Album – The Spiral Eyes – Peter Adams

Posted by admin on May 15th, 2006

I’ve said many times that a voice with a quirk goes a long way to catching my attention. This is certainly the case with Peter Adams. In addition to the voice there’s a wonderful multi layer of strings and drums, driving the first track “Cementalisque”, but it’s the combination that generates an almost relentlessly tempo. I think the only mistake on the album, is the minute of ambient noise at the beginning of the track. Think that should really have been a separate track in itself. Things take a U-turn with the next track “I Evolve”, showing a much lighter, more relaxed side. “The Disappeared” is probably one of my favorite tracks on the album, but it has some tough competition. That competition is the rest of the album.

What’s even more amazing about Peter Adams is that it’s just him. A Cincinnati boy, recording his own voice, violin, guitar et al. There’s such a spark of creativity, of sheer imagination, that the lofty comparison to the Beatles just has to be made. It also so easy to forget that what you are hearing is from one man. There’s also something that brings Peter Gabriel to mind and that’s not a comparison that’s made too glibly.

This album came out in 2004, so I’m hoping there’s something new coming soon, because my musical appetite has been whetted.

The CD also has a hidden track. Yes I know hidden tracks are nothing new, but they’re usually at the end of the album. For this CD, the hidden track is at the beginning. Yes, the hidden track is track 0, which doesn’t normally appear. Once at track 1, just push the rewind button and there it is. Well that’s the theory anyway, I tried it in my stereo, but it must have some kind of intelligence as it didn’t want to go back past track 1. There’s also a code printed on the inlay, that gains you access to further goodies on the website.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable album, that has some wonderful tracks and that spark of originality, which doesn’t come around too often.

Finally I like to give a mention to the album art work, done by Chris Simmons. I can’t put my finger on it, but it just works very well, with the tone of the album.

Conclusion : A wonderful gem of an album not just musically, but in the overall production. A great talent, with hopefully great things to come.

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