Atlas Before is the project for songwriter/musician David Denton. Denton has been making music for decades. His release All Systems Go is an album he considers to be a rock opera. There is a description of the story on his Bandcamp page or website if you want to read about the narrative which I encourage you to do .
The music seems to be very influenced by rock artists from the ’70s and ’80s. There is a pretty eclectic batch of songs. The album opens with “We Rise Each Day” that starts with slick guitar work which is an intro. Once vocals come in, the song does seem to have a vibe that does sound a lot like an opera. There is a bit of a Pink Floyd vibe. Up next is “I Don't Have To Be Any Certain Way.” It’s a really good rock song. Although as an engineer I have to say there were too many high frequencies. I couldn’t make out the lyrics and was trying to follow the narrative without looking at the lyrics. “The Moon In The Sea” is an acoustic folk song that feels ethereal and is surrounded with atmospheric pads. There is a distinct ’80s rock vibe on “Outsiders” while “Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't” is one of the more original sounding songs that contains layered bass parts. “Go With The Flow,” “Celluloid Robots” and “Crosswinds of Time” continue on a familiar, nostalgic rock vibe. “High On Life” felt like a highlight while “Power Surge” and “All Systems Go” had some solid moments as well. As an engineer I have some difficulty with how lo-fi the recordings were. I felt like some of the songs were going for epic heights and the recording quality wasn’t able to match the potential. Other than that I thought the songwriting and delivery was well done throughout the album. In fact I thought the hooks were memorable on a number of songs. It’s not everyday I get to experience a rock opera but I’m glad I did.
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