The Canadian multi-instrumentalist Rick Miller has released eight studio albums so far. His music can be described best as progressive rock meets new age. Dreamtigers was originally released in 2004. On this CD Rick Miller played all the instruments assisted by Kane Miller (guitars, violins), Barry Haggarty (guitars), Sara Young (flute) and Kristina Vowles (vocals). The album opens with March Of The Demons, a song filled with lots of keyboards, synthesizers and melodic lead guitar. The title track is up next and features an acoustic guitar intro followed by the pleasant voice of Kristina Vowles. Ghost Of A Common Man is not only the longest piece on this album, but also my personal favourite. It's mostly instrumental and especially the symphonic prog elements are really beautiful. Still In It is probably my least favourite song on Dreamtigers as it is rather mediocre, although the guitar solo slightly in the vein of David Gilmour is nice and surprising. Next are three rather short instrumental tracks of which Gods Of A Distant Land appeals most to me as it features some dreamy melodies and awesome guitar passages. Then sad but true follows the primarily acoustic track The Call, which I skip most of the time and last but not least Miller treats us to a rather bluesy bonus track called Sometimes. All in all a rather pleasant relaxed melodic album. However, if you fancy real prog rock then this album will be too soft for you, but if you are into new age, ambient and you like the music of Pink Floyd, Rick Wakeman and Vangelis, then I can really recommend this one. ***+ Martien Koolen (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
