****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Here is a three song EP from progressive rock artist Ian Narcisi. It shows three completely different sides to his music. The thing is, there is not a weak song in the bunch. Narcisi has the kind of songwriting and musical skills that truly seasoned artists generally show off. He should have a great career in progressive rock ahead of him.Track by Track ReviewAbsent TodayThere's a real pop oriented element to this, but yet the killer layers of sound that weave in and out bring it into progressive rock territory. This is complex, but deceptively so. It's also very catchy and very tasty.Five Below NothingIntricate piano weaves a complex and pretty trail on the opening section of this piece. It's accompanied by other keyboards. Eventually it works out to an almost funky jam. This one is less progressive rock oriented than the opener, but still has enough modern prog to keep it well situated in the genre. It's a cool tune that rocks out pretty well. There are layers of keyboards over sections of the piece and the vocal arrangement is quite interesting.Behind The DawnOpening with a gentle, acoustic guitar driven motif, this builds out in a great melodic prog ballad approach. Comparisons to Marillion, Genesis and Yes are all valid. It works out later into a jam that is harder rocking with bits of Pink Floyd and perhaps Dream Theater built into it. This is, without question, the strongest piece on this EP. It is dramatic, mysterious and very powerful. A cool bouncing, keyboard dominated bit leads to the quick outro. - Gary Hill
