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Чисто тактически шведские "Цветочные Короли" все делают правильно: не томят слушателя долгим ожиданием новых релизов и не скупятся, заполняя каждый свой альбом до краев, будто кубок на пиршестве. Вот только вино здесь не всегда лучших сортов. Ведь в стратегическом плане такая скорострельность мало кому идет на пользу. Полностью обеспечить отсутствие скучно-серых тонов, каждые полтора года записывая очередной монумент минут эдак на восемьдесят (а то и на все сто сорок), практически невозможно. И ведь чем дольше ты балансируешь на этой грани, тем чаще количество вредит качеству.
И вот с оглядкой на приведенные выше рассуждения "Adam & Eve" явно отличается в лучшую сторону. В конце концов, даже космических масштабов первая и девятая композиции способны расширить его объем лишь едва за половину занимаемого предшественником - чудищем "Unfold The Future". Да и идущий в дискографии следом "Paradox Hotel" тоже с легкостью преодолевает двухчасовую отметку, так что посвященный прародителям человечества полноформат можно назвать работой едва ли не лаконичной. Что же до представленного материала, то, по субъективному мнению, его качество обеспечивает "Адаму и Еве" статус наиболее удачного альбома The Flower Kings в двадцать первом веке. Лучше меньше, да лучше...
В принципе, содержимое этого кругляша едва ли сможет удивить знатоков творчества Yes, раннего Genesis или "среднего" Camel. Здесь всего два отступления от доминирующих, позитивно-воздушных мотивов - "A Vampires View" с её пасмурными музыкальными горизонтами и демонстрирующая неожиданное и недолговременное превращение Ройне Стольта в Тони Айомми заглавная композиция. В остальном же альбом старается производить впечатление чистого полета сознания исполнителей, но со старательным сглаживанием возможных "острых углов" - здесь речь не идет даже о каких-либо резких звуках, не говоря уж про агрессивные инструментальные выпады и прыжки на ломанных размерах. Чего уж, "Adam & Eve" абсолютно травояден (в первичном значении, а не в плане инспирированности поглощением соответствующих зелий), но, в отличие от большинства поздних работ, его наивная веселость выглядит абсолютно естественной. С чисто практической точки зрения это значит, что даже многоминутные сольные проходы в здешних эпиках нисколько не утомляют, а уж меньшие формы и вовсе "проглатываются" легким усилием.
Естественно, подобного рода подход резко понижает роль The Flower Kings в прогрессивной "пищевой цепочке". Ведь пара предшествующих, оголтело-экспериментальных релизов словно предназначалась для развенчания статуса шведов как группы, во-первых, предельно ретроградной, во-вторых, достаточно предсказуемой в своих выкладках. Здесь же все вновь знакомо и понятно: равноправие инструментальных партий, вокальное многоголосье и предельная плавность подачи, исключительная строгость и размашистость мелодий, повторяемость основных композиционных ходов да упоминавшиеся прежде доминирующее позитивное настроение. В общем, один из тех альбомов, что могут "втянуть" в прогрессивный жанр, но со временем рискуют быть задвинутыми на заднюю полку за недостаточную крутость. А что подразумевать под этой парочкой слов, каждый решит сам... да вот хотя бы (относительную) общедоступность материала. Но все-таки "Adam & Eve", кажущийся таким смутно знакомым, даже впервые попав в проигрыватель, имеет слишком уж приятное послевкусие для релиза проходного или пригодного лишь для ностальгических вечеров. И даже при относительно стойких позициях сцены в новом тысячелетии он продолжает быть одной из немногих жизнеспособных форм старого доброго классического прога.
В конце концов, разве многие сейчас могут совместить альбом, забитый почти под завязку и альбом, пролетающий на одном дыхании? |
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Dream it up, dream it up!!
Thinking of the world, a state of perfection
Over and over again, masterplan unfold for each generation
One touch from the master's hand, one simple chord for the future
One touch from the master's hand, one simple chord for all the future!!
