Trevor Rabin – Rio
The six years in the making Rio is Trevor Rabin’s first vocal-led solo release since 1989’s Can’t Look Away and first solo album since multi-styled instrumental album Jacaranda in 2012 (but to be fair he’s been pretty busy with compositional soundtrack work since leaving YES in 1996).
Its been a long wait, but well worth it, because Rio encompasses all that songwriter, vocalist, musician and producer Trevor Rabin is, to which can be added a healthy does of needed saying social commentary.
And that's because while many of the songs are driven by sociopolitical lyricism (including a couple of not so complementary overviews of his South African homeland), each of the ten tracks (there’s also a mediabook version with three bonus tracks) has its own signature - Rio incorporates all of Rabin’s influences and creatively melded styles, from melodic and arena rock, pop and classical composition to prog and even a little jazz and country.
While Trevor Rabin is responsible for the top-notch production and pretty much everything you hear (vocals, guitars, bass, keys, dobro, banjo, mandolin and some drums & percussion) there are also some notable guest players involved, including renowned drummers Lou Molino III & Vinnie Colaiuta and backing vocals on a couple of numbers from Dante Marchi & Liz Constantine.
The album opens in bright, bristling and high-energy fashion with the up-tempo 'Big Mistakes,' which made pre-album release impact as the lead-off single.
The song, about surviving those late teens and early twenties adventures when we all believed ourselves to be bulletproof ("we drove through the city, we burned through the lakes, stayed up all night, we made big mistakes!") also highlights Trevor Rabin’s multi-faceted mix & meld approach – 'Big Mistakes' is melodically power poppin’ and arena rockin’ in equal measure, features cool backing harmonies (courtesy of the aforementioned Marchi & Constantine) on the huge hook chorus, has a wickedly off-kilter (a TR trademark) guitar solo that wouldn’t have been out of place on 90125 or Big Generator, and a tasty, later solo that set’s up the song’s conclusion.
Three creatively arranged longform numbers then take centre stage.
Protest song 'Push' is a signature-shifting tour-de-force that feels, sounds and plays like it’s a 30 year follow on to Talk, the last YES album to feature Trevor Rabin (to the extent that you almost expect Jon Anderon to come in and take shared vocals).
Fast and furiously controlled 12/8 drum-work from Vinnie Colaiuta and a classically scored end section (with Charlie Bisharat on violin) adds to the icing on the progressively shaped cake.
Its been a long wait, but well worth it, because Rio encompasses all that songwriter, vocalist, musician and producer Trevor Rabin is, to which can be added a healthy does of needed saying social commentary.
And that's because while many of the songs are driven by sociopolitical lyricism (including a couple of not so complementary overviews of his South African homeland), each of the ten tracks (there’s also a mediabook version with three bonus tracks) has its own signature - Rio incorporates all of Rabin’s influences and creatively melded styles, from melodic and arena rock, pop and classical composition to prog and even a little jazz and country.
While Trevor Rabin is responsible for the top-notch production and pretty much everything you hear (vocals, guitars, bass, keys, dobro, banjo, mandolin and some drums & percussion) there are also some notable guest players involved, including renowned drummers Lou Molino III & Vinnie Colaiuta and backing vocals on a couple of numbers from Dante Marchi & Liz Constantine.
The album opens in bright, bristling and high-energy fashion with the up-tempo 'Big Mistakes,' which made pre-album release impact as the lead-off single.
The song, about surviving those late teens and early twenties adventures when we all believed ourselves to be bulletproof ("we drove through the city, we burned through the lakes, stayed up all night, we made big mistakes!") also highlights Trevor Rabin’s multi-faceted mix & meld approach – 'Big Mistakes' is melodically power poppin’ and arena rockin’ in equal measure, features cool backing harmonies (courtesy of the aforementioned Marchi & Constantine) on the huge hook chorus, has a wickedly off-kilter (a TR trademark) guitar solo that wouldn’t have been out of place on 90125 or Big Generator, and a tasty, later solo that set’s up the song’s conclusion.
Three creatively arranged longform numbers then take centre stage.
Protest song 'Push' is a signature-shifting tour-de-force that feels, sounds and plays like it’s a 30 year follow on to Talk, the last YES album to feature Trevor Rabin (to the extent that you almost expect Jon Anderon to come in and take shared vocals).
Fast and furiously controlled 12/8 drum-work from Vinnie Colaiuta and a classically scored end section (with Charlie Bisharat on violin) adds to the icing on the progressively shaped cake.
'Oklahoma,' by contrast, is more of a western-styled atmospheric score that plays lyrical remembrance and support to those that lost friends and loved ones in the shocking domestic terrorist bombing of Oklahoma City in 1995 (part of the lyric goes back to shortly after the attack, but it’s only now Rabin has felt the time was right to complete, compose and commemorate).
