The world is a game --- Mystery --- 2012 (Unicorn Digital)
He's a busy man, is Benoit David! Not only has he replaced Jon Anderson in Yes, but at the same time he's fronting his original band, Canadian progressive rock troupe Mystery. I got into this band through their last album, “One among the living”, which I was very impressed with and which I reviewed, and from what I've heard of this to date I expect to go on being impressed. With only founder member Michel St-Pere and David left, the rest of Mystery is made up of session men or guests, like Spock's Beard drummer Nick D'Virgilio and some rather nice flute work from Marylene Provencher-Leduc. St-Pere helms everything as usual, not only playing guitars and keys but also producing the album and writing all but two tracks on it, those two he co-writes with David.
Mystery have been through some lineup changes, even suffered tragedy in their twenty-five year history: bass player Patrick Bourque committed suicide in 2007, while original drummer Stephane Perreault fell prey to a crippling disease which took his life two years earlier. The control Michel St-Pere exerts over the band could be seen as almost dictatorial; after their second album he formed Unicorn Digital and has released all their albums on that label since. However he's steered them through five albums and more bad times than bands twice their age have to deal with, so he must certainly be commended.
This is Mystery's sixth album, and it opens with a beautiful short acoustic guitar instrumental called “A morning rise”, with already that soft flute from Ms. Provencher-Leduc adding to its ethereal feel, some choral vocals on the keyboards from Michel building up the theme before it too soon ends and we're into the first song proper, with again guitar intro then heavy drums and organ as “Pride” opens, Benoit David showing his time with Yes has certainly not tired him out or left him uninspired or burned out. It's actually amazing (as I stated in the review of their previous album, and as anyone who's heard “Fly from here” will no doubt attest to) how much like Anderson he sounds!
Although this runs for just over eleven minutes, it's not the longest track, indeed a mere
hors d'oeuvre when compared to the closer, of which more, obviously, at the end of the review. This track which we're concerned with now has exploded into a big prog rock monster, belting along in a Yes/Genesis style, with heavy galloping drums and squealing keyboards, then dropping down to unaccompanied acoustic guitar for short sections before taking off again. Above it all floats the voice of Benoit David, never having to strain or shout. He's a born singer, like Anderson, and it's delight to listen to his dulcet tones.
Of course, as mentioned, the star of the show really is Michel St-Pere, and when he's not running off complicated keyboard fills or playing delicate piano runs, he's firing riffs and solos like a man possessed, making the guitar an extension of his body, man and instrument in perfect harmony. His soft guitar accompaniment and fluting keys are the perfect foil for David's gentle but strident voice on the closing sections of the song, then he kicks in some overdrive guitar as the song reaches its conclusion. This is what Mystery do best: big, multi-part, epic songs that go through several changes along the way to their destination and leave you gasping, as often as not, at the end.
Quiet digital piano and acoustic guitar then open “Superstar”, and it's a soft, exquisite ballad with alternately laidback and powerful guitar from St-Pere, effective percussion and great vocals from David, passionate and soulful. Some lovely choral effects on the keys too from Michel, but it's his guitar that really leads and gives identity and character to the song, whose lyric contains the title of the album, though there is a title track. In fact it's up next, after a less-than-a-minute instrumental called “The unwinding of time”, which features a beautiful little flute intro then minimal percussion and piano into a sort of musical-box melody, and ending with a powerful, rising guitar.
The title track then opens on that guitar, as the instrumental basically forms a prelude to it, then it drops away to more restrained guitar against a sort of distant choir sound, before acoustic guitar and piano lead in the main melody against David's soft but stirring vocal. Bass from Antoine Fafard fills out the sound then a beautiful gentle little guitar solo from St-Pere as David warns
”And so the world is a game/ But remember these pawns all have names”. We run then into a Genesisesque instrumental part as the tempo quickens, before it all slows down again for the final minutes of the track, David's voice rising high above the grinding guitar and thundering drums.
The standout for me comes in the form of another ballad, opened again on acoustic guitar with attendant flute. “Dear someone” is a stronger ballad than “Superstar”, with much more contribution from Marylene Provencher-LeDuc, and quite guitar-driven, with not much if anything in the way of keyboards from St-Pere. This, and the title track, are the only two on which Benoit David co-writes with the founder, and whether it's intentional or not, I would imagine he's the one who slips in the line
“Love will find a way”, which is of course on the Yes album “Big Generator”. Beautiful, expressive guitar work from Michel and a very humanistic tilt to the lyric conveyed in David's singing.
Dolorous, forlorn church bells and acoustic piano open “Time goes by”, with a somewhat French feel to the melody, a lot of drama and tension in the music though it generally comes across as another ballad, played slow and without too much in the way of heavy guitar solos or rampaging keyboard arpeggios. Great vocal harmonies, though as no-one is credited for backing vocals, I would think perhaps it's Benoit David's voice multi-tracked. Very impressive though, and used only where they'll make the most and appropriate impact. Nick D'Virgilio's drums start to pick up the pace about two minutes from the end, and the tempo rises as Michel St-Pere introduces some hard electric guitar, the piano still playing in counterpoint, though it's his guitar that has, predictably, the final say as the song closes.
And that brings us to the final track. Remember I said that “Pride”, with its eleven-minute run, was nothing? Well, “Another day” runs for just over nineteen minutes! Talk about saving the best for last! It opens on harpsichordal keys and a nice little pastoral sound as David sings, a man watching the world go by and hoping for better days. More multi-tracked vocals with some sort of delay make the sound much more expansive, and the song then slows right down for a guitar and keyboard interlude as it heads into its fourth minute, then abruptly Nick fires off on all cylinders and everything kicks off before David comes back in with a harder, rockier vocal, the whole thing much more uptempo now.
Of course the comparisons will be made with Yes, and they're justified to a degree, especially as David has been, and is, in both bands, but to write Mystery off as a simple Yes clone band would be a huge mistake. They've been going for a long time now and they certainly have their own very definite and identifiable style. You could say they sound like Genesis too --- and at points they do, and Rush, and a hundred other great prog bands --- but that's just influence. There's a difference between taking the things you like or admire in a band and shaping them to form your own sound, and blatantly ripping them off.
St-Pere's piano takes over at the ninth minute, but the track keeps rockin' and David's multivoice performance is coming more to the fore now. The music turns a little funky, maybe the tiniest bit jazzy as it enters its eleventh minute of existence, then falls back to the pastoral style of the opening minutes in the twelfth, David's voice strong and clear while Michel's piano keeps the melody behind him. Of course there's a guitar solo coming, and it hits in the fourteenth minute, really effective, then a few soft piano notes and we're into a two-minute instrumental section as the tempo kicks up once again before on the back of Benoit David's returning vocal it slows down again as the song nears its end. There's a final flourish on the flute from Marylene as the last minute plays out, and she's accompanied by fading keyboard choral vocals and St-Pere's acoustic guitar, till that's all that's left.
TRACKLISTING
1. A morning rise
2. Pride
3. Superstar
4. The unwinding of time
5. The world is a game
6. Dear someone
7. Time goes by
8. Another day
This is truly a mesmerising album. I loved “One among the living”, and as expected I haven't been disappointed by the followup. It really is an essential album for any lover of progressive rock, or indeed just any aficionado of great rock music. It will certainly appeal to Yes fans, with Benoit David on vocals, but more than that, it's a testament to a great band who have quietly worked away for over a quarter of a century now, but who are still almost unknown beyond their native Canadian homeland.
If there's a mystery here, it's why these guys aren't filling out stadiums across the known world. Hopefully, with the release of this, their sixth album, that may very well soon change.