2010’s follow up, “Artificial”, is another extremely strong release.
“Artificial” is a bit more of a concept album than was “The Garden”. According to Unitopia’s website, “Artificial” is “a 10 part suite based on the themes of artificial intelligence and behavior and how we perceive ourselves as a society and as individuals. Covering topics such as dealing with low self esteem, overcoming depression, feelings of nostalgia and longing for the “good old days” and man’s great leap forward in science and technology”.
The CD’s ten tracks flow seamlessly together, presenting themselves a single, coherent piece with the final track, “The Great Reward”, revisiting many of the themes and pulling them all together to bring the CD to a strong conclusion. Standout tracks include the 13 minute “Tesla” (named after the inventor Nikola Tesla) which moves through several different musical terrains to great effect, “Nothing Lasts Forever”, a piece of Beatle-esque pop confectionery straight from Sgt. Pepper, and “Rule of 3’s” (Nikola Tesla became obsessed with the number 3) which features a sinewy guitar riff that reminds me a bit of Martin Barre circa Thick as a Brick.
Mark Trueack’s vocals are a real strong point for the band, as are Matt Williams’ guitar work and Sean Timms’ keyboards. Peter Raidel provides some very tasty sax work, I know a lot of prog fans don’t really care for sax but as a jazz fan I really appreciate the texture it can bring to the music, and Peter does a fantastic job here. Jamie Jones (Drums), Shaun Duncan (Bass) and Tim Irrgang (Percussion) make up the strong rhythm section. The overall production is superb as well.
Not only is Artificial on my list as one of the best releases of 2010, it is one of my “Desert Island Discs”. Artificial is available from Amazon
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