Way; Darryl: Children Of The Cosmos

It's hard to know what to do with an album which so successfully fails in its "mission statement"…

- "In this album I have tried to recreate the spirit of experimentation that led to the 'Progressive Rock' movement of the late 60s and early 70s", Darryl Way, who is best known as the violinist in Curved Air, states in the brief liner notes to his new solo album Children Of The Cosmos -

…while still providing a huge amount that captivates the imagination and raises the spirits. For Children… barely brushes with Prog, other than to provide a selection of lush keyboard contributions and a blending of sometimes electric backing to classical theme. Instead if comparisons are sought, then I'd proffer the 80s output of Rick Wakeman rubbing shoulders with Gary Numan or Ultravox from the same era.

Not necessarily what we'd all describe as "experimentation". However once you become acquainted with the musical themes explored here, the overtly clipped and programmed drum sounds and that Way is almost exclusively in electric-violin mode, then there's much to engage with here.

The sheer beauty of the almost Clannad like traditional, yet updated "Lagan Love" certainly stops you in your tracks, but then so does the melodic, dreamy tones of the album's title track, where Way's vocals prove interesting in a John Wetton type way. Add in the sitar infused "Summer Of Love" and the more stripped back "Fire With Fire", featuring a singer credited as merely "Rosie" (poor Rosie whats-her-name…!), where the lady in question offers a wonderful vocal, and there is much gentle eclecticism to revel in. However "Spooks" can come across as laboured Synth-Pop, while "The Best Of Times" or "Nature's Way" can't quite shake off an unwelcome piped-muzak tweeness, even if I have to admit to quite enjoying all three.

And that's the charm of Children Of The Cosmos, for even when you know you shouldn't really be admitting that the less "worthy" fare here keeps you interested, there's little denying that it does, even if it is in a guilty pleasure kind of way. Children Of The Cosmos will be an undoubted disappointment to anyone expecting either Progressive Rock, or indeed a Curved Air style vibe, however it does contain some unexpected charms which deserve attention in their own right.

Track Listing
1. Children of the Cosmos
2. Spooks
3. The Best of Times
4. Nature's Way
5. Summer of Love
6. Don't Look Back (Feat. Pachelbel's Canon)
7. Fire with Fire (Feat. Rosie)
8. Lagan Love
9. A Winter's Tale
10. A Modern Tale
11. An American Tale
12. Sergey

Added: October 12th 2014
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Darryl Way online
Hits: 1756
Language: english

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