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Review:
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I received an interesting CD the other day from composer/keyboardist/saxophonist
Alan Mallery under the name of The Other Side. Mallery it
turns out one busy man. Known for his work with the jazz-fusion
group Zed, he’s also the co-founder of the Colorado Art
Rock Society. Here he takes time out from the jazzier side
of things to produce music that’s keyboard led progressive
rock with a distinct symphonic feel. Entitled A Higher Vantage
Point it proved to be a very engaging listen.***
The Other Side is made up of not only Mallery (keyboards,
saxophone, Theremin, percussion) but also Lyle LaRaman (bass,
guitars) and Lamar Neally (drums). The trio performs 10
instrumental compositions ranging in length from as short
as 3:08 to as long as 7:47. I was struck listening to the
disc at how much ground is actually covered. There are tracks
that have a Camel influence, some that betray a little Triumvirat
and others even a little Emerson Lake and Palmer. You mix
it all together and you have…Voila…The Other Side. The keyboards
are up front all the way, here, performing most of the lead
lines and plenty of atmospheric backing, while the drums,
bass and guitar form the core of the rhythm section propelling
these pieces along. Most of the compositions are mid-tempo
with repeating sections all of a very melodic nature. Nothing
here is overly jarring; it’s all very smooth and well arranged.
There’s even a couple sax solos that may remind you of some
non-descript Pink Floyd songs. I really loved the track
entitled “The Call to War” [7:01] that starts with a buzzing
saw-tooth synth with the voices of Hitler and Winston Churchill
spliced in at the beginning. This is the track that most
reminded me of Triumvirat with the same kind of string sound
heard at various points. The song has more than a few interesting
starts and stops but always comes back to the core melodic
themes. Another favorite track is “Schizoid” [5:57] with
its rapid fire staccato breaks spiced up with some heavy
Hammond styled organ and piping lead synth lines reminiscent
of some ELP or Triumvirat. There is a nice little spacey-avant-garde
section that drifts along in this track making the return
the theme that much more relishing. I keep referring to
Triumvirat because the overall feel of these compositions
is lighter that what ELP might have done, although there
are some similar keyboard synth sounds. Especially on “Walking
the Labyrinth” [5:49] where the synth is very dramatic,
aided by some brilliant Mellotron. On this track I particularly
enjoyed the use of the bass synth lines that come in half
way through…a real nice fat analog sounding synth, very
big, very grand sound, very ELP-ish…you know what maybe
this is my favorite track? ***
The Other Side create music that is like a breath of
fresh air; much of it is very major-chord-sounding leaving
you feeling very upbeat. If you’re a fan of the bands mentioned,
or enjoy the work of keyboardists such as Peter Bardens,
I think A Higher Vantage Point will really appeal to your
ears. It’s a truly enjoyable listen.***
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