It’s only fitting that a man who’ll utilise anything from a keytar to a Steinway grand piano to a Moog Polyphonic Synth should enlist a singer just as willing to push the creative envelope to get the performance he wants. By his own admission, knew nothing of Joe Payne – formerly frontman with , now operating under the name of – when they first met on a prog cruise. But the keyboard player was hugely impressed by the British singer’s incredible voice and megawatt charisma.
And Payne is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to unlikely personnel choices here. is Rudess’ 20th solo record, and it features lyrics written by his daughter Ariana – “The essence of the album is informed by the tumultuous events of 2023-2024, with motifs of peace and anti-violence woven throughout,” he says. If that wasn’t unique enough, the guitar parts on the album are played by Steve Dadaian, a world-class cosmetic dentist by day,and a stellar six-stringer by night, if this is anything to go by).
Yet despite – or rather because of – the unlikely mix of people involved, and Rudess takes a similarly maverick approach to its songs. Moments of trippy histrionics are balanced by weighty hooks and classy melody lines. These songs revel in the unpredictable.
They confounding the listener...
then offer something they’ll be whistling an hour later , for instance, is a mind-bending wig-out which mutates from a Zappa-esque motif into the kind of power ballad chorus that demands a.