If you take a look at the cover of this album, you will see letters, all in different styles. But yet the general feeling is one of unity, mainly because of the restrictive choice of colours (yellow, orange and blue). This is very representative of this ultra-baroque yet very coherent CD by hungarians After Crying, a band considered by many as producing the best of modern day progressive rock (in the world). Show is their eighth studio album, delivered almost six years after Almost Pure Instrumental (a compilation with four new recordings), their last studio release. The wait was worth it!
After Crying released their first album in 1990 and have since imposed themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the progressive rock world. Formed as a trio way back in 1986 by Vedres Csaba (piano, keyboards, vocals) with Egervári Gábor (flute, lyrics, narration, concepts) and Pejtsik Péter (cello, bass, back-vocals), they were joined over the years by many musicians including actual members Görgényi Tamás (conception, lyrics & programming), Torma Ferenc (guitars) and Winkler Balázs (trumpet, piano & synthesizer). Vedres Csaba quit in 1994 but the band manage to survive this great lost. The actual formation is completed by Lengyel Zoltán (piano, synthesizer), Madai Zsolt (drums, percussion, and vibraphone) and, the last on board, Bátky "BZ" Zoltán (ex-Stonehenge, vocals). They are extremely talented instrumentalists, all sharing a classical formation. Basically Pejtsik, Torma and Winkler compose the music, Egervári and Görgényi write the lyrics.
Show is a concept album revolving around post 9/11 American politics and its negative repercussion on our world. Although the lyrics are metaphorical, the message gets through efficiently. For more on After Crying's point of view on the war against terrorism, check their official site.
Musically, the main colour is "symphonic", mostly acoustic with a dark feel (think of the intro for Down The Dolce Vita from the first Peter Gabriel album). The first track, NWC, starts with chanting and a strong African rhythm, indeed reminescent of Gabriel. A high pitched ethereal woman's voice, eerie piano, distorted guitar, some bits from Dvorak's Symphony no.9 (The New World) and even a little rap should leave us with a strange feeling, but everything fits perfectly.
The first instrumental of the album, Invisible Legion, starts as a haunting synthesizer melody accompanied by pizzicato violin then turns into something heavier à la King Crimson (one of the two main influences cited by After Crying). Halfway through the piece, the mood changes to something even more dramatic before returning to a gentler, yet disturbing passage with violin and plaintif female vocals. This track proves, for one, that these guys know how to integrate rock and classical music (way better than ELP, their other main influence). Face To Face is pure contemporary music with great piano and drumming, a very powerful brass section and some nice sustained guitar.
When Welcome On Board starts, for a second you think your are listening to Anglagard. By the time you realise your mistake, you are in the middle of a Portishead song that quickly turns more aggressive when Bátky Zoltán jumps in. It is impressive how the music follows the feelings depicted in the lyrics : those of a businessman travelling in one of the plane hijacked on 9/11. Paradise Lost, another instrumental with references to Dvorak's Symphony no.9 is a great showcase for Péter's cello.
Remote Control is another good example of well crafted integration : here classical instrument and electronic treatment (in the fashion of Trevor Horn circa Yes' 90125). The track includes yet some more references to Dvorak's Symphony no.9, a rapped commercial and a spoken newsbreak leading into a furious break featuring piano, shiny brass and a wha-wha solo. The climatic ending, with its very low frequence blasts will leave your speakers panting before resuming on a softer mode with electric piano and mellow tenor saxophone.
Technopolis informs you that your computer (you) is (are) being reconfigured without your consent. This track starts on the ambient side, with rhythms made of heavily processed sounds. It then dives into a very dramatic part featuring excellent piano and orchestral emphasing on a frenetic pacing. Here again electronic sounds are omni-present. A little electric guitar interlude and a bad radio reception intrusion lead into a reprise of the "dramatic part". Globevillage At Night, in memoriam of Bartok Bela, is a small instrumental with piano à la Satie accompanied by new-age keyboard pads.
Bone Squad features more pompous orchestral arrangements and some death metal voicing, well... easier on the throat than the usual thing. It is followed by Wanna Be A Member?, a song including "bible rap". Then comes the highlight of the album, the majestuous Secret Service, a four part fifteen minutes plus opus that starts with a waltz supporting Bátky Zoltán delivering a melody that could make Neal Morse jealous. The song shifts in 4/4 for the refrain then gets back in 3/4 for the chorus. This part ends on a repetition of the refrain with the theme from Easy Money (King Crimson on Lark's Tongue In Aspic) juxtaposed to it! The second part has a medieval inspired intro giving way to an interesting variation on Maurice Ravel's Bolero, followed by a nice pianistic interlude. There is so many things happening here that it is hard to keep track! The third part is a short sung section giving the listener a breather before the apocalyptic reprise of Ravel's Bolero.
Farewell is a short song mixing Steve Wilson's sensibility with ambient and hip-hop, ending on a lively gig on synthesizer. The album concludes with Life Must Go On, a fast jazzy piece staring synthesizer soloing and a huge wink at 21st Century Schizoid Man, strangely the only borrowing not credited on the album. It all ends in a fracas of industrial sounds.
You must be aware that this review only scratches the surface of what this album is about. If you want to know what a talented band, strongly rooted in its time, can come up with, Show is for you. Highly recommended.
Conclusion: 9.5 out of 10

Claude Grégorie