Trent Gardner - Leonardo: The Absolute Man



1. Apparition (5:43) 2. Aria For Italy (0:49) 3. With Father (1:48) 4. Reins Of Tuscan (5:49) 5. Reproach (1:11) 6. Mona Lisa (7:11) 7. Il Divino (3:22) 8. Inundation (1:08) 9. Apprentice (6:56) 10. First Commission (3:47) 11. Mother Of God (1:06) 12. This Time, This Way (6:05) 13. Inventions (5:13) 14. Shaping The Invisible (4:54) 15. Introduction To Francis I (1:20) 16. Heart Of France (5:57) 17. Sacrament (1:11) 18. End Of A World (2:12)

Total Running Time: 65:42



If Leonardo: The Absolute Man could only be described by a single word, it would definitely be "ambitious." This project was conceived a couple of years ago by Peter Morticelli, Magna Carta's head, but finally began taking shape a while back, when he decided to place it in Trent Gardner's hands. At first, Mr. Gardner wasn't sure as to what to expect from the idea of doing a concept album based on the transcendence of Leonardo Da Vinci's life and ideas, as he considered that this man was simply a great Renaissance Man, leaving it at that. After some serious research, Trent realized that Leonardo was clearly more than his work. He found out that Da Vinci's life was a true novel, as his inventions and ideas made him an outcast of society; a man so far ahead from his time that he never could fit the lifestyle of the average person. Trent saw a deep, artistic potential in these mysterious aspects of his life as he read through countless articles, quickly becoming obsessed and intrigued by this unexplored perspective of "Da Vinci: The Man," until finally deciding to drift the focus of the album towards Leonardo's day-to-day experiences and his frustrations as a human being. It was time to get to work…

After interminable hours behind God-knows how many instruments, Trent came up with the entire musical composition and main sketches for the album's incarnation. He had written a multi-layered artistic creation that could most accurately be described as a dynamically driven, rock-opera soundtrack. Roles were assigned to every character that had ever crossed paths, interacted emotionally or made an impact on Da Vinci's complex life, but the project clearly demanded a truly capable singer in order to impersonate the man himself (…for all of those Dream Theater enthusiasts, this is the line you've been waiting for). Trent Gardner didn't even hesitate in recruiting DT's vocalist, James LaBrie, for the task, in which he clearly displays an astounding performance. The backing band of musicians also plays a key element on the record, as instrumental passages make up for a quite extensive part of the album.

So what to expect from the record… well, I might as well state this before I go any further; if you are not a fan of Mr. Gardner's past musical curriculum in bands like Magellan and Explorer's Club, you might as well give it all up, do yourself a favor and don't even bother in finishing up this review. If that is not the case, then you are definitely at the right place. Leonardo: The Absolute Man is by far the best musical creation ever conceived by this man, with pieces consisting of full of orchestral arrangements, dramatic melody lines and flowing, instrumental passages. The entire album sounds as though you were watching the musical of Leonardo: The Absolute Man ("The Movie"), with an extremely involving soundtrack guiding you gracefully through the storyline. The instrumentation is phenomenal, taking us through the detailed chapters with their respective character introductions, and the overall musical composition, as well, is quite astounding. Every piece is very well arranged and has all the right parts put into play, except for one very distressful element: the backing chorus melodies. Maybe it's me, but as soon as I listen to those dissonant choruses on the background, the whole thing just falls to the ground. As they pile up with the rhythm music, the song simply collapses and struggles in finding ways of keeping the listener calm before he reaches the "fast forward" button. On the other hand, the compositions manage to leave the listener with excellent closing lines, suggesting the different stages of Leonardo's life, reaching some notable climaxes during the record.

This album pursues a very ambitious goal never before attempted by any musical outfit, even outside the prog genre. It explores some very frail, uncharted territories and consequently stands on the brink of being catalogued as an utter failure or as an album of unparalleled genius. I reserve my personal musical taste from my final statement because I would only limit the record's visionary perspective. I truly believe that this record has some fine elements within the compositional and arrangement aspects of the album, but it is often quite difficult to musically digest this innovative approach. Music is created to express emotions and this album portrays that perfectly. Due to all these reasons, I can only close up my review with this final line: Trent Gardner achieved what he was aiming for.

-by Javier Elizondo

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