Emergence By Neil Campbell

This is an album from 2015, and I've picked it because I've just become aware of this guy through Prog Radio (as ever) and this seems like a good start. The first track on the album starts with some funky rhythm guitar and goes into a lovely vocal section. Complex rhythms abound and he sounds like he's having a lot of fun. But (and this will become a common theme) I'm not sure where's it going. Maybe it's not intended to go anywhere.

The second track starts with a synth bass line that to me sounds a little at odds with the instrumentation of the rest of the track, but I think that's just a personal preference. The piece maintains a nice momentum over its 5 minutes or so, but I'm not sure there's enough there to satisfy a prog audience.

The third piece features a nice vocal performance, but again the piece meanders around and I struggle to fit it into any sort of definition of progressive rock.

The fifth track, however, starts to edge back into more familiar territory with a gentle acoustic guitar section over a nice harmonic progression that turns into a powerful chorus section. My favourite so far, but it's verse/chorus structure is crying out for a singer and an interesting vocal line.

Strip away the expectations you might have of progressive rock and come to it without preconceptions and you'd have to say this is a fine album, full of melodic guitar playing and lovely musical ideas.

You can find a biography of Neil Campbell here. https://neilcampbell.org.uk/biography/.

Reasons to listen:

  • You're looking for background music to work to
Reasons not to listen:
  • You want something a bit more epic
  • Instrumental music's not so much your thing

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