The French composer, keyboardist and guitarist Patrick Broguiere was an unknown artist to me until now, but the man already has several albums to his name and with Destination he releases his sixth album. His first album Broceliande dates back to 1995, so we can safely say that we are dealing with a very experienced musician. When I study the supplied information, I see that he works like a kind of Mike Oldfield and plays almost all the instruments himself and that always makes me a bit uncomfortable. Why? Because I don't know many of these sort of albums that are equally good on all fronts, but that's a nice challenge for Patrick, so let's go. Before I start listening, I am always curious about the singer(s) and in this case several ladies are mentioned and that's nice because I often don't find fully instrumental music interesting enough for a full album. Still, I am a bit disappointed here because the first long song Land Of Elves does have vocals, but those are almost wordless vocal lines of which it is difficult to determine whether they mean anything. Maybe this is elven language? In the ten-minute track, yes nice and long I thought, not much happens. Over a rippling rhythm with a freely present violin, we hear keys and guitar parts that don't really stand out and I won't say it easily, but this takes a very long time. Quite pleasant to listen to but not really exciting. But don't worry, the second track is titled Rockland and that gives hope and indeed we hear some heavier chords on guitar. The vocals, or rather the vocal parts, are again of a very floating nature with a high female voice that is interspersed with a kind of male tenor singing that has a rather ecclesiastical feel. Despite the fact that this song also lasts almost nine minutes and therefore offers enough room for musical twists, there is simply too little going on. Partly responsible for this is the very tight rhythm due to the rather obligatory electronic drums and again, it takes too long. When I see that the next track, Hyperion, with its more than twelve minutes, is even longer, I am a bit scared. Don't get me wrong, it all sounds pretty fine and relaxed but here too we get to hear an angelic voice and that is done well but it doesn't surprise and adds little in terms of lyrics shall we say. I understand that this must be a French text, but with my limited knowledge of this language, I can't make much of it. It becomes increasingly clear that we should see this album as a kind of wellness-like music and the frequently whistling birds and owls reinforce this feeling. Halfway through we hear an acoustic guitar on a bed of soft keyboard sounds and a text is recited in English by a heavily electronically distorted voice. I yearn for a nice guitar solo or a few firm chords but that doesn't happen and the angelic singing is now mixed with the spoken voice and so the song slowly ebbs away. When the next song is called Dreamland, I know enough and I sit down for it. When the angelic song starts, I slowly get into the relax mode and the violin can't change that either. It slowly becomes clear to me that I should see Destination as an album that you have to put on when you sit back and relax. When I hear a spoken text in English that explains to me what Dreamland is, I finally understand it. That's what this album is about, Welcome to Dreamland. But just when this realisation has sunken in I am actually shaken by a church organ as a sign that the next song has begun and a driving rhythm, well driving, a pulsating rhythm forms the basis for an orchestral piece with a fine melody and of course the angelic voice also passes by. I can't help but think of The Pirates of the Caribbean and Jack Sparrow. In Dessert Voices we also hear wordless vocals and soon we find ourselves in oriental atmospheres and Last Destination is a piano-worn piece with again some spoken lyrics in English. There also are two radio edits of the first two tracks on the album and I wonder if that means that Monsieur Broguiere is hoping for airplay. Seems unlikely to me. Well, if you are looking for music that has a soothing, relaxing effect then Destination might be the right choice but if you go for music that is "proggy" and exciting then you probably have to skip this album. ***- Erik Fraanje (edited by Dave Smith) Where to buy? |
