Reviewed by Graeme Crawford

"The return of the concept album." states the press release, and a mighty concept it is. English composer Stephen Reid takes the seven deadly sins and attempts to relate them to contemporary society. There is no escaping that this is a monumental piece of work that has taken time to construct. The idea is that the album will cause the listener to contemplate and debate the issues raised within, however it is not an easy album to get to grips with. Each sin has a narrated prologue as well as the track, and there are films to accompany each prologue on the website. The prologues are delivered in a King James Version style, while the lyrics and ideas of the songs are also highly complex. This is likely to deter the more casual listener, as it takes several listens to really see the points that are being made. The music on the album is keyboard led, and tends to be very similar in tempo and delivery. Most of the variations occur in the vocals with some rap, choirs or female vocals in addition to the main singers. Stephen has to get credit for attempting such a project and if you invest the time, it should be a very rewarding experience. However this may be too much for most listeners.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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