And so Alfred returns with his thirteenth solo album, which is interesting on more than just the pure musical level. Included on this album are two numbers that pre-date Rachels’ Birthday, and one with guitarist Jens Klenk which was recorded after the demise of that band but a few years before Alfred started to record as Soniq Theater. Given that there is more than 25 years between the recording of some of these songs they have cleaned up really well and don’t sound at all out of place. In many ways this is Alfred’s most complete album to date, with everything coming together. While I have never been a fan of vocals on his albums, here they work, and the use of guitar (and the placement of that number towards the middle of the album) is highly effective. It makes one wonder what would have happened if the Alfred and Lens had continued playing together.
While JMJ is still a large influence, there has been a definite shift more towards Rick Wakeman with ‘Stardust Memories’ and if you like keyboards then there is much on here to enjoy. As always this is available directly from Alfred and can also be downloaded from his site so why not go there and listen to what he has been producing.
www.soniqtheater.de
