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Coda - What A Symphony

Artist:	Coda
Title:	What A Symphony
Label:	Transmission TM-004
Length(s):	76 minutes
Year(s) of release:	1996
Month of review:	06/1997

Line up

Erik de Vroomen - keyboards, bass pedals, vocals
Jack Witjes - guitars, vocals
Jacky van Tongeren - bass
Wolfram Dettki Bludeau - drums and percussion
And a load of others.

Tracks

1-3)	Overture	7.36
4)	Nostalgia	2.41
5-12)	Lament For Planet Earth	27.54
13)	Spirit Of Waves	3.12
14)	Deja Vu	1.45
15-17)	Rise And Eclipse Of The Sun	16.03
18-20)	What A Symphony	12.29
21)	Last View From The Universe On Humanity	4.25

Summary

Having missed out on the bonus CDsingle this is my review of the already much acclaimed symphony by Erik de Vroomen and his companions.

The music

Typical about the opening are the keyboards, and soundeffects. Also the bel canto vocals are not very distinctive. The fact that Hitlers speeches are used in this first track is however not very oftenly found. The reason for this is that the album is about tolerance and according the most extreme example of intolerance was the holocaust of the second world war. What is most strikingly done is contrasting the pure bel canto vocals with the harsh voice of Adolf Hitler. At the end we hear marching boots accompanied by an ominous church organ (might this be the unwillingness of Rome to excommunicate the nazi's?). Also in this piece a motif from Mahler (Urlicht) and one from Bach (Erbarme Dich) has been incorporated. The next part is a bit jazzy and a little playful, almost cheesy, while the third and last part is rather menacing with a strong build up (almost KC like) and also a bit reminiscent of Mastermind. In this part it shows that painting atmospheres with keyboard sounds is something that De Vroomen is very good at and I certainly prefer this part over the second playful one in which the guitar had the upper hand.

The next track on is Nostalgia which is built on a lone soprano sax (it might also be an alt sax). The song is very melodic, but also gives rise to a feeling of desolateness with also some more piercing notes. A moody piece.

The third track is also the longest on the album and starts out like a typical symphony with flowing melodies of strings played on keyboards.

The second part of this track, The Proud Tower I is up-tempo and borders on synth rock. A rather up-beat track with unsung vocals. The keyboard sound is a little on the ELP side and again can also be compared to Mastermind, although the guitarsound is distinctive.

After the Interlude, an introspective return more or less to the intro of the track, we come to the sequel of The Proud Tower II, which has a catchy tune reminding me somewhat of Kayak. Some facets of this track are not entirely to my liking, but they are forgiven. Also, in this song there's a lot of handclapping introducing a Spanish flavour to the track. The sad Mother Earth is Crying is played bu an ethereal, noisily played guitar and kind of evokes a sound that might be described as sounds from the stars, although it probably stands for the crying of the Earth itself. It's not just guitar on this track, but the keyboards and the bass also play a prominent role, as does, again, Adolf Hitler.

Another Interlude brings us back to the previous interlude, with that same beautiful melody, that could have been used as thema music for some large dramatic movie.

Marie-Claire Cremers does the vocals on Elegy. She has a beautiful voice and sings with a lot of feeling although she overdoes it a little in the bridge. This song can be compared to one of those emotive ballads from some well-known musical. For the most part it is said, but the bridge is bombastic (over the top). The following part with real violin is certainly very classical (and good). The postlude (yes, you get the picture: connected to the previous interlude) closes this piece.

Spirit of the Waves is written by the drummer of the band, Bludeau. The start certainly doesn't bring any changes with the music previously heard, being rather quiet and moody. Then the music picks up a little tempo and with a lot of variation, containing sounds similar to whales singing and also some guitar in the foreground. A lot of moods are present in this song, but mostly it is uplifting.

Deja Vu (sorry no accents) is a short track played on Marimba with some spooky opera vocals (mezzo sopran and alt).

The second large composition is Rise and Eclipse of the Sun. For this song it is explained in quite a lot of detail how the various pieces of three movements fit and interconnect. The first part consists of two melodies Joy of Life and Lacrimosa played on piano. Essentially, this is the way I like classical music best: just piano and preferably when used in addition as a percussive instrument. The acoustic guitar and keyboards in the next movement signify the birth of a new day while the bass signifies that of a child. Then more bombastic, that life is started. The female vocals of the next part are a little too sweet for my taste. With acoustic guitar and dreamy keyboards we move into the last movement (compare with Kitaro). Then there are some more menacing tones to be heard, but before the sun eclipses there's first a playful part played on guitar. Very catchy and again there's something Spanish to it. The eclipse of the sun is a dark piece, but beautiful and powerful nonetheless. The mixed choir introduces an extra dramatic ingredient and then the mezzo sopran continues with her lament for the mother and it ends with a sad violin.

The last large track is the titletrack. The track opens symphonically. Again I do not really like the vocal part, being a too melodramatic and too accessible. The sax part doesn't really help either. The first part of this track is I would cetainly skip on next playing. The haunting guitarmelody is rather good though. The next part contains a lot of marimba and some military drums, with a beautiful cello working up to a crescendo, and then guitar takes over accompanied later by keyboards. The drums are a little heavier here as is the bass, which has a very low, droning sound. Altogether a rather schizophrenic part with joyous, but also very dark and harsh sounds. The third and last movement is a reflective epilogue played on violin and cello.

The closing song of the album is again by Bludeau and starts out very spaceously and is filled with all kinds of motives on piano and soundingly on harp as well with a lot of keyboards. A quiet conclusion of a diversified album.

Conclusion

It's hard to criticize something that has a lot of merit to it, because of its intentions. Fortunately most of the music is to my liking although I'm not too fond of the overly sweet and sometimes rather trite vocal parts. For the most part however this is classical music with modern instruments (and some old ones as well), not too abstract, but usally very melodious (sometimes too) and flowing. Fortunately the music has some rough edges to it and you certainly won't fall asleep during it. It compares well with Sounds of Passion, the first Coda, although the present CD is certainly productionally a lot better. So a mixed bag with something for everyone. It will not be a classic in my book, but it is certainly worth listening to.