It takes quite a bit to make me stop and play close attention, but I found myself doing just that when I allowed myself to fall headlong into the world of Mark Healy’s creation. I’m not quite sure how to describe this, as it is way more than a concept album, and in many ways, is almost a play with the music being an integral part, another actor. This is an album based on an original short story, and is all about what happens to someone as they quite literally climb the corporate ladder and the sacrifices that they must make to achieve success, although that success is much more in their own eyes as opposed to those of their loved ones. The first time I played this was in the car and I found myself somehow at home, having driven on auto-pilot for much of it, but before the album had ended. The next morning, I put it on again, but started once again at the beginning so that I could get the full benefit of listening to it all the way through (and making sure that I paid more attention to the road this time).
It is a science fiction story, set at some point soon, with a first-person narration for the most part, along with some additional key characters. Mark has provided all the music, as well as the artwork, but for some reason brought in others to play the roles and Rowan Michaels in the lead role has done an outstanding job. At times, quite Floydian, and others more Gong or Porcupine Tree, this is something that in many ways in quite a different art form in that it is neither a story or music, but is far more compelling and intriguing than both. Sometimes simplistic, at others quite complex, this is the perfect marriage between spoken words and music, so much so that each time I play it I find myself having to almost shake myself when it finishes, as I have been taken so much into Mark’s world.
