Elegant Simplicity - Moments Of Clarity



1. Moments Of Clarity (3:36) 2. A Life Alone (8:15) 3. A Cradle Of Stars (4:48) 4. Afraid To Wake (5:52) 5. Out Of Reach (10:46) 6. Love, Loss and Desire (13:06) 7. Nature and Man (6:23)

Total Running Time: 48:46

For anyone still unfamiliar with the name Elegant Simplicity, let's begin with a brief introduction. This band is the offspring of an extremely ambitious artist by the name of Steven McCabe; the vibrant engine behind this mellow progressive rock band. Amazingly, this man deals with every aspect of his music in its entirety, handling duties that range from the inspired-songwriter role, to the multi-instrumentalist spot, to the producer's chair. And as if this wasn't enough, Elegant Simplicity has a catalogue of 13 full-length albums, apparently having enough material to release a record every year. And with Moments of Clarity, the band quickly proves the reason of why it keeps making all these records.

On this release, Steven pursued a mainstream prog rock style quite reminiscent of the one pioneered by bands like ELO, and Genesis, balancing it with a sound characteristic of Pink Floyd and bringing the uttermost attention to chorus lines and melody as a whole (sometimes even bringing The Beatles to the mix), succeeding in creating a great notable album. Likewise, Moments of Clarity has a very consistent sound mainly backed up by mellow musical ideas and arrangements. McCabe's musical mastery is quickly put into play with tracks such as "A Life Alone" and "Out Of Reach," displaying his gift in coming up with fresh ideas and passages. Also, Ken's vocal lines bring a comfortable essence to the songs and help lift up the lyrics, following the music's coherent patterns to complement the instruments perfectly, strongly reminding me of Jeff Lynne's vocal arrangements.

Still, some songs often fall under the grasp of monotonous patterns and uninteresting passages, truly lacking some energy to back up these creative ideas and give a few slaps in the face to the listener. As opposed to Marcelo's point of view (please refer to the following reviews: Palindrome, The Story Of Our Lives), I personally consider that the music, as such, should be polished up a bit and demands some minor arrangements to avoid falling prey to uninteresting passages. Just as well, a stronger vocal conviction would indeed be welcome, and would certainly fill in this missing gap with a tinge of excitement and further arouse the listener.

But surely enough, in an overall point of view, Moments Of Clarity is a very good exponent of modern melodic/symphonic progressive rock. For one thing, I can tell you this…you won't be disappointed. From a personal standpoint, I prefer this album over ES's upcoming albums, Palindrome and The Story Of Our Lives, as it brings a better musical balance to the songs. So, if by any chance you are indecisive on which of these ES albums to buy, be sure to get this one.

-by Javier Elizondo

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