D'VIRGILIO, MORSE & JENNINGS: Troika (POP,Rock): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Neal Morse is a workaholic, a statement that will come as no surprise to anyone interested in the American's career. Never short of ideas, it is while composing new songs during the confinement that he thinks 1) that it would be more fun to sing them with several voices 2) that it would be even more fun if the others also composed songs and that each one could bring his ideas to the compositions of the others. With this in mind, he contacted Ross Jennings (Haken) and his former Spock's Beard partner Nick D'Virgilio (Big Big Train) who immediately accepted with enthusiasm.

"Troika", fruit of this collaboration, sounds neither like Haken, nor like Big Big Train or Spock's Beard, and not even like The Neal Morse Band. No progressive rock (and even less metal), the album is a collection of simple songs, mostly acoustic, whose strong points lie in the quality of the melodies, all more pleasant than the others, and in the vocal harmonies. The voices of the three singers mix, harmonize and answer each other wonderfully in choruses which make all the interest of this disc.

Several titles remind us of a famous trio from the 70's which also bore the name of the three musicians who formed it. How not to think of Crosby, Stills & Nash when listening to the opening track 'Everything I Am' which, according to Neal Morse himself, was conceived with the aim of sounding like...? You Set My Soul On Fire', 'A Change Is Gonna Come' or 'King For A Day', in the same vein, find this so melodious folk rock which makes you want to turn the album in loop.

Most of the other tracks keep this unity of tone by the massive presence of vocal harmonies, acoustic guitars and easily memorable melodies. The only surprise in the program, the trilogy 'If I Could', 'King For A Day' and 'Second Hand Sons' forsakes the acoustic pop rock of the 70's to replace it with a track flirting with prog, a vigorous rock and pure hard rock. Perhaps the production would have been better inspired to scatter these tracks of different moods rather than to group them together at the end of the album, which, despite the intrinsic qualities of each song, breaks a bit the atmosphere that had been installed.

This doesn't prevent "Troika" from being a very pleasant album to listen to, full of songs more melodious than the others, sometimes sunny, sometimes melancholic, such as the superb 'What You Leave Behind' which closes the album and which gives only one desire, to press again on the Play button. - Official website

D'VIRGILIO, MORSE & JENNINGS

TROIKA

INSIDEOUT MUSIC

POP