Steve Cochrane - Heroes Awaken

1. Heroes Awaken (4:51) 2. Walking In Focus (4:07) 3. After an Uphill Battle (3:46) 4. Tiddlywink Road (5:35) 5. Usonian Dreams (6:14) 6. Live Free or Die (5:39) 7. Snowflight (5:27) 8. Worship the Hero Within (7:58) 9. Usonian Theme (2:24) 10. A Place to Gather Strength (5:04)

Total Running Time:

Loyal Progfreaks.com readers might recall that, during the last few months, we have traced Steve Cochrane's musical endeavors from present to past, sweeping his modest discography with comprehensive reviews. Now we reach the origins of his musical trajectory with his debut album Heroes Awaken; an opening gate to what would soon become the true passion of this multi-instrumentalist composer.

Heroes Awaken encompasses the fundamental, basic elements on which Cochrane relied to launch his musical career; his very essence as an artist. Songs are molded with a fascination of melody and harmony as relaxing, soothing pieces that envision a perfect and optimistic state of mind. The entire album is guided by free-flowing synth and MIDI melodies backed up by orchestral and string arrangements, with a peaceful and sober approach, gliding constantly on pleasant moods to soothe the listener. Consequently, the songs stay pretty much on safe ground (good or bad, depends on how you look at it), only lifting up the pieces with brief passages by using multiple sound layers, never offering any harsh melodies or unexpected twists within the songs. All in all, the record is a charming and pleasant offering attempting no more than to bring comfortable pieces to weary minds.

Ironically, this album is Cochrane's best release, melodically surpassing both follow-up albums, with great musical compositions and arrangements. There's only two elements that fail in this album: First, I'm not a true fan of relaxing, soothing music (not Steve Cochrane's fault in any way), mainly because I can't really perceive true emotion or "feel" in the pieces and, sure, they are all perfectly well arranged and truly melodic, but the songs are plain and hollow, and simply don't speak to me in any level, making me incapable of relating to them. Second, the record doesn't possess a natural sound, mainly based on MIDI processing and synth instruments, taking away from the overall result of the compositions, ending with an outcome strongly resembling pleasant "elevator music" songs. On the other hand, if you consider that you can overlook these statements by giving main priority to the compositions and graceful melodies, ignoring the unrealistic instruments involved within the pieces, then you are definitely going to appreciate this album.

Heroes Awaken is an excellent candidate for releasing the tension gathered up from a stressful day, comfortably soothing the mind with warm, charming pieces, always flowing without a care in the world. Certainly a true means to offer relief from the opposing pessimistic perspectives of many of today's current artists.

-by Javier Elizondo

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