'Robert Berry' is no stranger to progressive lovers since he collaborated with the late 'Keith Emerson' and released with him the album 'To The Power of Three' in 1988 under the name of project '3' which could have been named 'Emerson, Berry & Palmer' since the drummer 'Carl Palmer' was also present (we also remember the album 'Emerson, Lake and Powell' with 'Cozy Powell'). It is therefore him who is at the origin of this original trio 'SiX By SiX' and, it is two other known artists who accompany him with first of all, 'Ian Crichton', the guitarist of 'Saga' and drummer 'Nigel Glockler' from 'Saxon'. As for 'Nigel Glockler', it's not necessarily in this style of music that we expect to find him, but the drummer of 'Saxon' has always been a fan of 70s progressive and he's very well adapted to the atmospheres of this album by bringing a surgical strike very in phase with the released atmospheres. In this album, 'Robert Berry' highlights the guitarist talents of 'Ian Chrichton' and gave him carte blanche to accompany his various compositions, the whole being recorded in the manner of a live. Very eclectic (as is the trio), he offers us 10 compositions which all have their originality, the influences being of course drawn from the 70s.
the two singles 'Yearning to Fly' (see video above) and 'China' (see video here) start the album with each their own atmosphere, the first being well-paced with a catchy chorus bringing us back to classic progressive that 'Saga' would not have denied and the second, much more direct which deploys good energy with a new rhythm section to make a whole audience handbang. In third position and, for me, the major composition of the album, 'Reason to Feel Calm Again' deploys its 8 minutes with all that one wishes to find in progressive, alternations between sung and instrumental parts and changes frequent in rhythm and intensity. With 'The Upside of Down', we continue in this register of the seventies merging different influences, certain sung parts reminding me of the atmospheres of 'Police' (the intonations of 'Robert Berry' being like those of 'Sting'). Follows 'Casino' which continues in this melodic progressive and 'Ian Chrichton' offers us an extraordinary guitar solo (as indeed on each title), 'Robert Berry' not being outdone with a keyboard solo which should recall some well-known sounds to ELP' fans, then, 'Live Forever' is a short guitar/voice break well placed in the middle of the album and very endearing. The first part of 'The Last Words on Earth' is more difficult to grasp with melodic lines that are not necessarily accessible, and I must say that I appreciate less the (slightly forced) singing of 'Rober Berry' while the second part brings a calmer section and remarkable instrumental peregrinations. We continue with an energetic and rhythmic 'Skyfall' with beautiful variations in the sung parts and an admirable new guitar solo, the instrumental bridges bringing an extraordinary magnitude to the whole thanks to the keyboards. With 'Battle of a Lifetime', we are once again fully in the masterful progressive with this time alternations between acoustic and electric sections which brings a real originality and makes it one of the other major titles, then, the album ends with an energetic and catchy 'Save the Night' all by itself amalgamating rock, hard rock and metal intonations, 'Ian Chrichton' also showing all his talent in muscular interventions with his saturated "howling" guitar.
In summary, our trio finally shows a fabulous homogeneity with compositions that necessarily require that we linger over them to draw all their richness, and 'Robert Berry' has entirely succeeded in his bet of bringing together artists from from different backgrounds to produce a progressive album filled with great creativity and, at the same time, imbued with seventies influences while having a very contemporary style... | |
