Tag: Michel St-Père

Review – Mystery – Redemption

‘Redemption’ is the ninth studio album from Mystery. Produced and mixed by the band’s own Michel St-Père, Mastering by Richard Addison, this album features a mix of classic prog-rock elements and modern production techniques, resulting in a Mysterious sound that’s both timeless and fresh, the MYSTERY sound. Mystery has been forging their way to the top of the Canadian music scene for over three decades, and their latest album is sure to cement their place as one of the most important bands in prog-rock today. With ‘Redemption’ Mystery has created a stunning masterpiece that’s not to be missed.

That’s a pretty impressive piece of PR and one that certainly grabs your attention. I’ve been a fan of Mystery for quite a while and, in my humble opinion, they have never released anything other than excellent albums but their best release for me has always been 2012’s ‘The World Is A Game’, an album many consider to be a classic of the prog rock genre, especially Mystery’s polished blend of symphonic progressive rock. This new album will certainly have to go some to be considered in the same bracket as that legendary beast!

Well, without spoiling things too much, I think Michel and the rest of the guys in Mystery have produced something rather special. It may be too early to talk of it in the same revered tones as ‘The World Is A Game’ but it certainly is on a similar trajectory…

There’s nothing else that sounds like a Mystery album, be it Jean Pageau’s elegant, soaring vocals or the exemplary musicianship of the Mysterons, you know it’s a Mystery album and when it’s as brilliant as this, it really doesn’t get much better. The hard rocking, yet melodic opener Behind The Mirror energises you immediately with its dynamic riffs and superlative rhythm section and Pageau’s sublime vocal just adds a layer of sophistication. The burning, soulful Redemption just takes the album to another level, the passion and intensity can be felt deep in your soul and then The Beauty and the Least adds musical drama to the mix, slow burning and powerful where Pageau’s dulcet tones combine perfectly with Michel St-Père’s gorgeous guitar note to deliver nine minutes of emotive highs and lows.

The pared back wonder of Every Note is simply gorgeous and could melt the coldest of hearts while Pearls and Fire brings epic songwriting to the fore. Twelve minutes of superb musicianship that combines progressive rock with an almost eighties feeling hard rock, like Bon Jovi decided to jam with Yes when both bands were hitting their comparative heights. It’s modern, fresh and inventive approach is really exciting and stands out in today’s world of derivative music. Mystery have always been able to give us beautiful ballads and you can now add My Inspiration to that list. A heavenly, haunting composition that allows Jean Pageau to serenade a captive audience, it will move you emotively and won’t leave a dry eye in the house.

Homecoming is another lighter song that is almost a palate cleanser for the album’s epic closing track but that’s dismissing it too lightly. It’s a calm, sophisticated song with Pageau allowing his vocal to sit back in the mix and contains some of St-Père’s best guitar work (although, let’s be fair, it’s all rather spectacular throughout!) and is a masterful display of musical ability. Talking of epic closing tracks, ‘Redemption’ contains what has to be one of the band’s best ever songs, and that’s saying something. The whole nineteen minutes of Is This How The Story Ends is a joy to behold, from the jaw dropping three minute plus instrumental opening right through to the stunning conclusion, this piece of music is progressive rock at its finest and stands head and shoulders above the majority of music that is released week after week. Jean Pageau delivers another stellar vocal performance, drummer Jean-Sébastien Goyette sounds like he’s having the time of his life and the bass of François Fournier is as funky as it comes. The keyboards drive everything along with a foot tapping groove and Michel’s guitar is on fire, almost literally! You don’t think things can get any better and then the final, five minute, closing section comes along and your jaw drops once again. It is a spectacular end to a remarkable record and I still find myself singing the chorus at the most inopportune moments now!

I honestly think that, with ‘Redemption’, Mystery have finally surpassed the brilliant ‘The World Is A Game’ and delivered not only their best ever album but also one of the best progressive rock albums you will hear in many a year. Is This How The Story Ends? When it’s as good as this then I sincerely hope not!

Released 15th May, 2023.

Order in the UK from Amazon here:

Redemption: Amazon.co.uk: CDs & Vinyl


Review – John Holden – Kintsugi – by John Wenlock-Smith

‘Kintsugi’ is the brand new album from Cheshire’s John Holden and it is another masterful collection of tracks that together tells eight stories of hope and redemption in our troubled world. Once again, John and his co-writer and wife and partner Elizabeth have created some beautiful  and sublime moments of music ranging from the epics, Achilles and Building Heaven, to the seemingly throwaway humorous Ringing The Changes, with its campanology references and use of bells.

