PRESTO BALLET — The Lost Art of Time Travel

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PRESTO BALLET - The Lost Art of Time Travel cover
4.04 | 10 ratings | 3 reviews
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Album · 2008

Tracklist

1. The Mind Machine (10:51)
2. Thieves (9:05)
3. You're Alive (4:26)
4. One Tragedy at a Time (14:03)
5. I'm Not Blind (6:01)
6. Easy Tomorrow (6:32)
7. Haze (9:28)

Total Time: 60:26

Line-up/Musicians

- Scott Albright / lead vocals, acoustic guitar
- Kurdt Vanderhoof / guitars, mellotron, Chamberlin, organ, bass pedals, synthesizers, electric pianos
- Ryan McPherson / organ, piano, synthesizers, lead & backing vocals
- Bill Raymond / drums, percussion
- Izzy Rehaume / bass, backing vocals

About this release

Progrock Records PRR560 SPV 452612 CD

Thanks to colt, adg211288 for the updates

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PRESTO BALLET THE LOST ART OF TIME TRAVEL reviews

Specialists/collaborators reviews

UMUR
"The Lost Art of Time Travel" is the second full-length studio album by US progressive rock act Presto Ballet. The album was released through Progrock Records in July 2008. It´s the successor to "Peace Among the Ruins" from 2005. There have been quite a lot of lineup changes since the debut album and only lead vocalist Scott Albright and guitarist/keyboard player Kurdt Vanderhoof remain. New in the lineup are Ryan McPherson (organ, piano, synthesizers, lead- and backing vocals), Bill Raymond (drums, percussion), and Izzy Rehaume (bass, backing vocals).

Stylistically Presto Ballet continue the hard rocking progressive rock style of their debut album. In many ways they remind me of Kansas, because they have the hard rock riffs and AOR leaning pop/rock choruses, but they also have the complex playing and symphonic approach to songwriting which characterized many of the European progressive rock acts from the 70s...and yes while this is contemporary progressive rock, almost all elements of this release are influenced by 70s hard rock and progressive rock, including the choice of keyboards like mellotron and hammond organ. It´s interesting to hear Vanderhoof in another setting than his other band Metal Church, and it´s obvious that he has made sure that the two acts are not musically connected. Presto Ballet can play some heavy parts here and there, but they are never heavy metal oriented. The same can be said about Metal Church which occasionally flirt with progressive rock, but never fully cross the line.

"The Lost Art of Time Travel" is a well produced release, and everthing you hear and experience while listening to the album scream high level professionalism. To my ears Presto Ballet are best when they are at their most progressive, while I appreciate them less when they are leaning towards their hard rock/AOE side, but the balance is pretty equal here, and it´s therefore fans who enjoy both styles who´ll find this an interesting release. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
Nightfly
Presto Ballets sound is likely to come as a bit of a surprise to anyone who knows guitarist Kurdt Vaderhoof from his other band Metal Church. Here there's an absence of the thrash metal of that band, instead Presto Ballet have a sound firmly based on seventies American progressive rock bearing a resemblance to the likes of Styx and Kansas with a bit of Deep Purple thrown in for good measure.

The Lost Art of Time Travel is their second album and very good it is too. 7 songs make up the album, 4 of them 9 minutes or longer giving ample opportunity for instrumental workouts. Presto Ballet produce a powerful yet melodic sound, the seventies authenticity helped by the production and much use being made of keyboards like Hammond organ and Melotron. The band are all great players and in Scott Albright they have found an excellent rock vocalist capable of handling the strong melodies with ease.

The album is consistently strong making it difficult to pick favourite tracks but special mention should be made of One Tragedy at a Time, a 14 minute masterpiece with swirling melotrons and Hammond organ, powerful guitar riffs and a dynamic rhythm section. It's nearly 3 minutes before the vocals come giving you an idea of the space left for instrumental interplay. Although as already stated, they produce a powerful sound, there's still room for some light and shade with plenty of changes.

This is pretty much the formula for the album which is fine with me but You're Alive adds an acoustic guitar driven interlude very much reminding me of Styx both musically and vocally and excellent it is too. Haze, which closes the album also offers some diversification being one of the other more restrained and laid back moments until an instrumental section picks things up a bit reminding me of Genesis with some Hackett style lead guitar.

This album turned out to be one of the unexpected gems of 2008 and recommended to anyone who likes their prog metal with priorities on strong melodies.
Windhawk
Pretty neat sophomore effort from US band Presto Ballet here, and a great find for those who like progressive rock as it was back in the golden days of the genre.

Their chosen style resides somewhere in between a rectangle formed by acts such as Yes, Genesis, Kansas and Uriah Heep; strong and melodic compositions with more than a few symphonic tendencies - but with a heaviness and grit to the guitar-work as the only element that reveals the metal background of the bands instigator.

Nothing new or ground-breaking on this release; the overall sound a heavier, darker and somewhat grittier version of a band like The Flower Kings; but the songs are well made, planned and executed. The moods and atmospheres strong, the melodies compelling and the compositions evolve just enough to stay interesting while maintaining separate identities.

Well worth checking out.

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  • Colt
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