Ray Band, The Rick - Temporary World


Year of Release: 2005
Label: Neurosis Records
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 68:21:00

Rick Ray has been pumping out albums at a clip of 2-4 a year for a while now. He now has 28 albums to offer his listeners. His guitar playing is bright as a lighthouse leading in a ship lost at sea, the "lost" being those that have not discovered his amazing guitar wizardry yet. Fear not, there is hope for those that have gone astray and believe the only good music is on major labels and Top 40 charts.

There is quite a combination of sounds available on Temporary World. Ray takes you through different styles and tempos on his new release. On "X In The Sky," a tasteful yet rockin' track that will please many different tastes, the saxophone of Rick Schultz provides for a jazz fusion like mixture that compliments Ray's guitar lines. "Modified Universe," love the title, is a textured acoustic jazz number that displays the many talents of Ray on his six-string. When see you a picture of him, your first thought is that he is a roughshod rocker; as they say - looks can be deceiving. While Ray can rock, he certainly knows how to tone it down and coax some beautiful sounds from his acoustic guitar; another good example of this is "Passage Of Time," which is an instrumental gem.

"Enemies Of America" is yet another tribute to our men and women defending our country, it features some good guitar licks and some very strong vocals from Chuck Abraham. Every artist that is able to record should write a song for our brave warriors defending our freedom in that hellhole called Iraq. The other vocalist is Ray, who sounds like Alice Cooper; he takes over the vocals duties on "Chemical Dispersion" and the title track "Temporary World." I like his voice, I always have, it has that rough around the edges sound that compliments rock guitar so well. Ray's music is decidedly progressive and for all the reasons I just mentioned. If you like lead guitar as the main instrument in an album and get off on prog-rock that has a guitar sound, Rick Ray is your ticket to musical rapture.

What an amazing cat Ray is. He told me that he has sold 31,200 CDs so far through his MSN site, gigs, and various stores. Not a bad showing without any label support, although Neurosis is his own label, he is definitely self-supporting through his own contributions. I respect men like Rick Ray because of the ever-burning fire in his belly to play great music, record it, and make it available to people that need something new and fresh for their ears besides the status quo. Just remember, we do live in a Temporary World so enjoy every minute of your life, and of course - let loose and rock!

On a more somber note - I just got word from Rick this morning that the lead singer, Chuck Abraham, died suddenly of a massive heart attack. This came as a shock to Rick and Chuck's family. He was only 47. He leaves behind a wife and two young children. There is a bit of strange irony in that the title of the CD is Temporary World, topped off with the way I closed the review out, it is just too weird. It as if some collective consciousness was present when this CD came to be. Count your blessings every day because each day we have is a gift.


Tracklisting:
Until The End (7:22) / Rumor Clinic (5:10) / X In The Sky (5:28) / Modified Universe (6:25) / Change Stays The Same (6:18) / Enemies Of America (6:24) / Together Forever (6:23) / None Of My Concern (4:43) / Chemical Dispersion (5:44) / Passage Of Time (3:47) / Temporary World (4:45) / Alteration (5:52)

Musicians:
Rick Ray - guitars, keys, vocals
Chuck Abraham - lead vocals
Jack Ambrose - bass, vocal
Rick Schulz- reeds
Sam 'PJ' Gloriose - drums

Discography:
Abnormal Road (1999)
Balance Of Power (1999)
The Great Antagonist (1999)
Clone Man (1999)
Atomic Soldiers (1999)
Neurotic Tendencies (1999)
You People (1999)
Looking Into the Past (1999)
The Key To The Bottomless Pit (1999)
Cast Into Our Dimension (2000)
Living In An Insane World (2000)
Mind Control, Inc. (2000)
Guitarsenal (2000)
Manipulated DNA (2001)
Insanity Flies (2001)
Existing Passages (2002)
The Guitarsonist (2002)
Rick Ray Band - Into The Hands Of Sinners (2003)
Rick Ray Band - Out Of The Mist Of Obscurity (2003)
Rick Ray Band - Night Of The Living Dedicated (2004)
Chainsaw Manicure (2005)
Rick Ray Band - Temporary World (2005)
Rick Ray Band - Nothing To Lose (2007)
Rick Ray Band - Violence Marred By Peace (2008)
Rick Ray Band - The Setlist (2009)

Genre: Rock

Origin US

Added: September 9th 2005
Reviewer: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck
Score:
Artist website: www.rickray.net
Hits: 2805
Language: english

  

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