evokes memories of Kansas.

Blame is the truly rare song that intelligently pleads both sides of a case. It even manages to reach a logical conclusion without sounding preachy. The tone is lighter ? even if it is served with a side dish of irony.

The upbeat tone of "Dream" is like a welcome breath of fresh air. A middle 13/8 section with fantastic violin lines takes us to heights Salem Hill had never taken us to before. There is no doubt that this is the album in which Salem hill has *found* their prog voice.

We get to hear the band mature right before our ears as they explore polyphonic counterpoint on "Father and Son", and the instrumental tune that serves as our intermission between Acts I and II.

"To the Hill" is as soulful and tuneful as it is mellow. And the sweetness is moderated by a melancholic tone. Hey. Even the great giants of prog shot for a hit single every now and again didn't they?

The grit and hard-driving determination of "Revenge" ushers us into the defining moment of "Trigger". A pretty guitar section gives us an interlude in which we are allowed to think and let it all sink in. Wow.

The epilogue fairly reminds us that "life goes on". Our central character must face the rest of his life with the choice he has made. When the obsession that has become the driving force of your life is gone, what is one to make of the giant hole that it leaves behind?

Without giving too much away, I'll only say that a realization does break into view. And so this masterpiece of neo-prog ends on a hopeful and positive note.