John has continued his collaborative style with many of the prog world’s finest talents including Peter Jones, Mystery members Michel St-Père and Jean Pageau, Celestial Fire’s Dave Bainbridge and Sally Minnear and regular collaborators Joe Payne and Vikram Shankar. John himself plays keyboards, bass guitar and also adds percussion along with orchestrations and programming, while also handling both the artwork and the production of the album.

‘Kintsugi’ is a very skilled and lovingly crafted recording, it is always a pleasure to hear what John has created as both he and Elizabeth put everything into the albums and together they craft real musical magic. The album has two epics, several shorter pieces and a well crafted title track, there is also the continuation of High Line from the ‘Circles In Time’ album, a longer track about Brexit and xenophobia and there’s also a folk song that celebrates a trip to Peggy’s Cove at St Margaret’s Bay in Nova Scotia, Canada.cSo, all in all, a rather mixed bag but a bag chock full of gems and treasures.

The album opens with the tales of Achilles and his decision to pursue a brief yet spectacular life chasing eternal glory, its a sobering tale about striving for immortality and how our choices can affect those closest to us. The song passes through several stages including a battle sequence with Vikram Shankar applying his touch to proceedings, whilst predominantly a sad track, it is still a strong opening statement for the album. Ringing The Changes is completely different and the charming vocals of Sally Minnear really add much this excellent little number. This is a song about community and how odd eccentric people can come together to serve and support them. There’s a lovely piano from Vikram and some sweet and effective bell chimes throughout the song, it is, ultimately, a triumphant track. Kintsugi is a song about broken people being made whole and their brokenness becoming stronger. It is about accepting our flaws and receiving healing and wholeness, this is a Japanese concept and a very gentle and beautiful one that can really change people’s worldview and vision. The track feature some excellent violin and viola from Frank Van Essen and a masterful guitar break from Michel St-Père. It is a treasure of delicacy and beauty and is one of my favourites on this great album, utterly sublime.

Flying Train is about the elevated overhead railway that still exists in Wuppertal in Germany. This track would probably appeal to Big Big Train’s Passengers as it ploughs a similar furrow, combining history and music to great effect. This is a largely instrumental song that creates the wonder of a journey on these rails. Xenos talks of borders and how some have a fear and distrust of those that are different and do not accept them with openness. Sadly Brexit helped foster such opinions and weakened us as a nation, losing touch with and opposing tolerance and kindness. The passage of migrants is a thorny issue generally and one the we need a compassionate response to, which this song espouses. Against The Tide can be seen as being part two of the track High Line (from John’s last release, ‘Circles In Time’). The song has a similar west coast jazzy feel with a fabulous saxophone from Peter Jones, whose vocals also really elevate this track. John’s bass is very busy on this song and it has a great swing and groove to it, another fabulous track.

Peggy’s Cove takes us to Nova Scotia with a Celtic sound and a great choir of Sally , Joe Payne, Peter Jones and Iain Hornal, who provide massed voices to this gentle number. Final track, Building Heaven, is about how we treat each other and uses the tale of Coventry Cathedral’s partial destruction by the Luftwaffe in 1940, and the decision not to rebuild but to incorporate the destroyed sections into something new, as a testament faith and building together to make something good from the bad. This song has air-raid siren effects and a stirring melody that runs throughout the song, along with a suitably epic guitar solo from Dave Bainbridge. This is an excellent finale to what is an adventurous and engaging album full of great songs, concepts and ideas.

One to enjoy and also return to again and again.

Released 30th September, 2022.

Order direct from John’s website here:

Kintsugi CD – John Holden (johnholdenmusic.com)

Review – Mystery – Delusion Rain – by Rob Fisher

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After releasing the excellent ‘One Among the Many’ (2010) and the superlative ‘The World is a Game’ (2012), expectations are rightly high for ‘Delusion Rain’, the fifth studio album from Canadian band Mystery. In the intervening years, ex-Yes front man Benoît David, lead vocalist since 1999, made the difficult decision to step down and take a break from music after touring with the band in 2013 (captured on the wonderful live recording ‘Tales from the Netherlands’). His replacement for this new release, Jean Pageau, first joined the band on tour in 2014 before heading to the studio to work on the new album.