The seven-minute 'Paradise' is Trevor Rabin at his melodically creative best; a rhythmic up-tempo that flits from reflective acoustic passages (and another harmonised hook chorus) to Beach Boys styled vocal interjections sharing space with splashes of jazz and country. Brilliant stuff.
The evil of the illegal African ivory trade is the theme of 'Thandi' (named after a rhinoceros that succumbed to the poachers), which vocally opens in Konnakol (the Southern Indian music "language of rhythm") before the cadence is cleverly replicated on guitar.
The song then builds as a darker toned rocker with, fittingly, some of the angriest (and deceptively complex) fast-fingered six-string outcries Trevor Rabin has ever laid down.
Lighter relief is then delivered by way of the country-pop hoedown that is 'Goodbye,' albeit fully Rabin-ised, especially in the chorus.
The slightly treated A capella vocal intro to 'Tumbleweed' sets up a quite lovely number that is all about the vocal arrangements and sparser backing; a drifting waltz-like song placed in a very different musical time & jazz chords outro space.
'These Tears' is, as the title suggests, the album’s reflective balladeering moment.
Synth textures, echoey percussion and the occasional stark keyboard stab give the song a very distinct flavour, but at the heart of the atmospheric matter is an impressive vocal performance that makes you believe "these tears" are for real.
We then return to South Africa with the upbeat and rhythmic 'Egoli' (the isiZulu name for Johannesburg, meaning "the place of gold").
Musically, and in African backing vocal arrangements, 'Egoli' sounds like a lift from Paul Simon's Graceland album thirty-seven years on; here however Trevor Rabin’s lyrical finger-pointing at politicians’ failures belies the joyful jauntiness of the song.
'Toxic' closes out the album in impressive and highly modern sounding blues-boogie meets quirky heavy-pop fashion - it’s poisonous relationship blues baby, bolstered by modern production techniques.
While the mix of treated vocals, Trevor Rabin’s higher lead voice and the clever arrangement all help make the song, Rabin’s short blues solo steps up as the highlight (primarily because it’s so unusual, but welcome, to hear him flex his blues muscles).
Should the standard edition of Trevor Rabin’s finest solo outing to date not be enough there is also, as mentioned, a limited CD/Blu-Ray version housed within a 28 page mediabook; three bonus tracks are included on the CD while the Blu-Ray features a 5.1 surround and hi-res 24bit stereo mix of the album.
But whatever version, you’re on to a progressively shaped winner from Trevor Rabin.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
The seven-minute 'Paradise' is Trevor Rabin at his melodically creative best; a rhythmic up-tempo that flits from reflective acoustic passages (and another harmonised hook chorus) to Beach Boys styled vocal interjections sharing space with splashes of jazz and country. Brilliant stuff.
The evil of the illegal African ivory trade is the theme of 'Thandi' (named after a rhinoceros that succumbed to the poachers), which vocally opens in Konnakol (the Southern Indian music "language of rhythm") before the cadence is cleverly replicated on guitar.
The song then builds as a darker toned rocker with, fittingly, some of the angriest (and deceptively complex) fast-fingered six-string outcries Trevor Rabin has ever laid down.
Lighter relief is then delivered by way of the country-pop hoedown that is 'Goodbye,' albeit fully Rabin-ised, especially in the chorus.
The slightly treated A capella vocal intro to 'Tumbleweed' sets up a quite lovely number that is all about the vocal arrangements and sparser backing; a drifting waltz-like song placed in a very different musical time & jazz chords outro space.
'These Tears' is, as the title suggests, the album’s reflective balladeering moment.
Synth textures, echoey percussion and the occasional stark keyboard stab give the song a very distinct flavour, but at the heart of the atmospheric matter is an impressive vocal performance that makes you believe "these tears" are for real.
We then return to South Africa with the upbeat and rhythmic 'Egoli' (the isiZulu name for Johannesburg, meaning "the place of gold").
Musically, and in African backing vocal arrangements, 'Egoli' sounds like a lift from Paul Simon's Graceland album thirty-seven years on; here however Trevor Rabin’s lyrical finger-pointing at politicians’ failures belies the joyful jauntiness of the song.
'Toxic' closes out the album in impressive and highly modern sounding blues-boogie meets quirky heavy-pop fashion - it’s poisonous relationship blues baby, bolstered by modern production techniques.
While the mix of treated vocals, Trevor Rabin’s higher lead voice and the clever arrangement all help make the song, Rabin’s short blues solo steps up as the highlight (primarily because it’s so unusual, but welcome, to hear him flex his blues muscles).
Should the standard edition of Trevor Rabin’s finest solo outing to date not be enough there is also, as mentioned, a limited CD/Blu-Ray version housed within a 28 page mediabook; three bonus tracks are included on the CD while the Blu-Ray features a 5.1 surround and hi-res 24bit stereo mix of the album.
But whatever version, you’re on to a progressively shaped winner from Trevor Rabin.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