Andrew Roussak is keyboard player with Dorian Opera, but this is a solo album where he has composed all of the material (apart from two classical pieces by Bach) and has been joined by some guests so that at times this does sound like a band project. Normally progheads are the most forgiving music fans when it comes to different styles, but I am not sure that many would be expecting lounge in the middle of what is predominantly a prog album, witness Do Without Me. But, do you know what? I think it works to a large extent, just not within the context of the album as a whole. But, this is a solo album and part of the reason for recording outside of the band context is that the musician is free to do whatever he/she likes and obviously Andrew feels that it belongs.

However, overall this is a very enjoyable album with some very strong passages. The vocals aren’t always as powerful as they might be, but they work well with the music. This is melodic neo-prog that is firmly middle of the road in that it isn’t challenging any musical boundaries, but it is extremely accessible and enjoyable even on first hearing and at the end of the day isn’t music there to be enjoyed? I feel it could have done with more push and power but for a debut solo this is a worthwhile effort and it will be interesting to see where Andrew goes from here.

www.andrew-roussak.com

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