Forest Field is the brainchild of the Dutch musician Peter Cox, who is the guitarist of the rock band Chinawhite. For this project he played all the instruments by himself except for the more difficult bass parts. For that he asked the assistance of his band mate Sander Stappers . The music on Pioneers Of The Future is a mixture of ambient, new age and more melodic progressive passages. The main theme of the concept is time. Pioneers Of The Future contains thirteen compositions of which seven are instrumental. On the remaining six songs four guest vocalists contribute beside Cox. Some of the instrumental compositions are only soundscapes, but in Thursday Thunder and Freaky Friday we get some nice keyboard and guitar melodies and solos. Places Never Seen, having the nice vocals of Joris Peeters and the female vocals of Aukje Peeters, turns out to be a pleasant melodic rock song. However, when Peeters sings the lead in Phoenix For The Sunrise, while Sue Straw does the harmony vocals, I tend to push the 'forward' button. These are certainly not the most interesting vocals I've heard lately and the repeating vocal line doesn't help either. Phil Vincent takes care of the singing in three songs. His vocal style reminds me of straightforward seventies rock, but unfortunately the music is just mediocre. Compared to the other songs the ones that have Peter Cox as the lead singer have something special. Despite his limited voice it works well on Looking For Someone, a song that blends Pink Floyd related music with a touch of David Bowie. I tried hard to get used to the music of Forest Field, but it was a rough road to follow. Peter Cox can truly play the guitar, but his composition talents are limited. It seemed as if I was listening to an enthusiastic recorded demo album of a band with great intentions, but unfortunately I couldn't get into the music. I got slightly bored with the songs and as far as the vocals are concerned, my attention slackened. However, when it comes to the guitar playing, this project got some viability. **+ Pedro Bekkers (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
