Album Review: CRYSTAL PALACE – The System Of Events

September 5th, 2013 by alanjones

Gentle Art Of Music [Release Date: 04.10.13]

The history of rock music is peppered with great albums – but the ones that truly sit in the Pantheon of iconic albums are those which have that one defining track, that spark of genius that makes it better than just great.

Obvious examples are ‘Stairway To Heaven’ (Led Zep 4), ‘Firth Of Fifth’ (Selling England By The Pound), ‘Child In Time’ (In Rock), ‘All Right Now (Fire & Water) and so on. You get my drift.

Now I’m not saying that ‘The System Of Events’ falls into the ‘iconic album’ category, not yet anyway, but it has got that one track that takes this album into the ‘must-listen’ classification.

Crystal Palace are a German progressive/art-rock band from Berlin who have been around for some time honing their chops and advancing their songwriting skills which has led to this little gem – their sixth studio album.

Sounding to these ears very similar to label stablemates RPWL (no bad thing, RPWL are one of the finest progressive rock bands around) with a smattering of Hogarth-era Marillion, Pendragon, Arena and, ubiquitously, Porcupine Tree, ‘The System Of Events’ is an eight track progressive rock tour-de-force.

Very much set in the present, the band are not only unafraid to tackle the big issues of the day such as the Breivik killings in Norway, the school shootings in America and the Fukushima disaster but are also able to get up-close and personal with people’s everyday trials and tribulations of love and loss.

The aforementioned highlight of what is an exceptional piece of work is both the closing and title track of the album.

‘The System Of Events’ would be a standout track on any progressive rock album – it’s that good. The band knew what they had as well, roping in Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree) and Yogi Lang and Kalle Wallner (RPWL) to add their talents to the thirteen minute epic.

Giving the band’s take on the Fukushima disaster, the track builds in intensity to the anthemic chorus with some incredible guitar work then cuts unexpectedly to a series of news reports detailing the tsunami and its aftermath layered over acoustic guitar and keyboards before cranking up for the big finish. Staggering stuff.

The whole album is a top-notch effort – much thought has gone into both the subject matter and the music to produce a magnum opus of colossal proportions with exceptional musicianship throughout – taken still further by that monumental title track.

Jaw-droppingly good.

*****

Review by Alan Jones

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 20 October 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 22 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 28 October 2024

THE RASMUS Rest In Pieces (Better Noise Music)
THE PLAGUE What Else Can I Do (FiXT)
STAR CIRCUS Turn The Tide (indie)
DEFENCES Breathe It In (Long Branch Records)

Featured Albums w/c 28 October 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)