Genesis released Duke on March 24, 1980 and was bought and loved by many progheads. One of them is Frank Altpeter. The vocalist and keyboard player of the German Gary Moore tribute band Moore And More, based in Cologne, Germany. As a fan of concept albums he was quite surprised that there seemed to be no consistent concept on the album. Furthermore the songs appeared to him to be only partially connected. Despite the fact that he loved the album very much he decided to create and tell his own interpretation of the true story of 'Duke'. The way it should have been. And that's why I am here to review Duke released by Red LLoyd, which is the solo project of Altpeter. Some of the ideas that you hear on the album go way back to the early 1980s. A time when Frank was experimenting with various types of hardware, synthesizers etc. During those days he discovered the first Digital Audio Workstations, which made multitracking capabilities available for everyone. During the lockdowns of early 2020 he was able to revive his old recordings with modern equipment. Some new ideas arose, and an album was put together using a mixture of both his old and new recordings. He managed to record the album together with some fellow musicians such as Daniel JS Lewis (additional guitar & vocals) and Gunter Schlunkes (additional guitar) and did the rest of the instruments (mainly keyboards) and vocals himself. When you hear the entire album you can not deny that the spirit of the original Genesis albums is notable throughout the entire album. But that's not so strange because when he decided to create and tell his own interpretation of the true story of 'Duke'. He began researching the various instruments and effects that Genesis had used while recording the album in 1980. As for the concept he constructed the story of a medieval Duke who flees into the desert after being betrayed by his own henchmen, and who then tries to find a way to regain his strength and, with the help of his still loyal people, return home to answer their call. The soundtrack that comes along with this concept is very tasteful done without any doubt. The album starts with two instrumentals. The first one The Duke's Lament has a beautiful orchestral intro on synthesizers and on the second one Duke Intro you can hear knights fighting, horses running and a narrator introduces the story. It is followed by Crosses on which you can enjoy great guitar parts. Follow up Tonight has strong Mellotron kind of parts and the bass pedals are sounding very impressive. A great synth solo makes it an even more great composition. Next up, Don't Look Back. Which is a short ballad mainly performed on the acoustic guitar and with vocals reminiscent of Colin Bass (Camel). Follow up City Of Broken Toys starts with the famous drum computer (Roland CR-78) of the eighties used by Genesis and Phil Collins and turns into another great tune. After that we move towards a more mellow piece of music. Wasted has a nice acoustic guitar intro and features the typical Tony Banks piano (Yamaha CP-70) parts. Also the great synthesizer solo could have been played by him. Also on the next track, Ponderings, again the typical Banks piano and synthesizer parts are present. Beautiful bass pedals parts can be enjoyed as well. Finally I have to tell you that an excellent guitar solo can be heard on this rather mellow piece. After that we get into the musical section which is for me most related to original album music wise. Duke's Rise sounds like Duke's Travels and also My Time Will Come moves that way. However it starts a bit like Abacab and has great guitar and synthesizer parts. The album ends with Duke's Return. A great up-tempo piece with again musical references to Duke's Travels and Dukeś End as well. Again excellent guitar and keyboard parts can be enjoyed. After hearing the entire album you might ask yourself if the album is unashamedly a pure Genesis Duke clone. Of course the keyboard parts sound as if Tony Banks himself has played and recorded them. However the vocals are nowhere closely related to Phil Collins. They are much weaker and I hope that on the next album Frank might decide to take on board a real professional sounding lead singer. Also the drum and guitar parts have no connection with Genesis. And they really sound great if I may say so. All in all I can only be positive about this release. I don't care if it sounds like Genesis and their album Duke. Because that was the plan right from the start and Altpeter succeeded 100% in creating an album that sounds like it was recorded in the eighties by Genesis. If you feel the same about it after hearing this album then this is a must buy for you. I enjoyed it a lot and only vocal wise could it have been a bit better. And that's my only negative remark. Therefore highly recommended to all lovers of Genesis and progressive rock in general. ****- Henri Strik (edited by Dave Smith) Where to buy? |
