Album: self titled
Year(s): 1983
Style: Prog, Rock
Similar Bands: Genesis, Yes, Styx
"One Word" Review: Poppy-Prog-Rock
Based Out Of: LA, California
Label: Pavillion, CBS
Art In America - Front Cover & Side 1
Art In America Back Cover & Side 2
Art In America - 1983
1. Art In America - 4.30 (sample)
2. If I Could Fly - 3.50 (sample)
3. Undercover Lover - 4.12 (sample)
4. Sinatra Serenade - 4.30 (sample)/
5. The Line - 3.45 (sample)
6. Loot - 3.16 (sample)
7. Won't it Be Strange - 3.30 (sample)
8. Too Shy To Say - 3.39 (sample)
9. Brett & Hibby - 4.20 (sample)
1. Art In America - 4.30 (sample)
2. If I Could Fly - 3.50 (sample)
3. Undercover Lover - 4.12 (sample)
4. Sinatra Serenade - 4.30 (sample)/
5. The Line - 3.45 (sample)
6. Loot - 3.16 (sample)
7. Won't it Be Strange - 3.30 (sample)
8. Too Shy To Say - 3.39 (sample)
9. Brett & Hibby - 4.20 (sample)
Album Rating: (1-10)
5.5
Members & Other Bands:Chris Flynn-Vox, Guitars
Shishonne Flynn -Vox, String Harp
Dan Flynn-Drums
Luonga Machat Smith-Exec Producer
Eddy Offord-Engineer, Produced, Recorded, Mixed
Chuck Allen-Engineer
Recorded & Mixed-The Eddy Offord Studio, Atlanta, GA
Bob Ludwig-Mastering
T Lavitz - Keyboards (Artista Records)
Jim Kuha-Bass
Steve Morse & A.I.A.-Arrangements
loannis-Album Design & Illustrations
Unknown-ness: Never heard of these guys. With the style of the cover, and date of '83, I figured it would be very prog. The artwork put it right up there next to Yes and Styx in my mind, and that is what I thought the would sound likeAlbum review: I listened to this album when I first got it, and it seemed horrible...the production in the first, opening song seemed predictable and cheezy. it sounded like they were trying to be a certain style of music rather than just playing. Not to mention the first lyrics we hear is "Walking down the street one day, a billboard said to me 'What's your sign.'"
5.5
Members & Other Bands:Chris Flynn-Vox, Guitars
Shishonne Flynn -Vox, String Harp
Dan Flynn-Drums
Luonga Machat Smith-Exec Producer
Eddy Offord-Engineer, Produced, Recorded, Mixed
Chuck Allen-Engineer
Recorded & Mixed-The Eddy Offord Studio, Atlanta, GA
Bob Ludwig-Mastering
T Lavitz - Keyboards (Artista Records)
Jim Kuha-Bass
Steve Morse & A.I.A.-Arrangements
loannis-Album Design & Illustrations
Unknown-ness: Never heard of these guys. With the style of the cover, and date of '83, I figured it would be very prog. The artwork put it right up there next to Yes and Styx in my mind, and that is what I thought the would sound likeAlbum review: I listened to this album when I first got it, and it seemed horrible...the production in the first, opening song seemed predictable and cheezy. it sounded like they were trying to be a certain style of music rather than just playing. Not to mention the first lyrics we hear is "Walking down the street one day, a billboard said to me 'What's your sign.'"
After repeated listens, the progressive nature of the track builds in your mind, and the chorus begins to become memorable and catchy. I've been listening to this many times through in order to write a little about it, and it is really growing on me. I've figured that I'm going to subject myself to a bunch of terrible albums, but perhaps after listening them to as much as I have this, they will get better. Apparently, the third track Undercover Lover was their single. It is a polite, quiet number, with all the threat and force of an Air Supply song. It builds to a wailing guitar, but it refrains from gaining any power. The next song is the stand out track on the album: Sinatra Serenade. It possesses a fun happy-choppy guitar strum/pluck to start things off. The song never builds to much more than its beginning, but it has a nice tone and is the track I tend to look forward to when played over and over again. It, as well as "Loot," is a good blend of prog and rock/pop. Neither song falling a great deal toward one genre or the other. They are never too catchy, nor are they too spacey-smooth.
Overall, they take advantage of the prog style that has been made popular at the time. The melodically blended vocals of a chorus like 'in the grocery line' in "The Line" is simplistic enough to be charming. This is not a prog-fan's prog, but it wades into Prog knee-deep; enough to cross over.
Stand Out Track:Sinatra Serenade
Hello, I am Chris Flynn from Art in America. New album available, produced by David Hentschel. Original line up of the band with Tony Levin added on bass guitar and Chapman Stick. For sale on iTunes and Amazon with streaming on various sites (soundcloud, Youtube, MOG, Spotify, Google Play, Pandora, iHeartradio, etc) to listen to WAV files go here:
ReplyDeletehttps://soundcloud.com/flynn-chris/sets/2012-ep
BTW, Chris Ruetenik (aka Chris Flynn).
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