Pageau is an absolutely inspired replacement and instantly brings a voice which is more authoritative, pronounced and assured whilst capable of the same sweeping range and delicate nuanced subtleties. Indeed, it is precisely the sensitive responsiveness of his voice which makes him a perfect fit for the unmistakable Mystery ‘sound’, bringing extra depth and expressiveness whilst also pushing the boundaries further to create the most expansive vocal orchestrations and layered harmonies which swiftly become a trademark feature of this new release.

Pageau’s distinctive infusion seems to bring a new lease of life to band leader Michel St-Père who, supported on guitars by Sylvain Moineau, finds much greater freedom to mirror his vocalist’s assertiveness in providing a strong bedrock of power chords mixed with acoustic cadences whilst at the same time innovating through soaring and melancholic riffs which are as magical and as forceful as they are fleeting.

Yet ‘Delusion Rain’ also brings much more clarity and depth to the musicianship than is apparent in previous releases, due primarily to St-Père’s excellent production. Benoit Dupuis on keyboards is allowed to provide a rich and enhancing atmosphere within which both vocals and guitars are nested, the sound sumptuous, enveloping without ever becoming suffocating. François Fournier on bass is superb and for the very first time we can really hear a dynamism and a bite which supplies an extra and most welcome dimension to the recording. Jean-Sébastien Goyette on drums is a strong and driving heartbeat which pulses throughout each track, keeping things fresh with changing tempos and some lovely teasing cymbal work whilst always ensuring a disciplined and at times dramatic mastery that keeps the band true to the themes and the lyrics.

Band

The album also sees contributions from Antoine Michaud (Monochrome Seasons), touring guitarist with the band, and Sylvain Descoteaux (Huis) on piano. Add into the mix Pageau’s ephemeral flute playing on A Song for You (Track 6) and some occasional keyboards as well and you get the sense that ‘Delusion Rain’ marks quite a significant point in the history and development of the band where they finally have the pieces in place to be able to push on and really do full justice to the adventurous musical project that is Mystery.

As such this album excels in two respects. On the one the hand, it consolidates, tightens and defines the signature sound of the band, and does so with style and panache. The first three tracks, Delusion Rain, If You See Her and The Last Glass of Wine are beautifully refined statements of musical intent and it is easy to see these quickly becoming audience favourites on any set-list. The music is rich, lush, sweeping in scope and embracing in the way it engages the listener. There are anthemic choruses and soulful refrains combined with lyrical intensity.

On the other hand, the final three tracks show us the true promise of what Mystery can become. The band have always been at their very best when the focus is on extended song-writing, telling stories through their music and producing the kind of epic ballads which are a wonderful showcase for both their exceptional talents as well as their innovative creativity.

‘One Among the Living’ gave us the fabulous Through Different Eyes, weighing in at a spectacular 20+ minutes and pushing the boundaries of scintillating and adventurous musical creativity. ‘The World is a Game’ gave us Another Day, 19 minutes of complex and hugely enjoyable instrumental invention and inspiration.

‘Delusion Rain’ suddenly comes alive with The Willow Tree (Track 4), 20 minutes of utterly spectacular writing which transports you through changing musical landscapes and shifting emotional horizons to reach creative heights that are wonderful and exhausting. Wall Street King extends this incredible vision, increasing the intensity, adding layers of forcefulness but at around the 4.30 mark releasing it all in staggering waves of glorious guitar work. A Song For You brings the album to a pulsating close, the instrumental work fabulously delivering a rousing and climactic finale which leaves you wanting more and yearning with anticipation for what the next release will hopefully bring.

This album has certainly been well worth the wait. In particular, what Mystery have achieved here is something highly significant: they have simultaneously consolidated and confirmed their excellence in musical skill, virtuosity and lyrical brilliance whilst at the same time pushing much further than in any other previous release the scope and ambition of the band’s musical vision and reach.

‘Delusion Rain’ gives us a tantalising taste of genuinely cutting edge progressive music from a band who are willing to create, innovate and really push the boundaries of what they want to do and where they want to take us as a result. In the process, they may have created a rod for their own backs by setting the bar even higher for the next instalment on this wonderful journey.

Released 1st November 2015

Buy Delusion Rain direct from the band’s website