In the past decade, keyboardist, Jordan Rudess, has released two rock solo albums: Feeding the Wheel and Rhythm of Time; released an album comprised of his personal interpretation of prog rock covers: The Road Home; and, released an album of piano improvisations performed at a benefit for 9/11 entitled 4NYC. Rudess is closing his musical decade with the release a new album in which he plays piano renditions of Dream Theater’s popular ballads. There are neither guest musicians nor other musical instruments, just pure classical piano. The album can be ordered on Jordan’s website and also for digital download.
The track list is indeed surprising, since most of the songs that he picked are songs that were written before he joined Dream Theater. Naturally for Jordan it would have been easier to take songs in which he was involved in writing and give them new interpretation, but Rudess, who is an integral part of the band and someone who grew up in the progressive rock world of the 70s is always looking for musical challenges so it’s not surprising that he chose20to travel back through time to the songs from Images and Words and Awake.
Rudess starts the album with Through Her Eyes from his first album with the band, Scenes from a Memory- an album that revived the musical career of the band. Originally a slow ballad, Rudess adds embellishment and colors the song beautifully. The track, Perpetuum Mobile, is an original piece he wrote which was influenced by the Baroque genre, a genre which shows off Jordan’s technique and feel, dramatic and complex playing.
Another Day starts with 1:30 of an eclectic and delightful piano improvisation and continues with solid playing with Rudess diverse arrangements. The second original piece on the album, The Grand Escapement, is a difficult track to play with its various counterpoints. Rudess proves his supreme dexterity as a pianist and you can only imagine how such a fascinating song would sound if we ever had the opportunity to hear Dre am Theater play it all together. Rudess performs all of the orchestra parts on his piano in The Spirit Carries On, one of the most exciting songs in this album. Following that, Rudess surprisingly picks Speak to Me, a song that never made it onto one of the band’s albums, and adds lots of depth and emotions.
Jordan Rudess proves that the piano is the ultimate musical instrument for expressing feel and emotions, and does it in the best way. The classical influences are obvious, and for a pianist like me who grew up on classical music from an early age, it’s a delight. He remains loyal to the original melodies but doesn’t hesitate to enter his own interpretations whenever needed, which adds a lot of interest into the album. To sum up, this album comes at a great time, just moments before the release of the new Dream Theater album. It combines melodic songs, offers us up the best keyboard player the band ever had and proves that his creative ideas are infinite. It doesn’t matter how strong a Dream Theater fan you are, this album is a must for everyone who knows to appreciate quality music.
Grade: 9/10
Tracklist:
1. Through her Eyes
2. Lifting Shadows Off a Dream
3. Perpetuum Mobile
4. The Silent Man
5. Another Day
6. Hollow Years
7. The Grand Escapement
8. The Spirit Carries On
9. Speak to Me
10. The Answer Lies Within
11. Collision Point
12. Vacant
