rick miller - one of the many - 2024
“... dreams, memories and past lives ...”
intro
The information sheet that I received with this album states that Rick Miller is a musician who has been in the prog scene for a long time but who has never received the support he deserves. That may be true, but of course it also has to do with the path of promotion. progVisions knew the name Rick Miller but did not know that he already has 14 albums to his name and that 8 of them are now under the flag of Progressive Promotion Records. It also has to do with the kind of music he makes. Because people like to put everything in boxes. And that can be difficult. But let's look at it positively, Rick Miller is now finally also present on my progVisions project.
The album 'One of the Many' is the latest collection of symphonic and progressive rock songs that deal with the theme of dreams, memories and past lives.
line-up
All tracks composed, produced and performed by Rick Miller with the more than able assistance of:
Giulia Cacciavillani - flute; Sarah Young - flute; Barry Haggarty - guitars; Kane Miller - acoustic guitar and violin; Artem Litovchenko - cello; Mateusz Swoboda - cello; Will - drums and percussion
review
The first song of the 8-song album is called 'Atrophy' (8:21). After an atmospheric intro, this song develops into an atmospheric track with beautiful melodic guitar and keyboard parts. It often has a somewhat dreamy atmosphere. Especially in the melodic vocal parts, I think it sounds a bit like the work of Allan Parsons Project or the music of a band like Fish On Friday. It's all well put together and the sound image remains in the mellow side of the progressive rock spectrum. The above also applies to the next song 'Time Goes On' (3:52). However, the second part contains more rock-influenced guitar parts. 'The Lost Years' (8:29) has a bit more tempo and variation. You can find some beautiful melodic and mysterious flute parts in it. 'She Of The Darkness" (3:58) is a quiet song with beautiful piano, flute and violin melodies. The melodic flute and violin parts make it very atmospheric and the music has a bit of a New Age character. In the title track 'One Of The Many' (4:54) as in most tracks, some sound samples of radio and/or news broadcasts are used. These are atmospherically integrated into the music and are never dominant or disturbing. The melodic guitar work gives an Allen Parsons Project meets Pink Floyd atmosphere. A beautiful melodic track with neat instrumentation.
''Perhance To Dream' (13:10) is the longest track on the album with more than thirteen minutes. It opens with a beautiful melodic guitar part but soon the atmosphere changes by flute, bird sounds and keyboard orchestrations more into a New Age atmosphere. The music now has similarities with the atmospheric music of David Arkenstone. This is mainly due to the flute parts. After five minutes the sound image becomes somewhat more mysterious. This transition to the next part is very successful. In this way the song gets the necessary variation so that it also remains captivating. There is also a bit more variation through the use of the acoustic guitar. But in general more electric guitar is used which always evokes the Allan Parsons, Pink Floyd and Dire Straits atmosphere in me. The penultimate track is entitled 'Wonderlust' (6:45) and opens with the acoustic guitar and atmospheric keyboard orchestrations. The cello occasionally provides an extra classical impulse. But the music remains, and that actually applies to the entire album, in the mellow part of the progressive rock spectrum. This track does have a nice build-up to a kind of climax with beautiful melodic guitar work. A really beautiful track. The album ends with the song 'Another Time' (4:35) which opens with a delicate acoustic guitar that accompanies the quiet vocals. Occasionally supported by the beautiful sound of the cello. It is an atmospheric conclusion to a beautiful album.
conclusion
I would describe the album 'One Of The Many' by Rick Miller as a consistent and neat album with melodic progressive rock in a more mellow style that has similarities with the music of the Allan Parsons Project and Fish On Friday. The guitar sound sometimes has similarities with the work of David Gilmour (Pink Floyd). But listening to this album I often have to think of the Allan Parsons Project. There are also some similarities with New Age music and I sometimes had to think of David Arkenstone. If you like more intense and/or groundbreaking music, this is probably not your thing. It is more a nice album for lovers of mellow oriented prog.