Being such a long time active in the progressive rock scene as a reviewer you would think you must know almost every act on the planet. But that's unfortunately not the case. Take for instance the Spanish musician and composer Eduardo Moreno. I never heard anything from this Malaga born person. It seems he studied guitar and piano at the Conservatory Of Granada and eventually became an accomplished guitar and bass player. In 90's he released two solo albums. Música Para Cine Imaginario in 1989, and El Último Hombre in 1995. Albums which were inspired by King Crimson during their Red period. He played all the instruments himself on those conceptual albums. Nowadays he lives in Granada and is back in the spotlights after almost three decades with a brand new album release. Titled Disorder / Inner Odyssey! The album was recorded from 1995 until 2022. Moreno composed all of the music on this release without the help of any other composers. Moreover he arranged and produced the album by himself. Just as on his earlier releases he played almost all of the instruments as well. Such as electric guitars, acoustic guitars, basses, keyboards and drums He also contributed on the backing vocals and did some programming. The list of guests is minimal. He asked Daniel Campañá to do vocals and choral arrangement on Inner Odyssey. Jessica Brizio contributed vocals on Bipolar Disorder Part II, The Sorceress and A Man Alone. On A Man Alone you can also hear Vanessa Ruiz on backing vocals. Finally Jesús Molina played saxophone on The Mermaids Labyrinth. The album can be divided into two parts music wise. Because they were composed and recorded in two different periods of his life: Disorder, which consists of the songs recorded from 1995 and Inner Odyssey recorded in 2022.The first part contains the tracks Bipolar Disorder, Sisifus Syndrome and Bipolar Disorder Part 2. This part starts rather heavy with electric guitars and shows most of all the musical influences taken from King Crimson during their Red period. The first two tracks are rather up tempo instrumentals. The third track is also up tempo and used to be an instrumental too, but in 2021 he decided to add vocals to this composition. Which gave the song much more variety. The second part of the album is the epic piece Inner Odyssey, lasting almost one half hour. The music on this epic reminded me of bands such as Yes, Anima Mundi, Emerson, Lake And Palmer, Genesis and King Crimson. The lead vocals on this piece are outstanding in combination with the music and reminded me of Anima Mundi when they released albums such as Jagannath Orbit and The Way. Inner Odyssey is divided into several parts and on some of them Moreno shows very clearly his musical influences. Take for example Beyond The Unconscious Life on which the organ solo reminded me of the excellent organ solo which Tony Banks provided on Supper's Ready from Genesis. And on The Mermaids Labyrinth the saxophone solo reminded me of Ian Mc Donald from King Crimson. During Underworld and Until The End you can hear parts which reminded me of Yes and The Gates Of Delirium and Emerson, Lake And Palmer's Karn Evil 9. One thing however becomes very clear after you hear this outstanding epic piece. The newly written songs are by far more interesting then the songs written earlier in his career. The album ends with a bonus track. This is another part of Bipolar Disorder. Namely the third part of the song. It's the original instrumental version of Bipolar Disorder Part 2 without the vocals but a couple minutes shorter. So you could say the album comes full circle again with the King Crimson influences which the album started with. Eduardo Moreno created with Inner Odyssey a tremendous musical work in which he delves into powerful and energetic progressive rock which is a must for fans of Yes, Anima Mundi, Emerson, Lake And Palmer, Genesis and King Crimson. Listening tip Inner Odyssey! **** Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
