Versa - A Voyage/A Destination Review

Attention please, my dear chilld of the night! This is a typical Progressive Rock album. By ‘a typical Progressive Rock album’ I mean what you’ll find here is an album with all the features Progressive Rock albums deliver. By ‘all the features Progressive Rock albums deliver’ I mean long songs, that 1970’s space and ethereal keyboarding, out of the box melodies and chord construction, some jazz or classical music tones and structures, and amazing instrumentals. Some may find it a kind of boring. Well, I admit that some of the Progressive Rock albums that pop up here I rule out for this, but “A Voyage/A Destination” by Versa isn’t really the case. What really attracted me to was the sweet tunes the band built here with some very neat instrumentals. And, of course, the typical sound of the keyboards. I just love the sound of these 1970’s Progressive Rock bands’s keyboards. Even more if they are Moogs. From where I’m standing, it’s the thing that really makes a difference. Or, at least, the thing to commit love at first sight.

“A Voyage/A Destination” is made of 4 tracks and as any typical Progressive Rock band they are long. Some of them are really long as the grand finale “Voyage” which does justice to its tittle. It’s really a voyage. As a matter of fact, aren’t all Progressive Rock songs a voyage? I say they are. The way I see it there are two reasons for that. First, they love to showcase their musical prowness. Second, most songs tell a story. They are long because the band desires to tell a complete story. The musicians intent here were to tell the fan four stories and they all are of complex emotions. That’s why some of the constructions are complex. “Voyage,” for instance, have some Jazz-rock progressions that increase a lot the fan’s experience. Pay attention real close attention to the drumming. It’s not really common to a drummer play like this in a studio album. Following a classical music tradition some parts of the song are somewhat inserted into it as they weren’t really from the song. I mean, the impression is that some parts aren’t from the song.

If my dear child of the night appreciates bands as Pink Floyd, more likely Yes, ELP, and Kansas, this album is the right choice especially regarding to the musicianship that I know my peers do love. Some usual constructions mixed with not usual ones. That’s the contrast I always talk about.

Versa “A Voyage/A Destination” was be released on September 02nd.

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