Monitored by the eye in the sky, while we map it out by the fireplaces
New line of technology hits us, celebrate the long sensation
Multiplying the images as top of the line of all of creation
Eagerly we took it apart just to find a glimpse of divine insanity
It shines even brighter, for each single day we're climbing the ladder
It shines even brighter, with a love supreme, all the work of the master's hand
See life reinventing itself, starting over, time and time again
A new time of understanding begins, see yourself as a link in a chain reaction
This world couldn't do without you, this world couldn't do without you
It's perfect because you are, it's perfect because you are
Coming up, growing up, looking for a bigger understanding
Coming up, growing up, speaking of respect for all the planet
Coming up, growing up, new religion sees the light of day
Coming up, growing up, changes ahead but don't you be afraid
Every street i've walked down, everyone i've talked to
I'm afraid i love them all but for different reasons
Every grand old building from a time of visions
Every single song, every syncopation
It must be something that makes me feel at home
Every act of mercy, every word of kindness
Every time i find out how love is blind
Every time a smile breaks out from grumpy face
I remember there is hope and it all amazes me
It must be something that makes me feel at home
And all my wanting is down to understanding
My eyes are deep and distant like the blue Atlantic
I'm off the riptide just when the stormy skies roll in
I'm just a shimmer in the wind
Every time we give, but not for selfish reasons
Every time a flower bursts to bloom in the desert
Every time a politician is telling the truth
Every time i see an end to a lifelong blues
It must be something that makes me feel at home
And all my wanting is down to understanding
My eyes are deep and distant like the blue Atlantic
I'm off the riptide just when the stormy skies roll in
I'm just a shimmer in the rain
And all my longing is focused to be justified
Before the train will take me way beyond those dreamy skies
A burning questionmark along the corridors of time
I'm finding out just who I am
Cosmic Circus
From a ragged fence
To the cosmic bends
We have paved our way with eagerness
And forced the world to make some sense
In this endless space
Looking for God given grace
Among countless scattered dying stars
By the fireplace we found some comfort
Waiting all to serve a greater purpose
Or to join the cosmic circus now
From the garden greens
To the mountain streams
We all worked the land and paved to sweat
While sweet illusions were passing by
Life a fading tribe
On the ocean wide
In random flash we live and die
Searching all religions, reasons why
Waiting all to serve a greater purpose
or to join the cosmic circus now
From the rabbit hole to the frozen poles
We have filled our hearts with poetry
While science was our leading star
On to million suns
Where our fading memories dance
While we try so hard to understand
The untold genesis of man
Waiting all to serve a greater purpose
or to join the cosmic circus now
Babylon
Instrumental track
A Vampires View
I'm back at the beginning, I have a crust upon my eyes
I'm alone in this my blindness, I'm alone but there is still life
Not under a tombstone, no worms are licking my bones
I'm just in a state where day turns to night and it's late
I am m back at the beginning, I'm black down to my heart
I am tied down to this rhythm, in a trance 'til death do us part
Like one of those people that are nothing but evil
A life of regrets is saved in the flower of death
All the things that are sad are saved inside my madness
All i touch will dei before the summer is gone
All the blackest days will always flood my soul
Inviting me to rest upon the leaves of autumn
Searching for some kindness, lost inside my blindness
I turn around, turn around
I am back at the beginning, stripped down, down to the bone
I am blank and i am nothing, i am drained of passion and soul
I've traveled the world, all the beautiful girls
They have made me a lifelong notorious deceiver, believe me!!
I'll go underground, when the sun beats down
I am back at the beginning, in the shadows upon my strike
So the world has become silent, I can tell that this ain't no life
I'm the man without shadow, I've got a stoneful of pillows
There's no man in the mirror, just me and I hate what I see!!
From the underworld we arise
On a string of bloodstained magnolias
Relentlessly throwing the dice
But there's no way we can get out of here
In a time that sees no end
I'm building this cluster so sinister
Of thoughts on love and death
In a dark tranquility our hearts descend
Aching from a bittersweet that'll never end
A face with hollow eyes, a face with no more smiles
The cold face of perdition, a voice of silent cries
The blind man the rooster, the ultimate loser
Days Gone By
Instrumental track
Adam & Eve
Adam & Eve they looked for sensations, young and notorious
Let love gone crazy
Found themselves drift in a dangerous zone
Like a priest and priestess in the pleasuredome
Adam was handsome but somewhat bizarre
He looked at himself like some kind of pornstar
Eve was confused, but did she shine on boy!
She made him fly high until the urge was gone
Adam was commonly known as a hunk
But he transformed into this hardcore junkie
Eve was so pleasant in the centerfold
Now she is counting the holes in her soul
Adam would deed his internal debate
The dividing line between "make love" and "rape"
Eve would claim to her rights to say NO!
But she was dressed like a hooker, reading "go-go-go!!!"
Adam would hope for a talk with God
With his halfeaten apple, waiting for the flood
Eve would admit that they were all but innocent
And did apologize if God was offended
We're all connected thru the blood, just different images, different Gods
The primal goal is to stay alive, to bread and live, thru love we cry
How come you burden us with shame. We're so isolated, in so much pain
Madonna, mother, slave or whore, the judgments angel is at your door
A dark and distant ancient dream, a dream he named "A love Supreme"
A when I look into your face... Is that the devil on a racehorse?
Adam & Eve couldn't live apart
Their love was molded on a distant star
Adam & Eve couldn't live together
Nor clutching at straws from a single bed
Nursing the ultimate entertainment
Days in your presence were wisely spent
See Adams & Eves how they intertwine
Minute by minute, until the end of time!!!
