Band: Tadashi Goto

CD Title: “Innervisions”

Band Website: www.myspace.com/soundscape50

Label: ProgRock Records

Label Website: www.progrockrecords.com

Release Date: 2008

 

This is the second release for Tadashi Goto and it launches with a bang. Here’s the short story on him…born in 1976, spent most of his formative years listening to classical music…recorded his first album Soundscape (2005) while living in Australia…the album got rave reviews. This time around Goto (keyboards, drums) has assembled quite a cast of characters including; Ty Tabor, Sean Conklin and Chris Poland on guitars and Tony Levin, Tony Franklin and Randy George on bass. So as you might imaging the performances are top-notch.

 

Innervisions consists of twelve tracks all in the four to five minute range and each is loaded with tons of notes. Most of the tracks tend to be faster paced, heavy guitar, double kick-drum and blazing keyboard runs. However every-so-often we get a slower track like “Inner Circle” (4:16) or “Werther Effect” (5:06) but even in the slower tracks Goto finds room to perform busy keyboard runs sometimes on piano and other times on synth. You get the feeling that Goto has a problem staying slow and is just dying to pick up the tempo. There is this sense your watching a steam compressor that’s building in pressure with every second and it’s about to blow at anytime. Most of the tracks tend to not veer too far from the core melody and rhythm established, although some of the compositions do make radical starts and stops, including the afore mentioned slower tracks that change course about three times during the performance. Sprinkled here and there are some interesting ethnic musical touches, a bit of Middle-Eastern or some Asian motifs. The overall tone is quite aggressive throughout this disc and captures a kind of Emerson Lake and Palmer performance style. The songs don’t sound at all like ELP, but the way they’re played has that same intense, busy quality that ELP was famous for. Goto’s keyboards are everywhere as to be expected, but you’ll also hear plenty of crunchy guitar and driving, rumbling bass work throughout. Some of these tracks get so intense they become a cacophony of sound, even discordant before returning to the central melody. It’s an exhausting listen.

 

Tadashi Goto shares a lot in common with Japanese bands like Gerard or the already mentioned ELP but he has his own sound and style. If you’re looking for a dynamic instrumental workout with a high level of aggression I can certainly recommend you listen to Innervisions, you won’t be disappointed.