Album review: KINETIC ELEMENT – The Face Of Life

February 25th, 2019 by GRTR! HQ

Melodic Revolution Records

Great, just what we need – another bunch of old buffers, sorry, I mean proggers, flogging early Genesis/Yes inspired symphonic prog. The latter, in particular.

To be fair, the Richmond, Virginia based band – formed by veteran multi-keyboardist Mike Visaggio – have been around for well over a decade now, and have two previous albums under their belt – Powered By Light (2009) and Travelog (2015).

But The Face Of Life sees the band at a crossroads with the introduction of their first full time vocalist – Saint John Coleman – who starts out shakily but rapidly warms to the task, and a new guitarist – Peter Matuchniak. Although constructionally, I suspect not much has changed.

Lyrically inspired by spirituality and the state of the world and the human condition, the album – ‘a symphony in E Major’ – is made up of just five ‘pieces’ (including a short ‘bonus’ track). The production by today’s standards may be a little lacking, but it does allow the instruments and ‘clean’ vocals a rare degree of clarity.

The playing throughout is accomplished, if relying heavily on the style of early Yes, and there’s some lovely vintage touches, notably Mark Tupko’s thundering Chris Squire influenced bass playing. It’s actually a very enjoyable listen, with no urge to reach for the ‘skip’ or ‘eject’ buttons, but by the same token it’s hardly packed with originality.

Without question, Kinetic Element would make a great Yes tribute band, but in their own right, they’re perhaps just too derivative. And for that reason I can’t see many making The Face Of Life a regular playlist feature. ***

Review by Pete Whalley

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)