Starlight Man
I can be your guardian angel
I can be your starlight man
You can find a home inside me
I can bid you one more dance
I can be your all time father
I can be your backup friend
Although I speak in tongues of angels
It resembles sound of man
I'm beside you/I'm starlight in your mind
Look inside me/I am You, that's what I am
I'm around you/ I'm the starlight in your mind
Look inside me/I am You, that's what I am
Carry on,
The torch I hand you is not made by human hand
Look inside the depth of my eyes and you'll find a universe
I'm no taller than the treetops
And my sight is not the best
But my mind is at the outlook
And my view is from bird's nest
I'm beside you/I'm starlight in your mind
Look inside me/I am You, that's what I am
I'm around you/ I'm the starlight in your mind
Look inside me/I am You, that's what I am
Timelines
Time is a thief and timelines invisible
Embedded them years in the texture of skin
Slide down the timeline of youth and sobriety
Passing the filters of acceptance and charm
All of a sudden you're rocking he cradle
Born out of love for the memory spin
One hand the rattle, the other a hammer
Racing with time is where you can't win
You can't fight time and you can't just shine on
Like in big bold American style
There is no facelift to cover the scars
So just sit back and enjoy for a while
My generation is fresh out of school
My generation is close to the rim
Shuffle the options of life's complications
Scrambling the landmarks, still wearing it thin
Trading your freedom for a lifetime achievement
Sign up for life on a path that grow dim
Chained to the customs and daily routines
Things will be different, but God knows when
You can't fight time and you can't just shine on
Like in big bold American style
There is no facelift to cover the scars
So just sit back and enjoy for a while
The ticking of time is non reversible
So sit back my friend, enjoy the ride
All of a sudden you're rocking he cradle
Born out of love for the memory spin
One hand the rattle, the other a hammer
You know racing with time is where you can't win
Driver's Seat
An observation from the greenhouse
A nifty cluster of insanity
Not that solid where the ice is thinner
Even for dog with a pedigree
You've seen them juggling with emotional devices
So confident and so relaxed
The league of hasty grown up poets
Bumping the world upon its axis
And so it's time to take a stand
You've seen your life come shaped by foreign hands
And so it's time to make a move
Letting the world know that you greatly disapprove
You better stop that roadside drinking
Try find the key to the lock
Call a halt to the nightmare shrinking
See what's in that Christmas stocking
Of money, power, fame and passion
The "holy" foursome will spin the ball
The ghost of greed above the mansion
For leagues of copycats a standard call
And so it's time to take a stand
You've seen your life come shaped by foreign hands
And so it's time to make a move
Letting the world know that you greatly disapprove
Stranded like starfish on the shore, when the moon eclipses the sun
So the countdown do begin. No leg, no feet, no run
And when the water finally hits us, then it's either sink or swim
Examining the clockworks of the Gods, inside your shiny skin
Stranded like ET's on the floor when the ships have left the pond
We are all left to float about, for countless years to come
No it is either do or die, the last and lonely tribe
Finding a way to leave the pond, to say a last goodbye
Scanning the same old pages
Look for a sign of greatness
Learning in the script of life
To know your self is self contagious
Hope for a glorious Sunday
Push back the crappy Monday
Eight days to cross the poles
And reach the soil of old Britannia
Angel, your mind is far from home, in a mayhem of it's own
These are the lost breaks of Babylon, the bad of Adam's bone
Seeking the pleasure of his ground, as human flesh and bone
Tell me has love gone slightly wrong or vastly overblown?
Chasing the monster of success and it's catalyzing sparks
Flexing the qualities you dispose for entering the game
Now it's either do or die, to keep you entertained
Keeping the audience on their toes, beyond the last refrain
Scanning the same old pages
Look for a sign of greatness
Learning in the script of life
To know your self is self contagious
Hope for a glorious Sunday
Push back the crappy Monday
Eight days to cross the poles
And reach the soil of old Britannia
On to the riverbeds of time
We're scattered driftwood in a sad and lonely line
A sum of incidents called "Life"
A place where "V.I.P." will grant no further rights
As we are swaying in the wind
The image left will go no deeper that your skin
But all our doings and our deeds
Propel the universe into love overbleed
Just as the river made a hole inside the mountain
You throw your soil into the soul of the great nothing
It's not so easy to describe, it looks as though you're binding time
But you must be waiting for the moments to arise
And so you find yourself in the driver's seat
Down the fishing line, the obstacles of time
And so you find yourself with a million options chiming
Time is such a bitch and fate it's little sister
Those universal minds, the archetypes of life
To the great minds of our time our admiration flies
All the poets and the queens, all the starlets of our dreams
To those who came before
And those who opened up the doors
And so you find yourself in the driver's seat
Down the fishing line, the obstacles of time
And so you find yourself with a million options chiming
Time is such a bitch and fate it's little liar
The Blade Of Cain
Instrumental track