'We Came From Space' is the project of keyboardist and guitarist 'Bill Hubauer' who is a member of 'The Neal Morse Band'and who created this project ten years ago with a first album 'How to be Human' in 2013, followed by 'While You Were Away' in 2018. Surrounded by talented artists who are most childhood friends of 'Bill Hubauer', he offers us a new album 'Overlords' which smells good of a melodic progressive influenced by the 70s/80s in which we can find bands like 'Kansas', 'Styx', 'Electric Light Orchestra', 'Emerson, Lake & Palmer' or even 'Saga'.
On the menu of this opus, 8 compositions, 3 of which exceed 9 minutes (see the video teaser above): we are greeted by the long development of the eponymous title of the album which begins with a piano reminiscent of ' Can't Get It Out of My Head' by Electric Light Orchestra' and takes us back a few decades to a catchy melody on first listen with beautiful instrumental arrangements featuring strings still reminiscent of 'ELO', beautiful vintage choirs and rhythmic changes and intensity throughout the title. Follows 'On The Radio' which is more direct with keyboards à la 'Keith Emerson', catchy melodic lines on the sung parts and with radio voices which reinforce the progressive side which is also highlighted by a long instrumental section at the end of the title. 'Empty Space' displays a more direct face and offers us a beautiful ballad that 'Alan Parsons' would not have denied, then, 'She's The Bomb / Atomic Blues' (see the video here) deploys its imaginative 10 minutes with long instrumental sections punctuated by radiant choirs and a very beautiful jazzy central break which shows all the talent of this training to develop different atmospheres. More direct, 'Reputation' takes us back to rock, taking us back to the early 70s and makes me think of the electric side of the 'Neil Young & Crazy Horse' band, then, 'Silent Letters' continues with a very beautiful melancholy ballad and this time takes us back to the days of the 'Beatles'. 'Facade' continues in an atmosphere deploying a harmonious melody, alternating beautiful manners with rhythmic verses and a more sedate chorus, then, 'Seize The Day' concludes this very beautiful album with a new long development in which each artist brings his stone to the building and which benefits from long instrumental sections bringing a progressive side while keeping a very accessible side thanks to a catchy melody.
In summary, this new album by the Americans of 'We Came From Space' brings us back to the best of melodic progressive rock of the 70s with a nice alternation between sought-after compositions and other more direct ones and 'Overlords' should please to a public that loves the precursors who have given their letters of nobility to the progressive which, more than 50 years later, has not aged a bit... | |
