The Italian master guitarist Simone Cozzetto releases his new album Glass Cradle and that is by far his best work to date. Not that his previous albums Wide Eyes (2016), The Weight Of The Wind (2020), Oblivion (2023, see review) and Le Miroir (2023, see review) weren't good, but with this album he is promoted straight to the top of our genre. If you expect an album full of heavy music and super fast solos, you're not quite right. The solos are there, but always with a great sense of timing and especially melody. Of course Simone can shred, but that is only a small part of his qualities. As a composer, he has firmly raised the bar for himself with Glass Cradle. The album contains seven tracks and they vary in duration from more than two to almost twenty minutes. Opener Preatextum is meant to get in the grip of the album and contains a truly beautiful guitar solo in which it is already clear that Simone can do a lot on the six-string. The choice for short tracks interspersed with very long ones is not a novelty and is certainly more common. This often leads to large differences in style and/or quality. In a way, that is also the case here and the choice of different vocalists also reinforces the feeling of a mixed bag. The title track is only just over three minutes long and is sung by Roberto Tiranti, who we may know from the Italian band Mangala Vallis on their great album Microsolco (2012, see review). Carried by a thick layer of keys and a not too high tempo, this is a very nice song with of course a masterful guitar solo at the end. As said, nice song, but when you are presented with Isolation you realize that there is much more to Cozzetto's music. With more than ten minutes, this is a gem of a track and my favourite on the album. Sung by the singer with a wonderful voice. Namely Michael Trew (Moon Letters). This track really offers everything I love in music. Thick layers of keys, alternating rhythms, beautiful melodies and of course great guitar solos. As the title suggests, it is about the feelings of loneliness and incomprehension that make you feel like you are outside of reality. In the considerably shorter No Way we get to hear two vocalists. Francesco Marino takes care of the male part and Germana Noage the female part. A little more straightforward and leaning against the symphonic metal of a band such as Nightwish. But just not as heavy. However, there is a nice synth solo played by Massimo Pieretti. The second highlight of the album is the almost twenty minutes long The Sphinx and here everything Cozzetto can do comes to the fore. Never do you get the feeling that time is passing too slowly. Through many different atmospheres and melodies, I never get the feeling that I am listening to a cut and paste exercise. Of course Simone is a guitarist in heart and soul, but that he can also create beautiful keyboard parts is once again evident from this epic. Just twenty minutes of top prog with sometimes surprising elements and rhythmic passages but all in service of the track. And yes, I have to say it again, the guitar work is really outstanding, one beautiful solo after another passes by, fast but also very melodic. Embers is very different and is mainly a keyboard dominated track that gives you as a listener a chance to recover. And then we are already at the last track and of course you hope for a great and fitting finale, but will there be? Partly, Framed is sung again by Tiranti and he does so again with passion. Pretty soon this fairly smooth song gives way to a crushing guitar solo that shows the virtuosity of Cozzetto for minutes. Personally, I might have hoped for a more epic finale in the trend of Isolation or The Spinx, but don't complain, we have a great album to enjoy for years to come. With solo albums by such technical guitarists, it is always the question whether we are not merely served a portion of showboating. For the record, that is present and sometimes even emphatic, but Cozzetto has succeeded in making a very complete and full-fledged prog album. I hope he continues to take risks and doesn't fall into the trap of producing only commercial five-minute songs. Just keep making prog albums like this Simone. **** Erik Fraanje (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
