NEW MACHINE: s.t Mascot Records CD (Shinny Digi pack) Pure progressive excellency!!

Pure progressive excellency!! After the first listen I was stunned. I had expected a rather heavy and decent album, not too original, as debuts often are. My expectations were 100% wrong. What we have here is a two-man project balancing on the thin line between progressive rock, metal and AOR The two men are David Garcia and Bob Gilmartin. They’ve made music together for about 20 years now, following each other through band after band, but this is their best output so far. They’ve the same taste in music: Pink Floyd, Marillion, Kansas, Yes, Beatles and Dream Theater. All bands have influenced this record, in some way.

Still New Machine stands on its own legs, with a flawless production, outstanding musical ability and an excellent music. Imagine a slowly billowing tranquillity with very outspoken melodies acting in cycles. The song starts with nothing but clean keyboards, a sawing riff joins together with an unmistakingly metal rhythm. Then it progresses forth with the aid of short keyboard-based interludes (sometimes they are made up by bass), occasionally followed by a headbanging, mangling and irresistible metal groove.

The music is soft, in a cloth sense. It sways very gently between its extremes without refraining from visiting them. It does so, often, but it transcends as smoothly and seamlessly as only the greatest songwriters and composers can manage. And its comfortable, the music sweeps over you and the song slips into each other just as if they had recorded all the songs in a row but not in a bad way. Progressive music often ends up being difficult listening too, both because of complexity and pretensions. New Machine doesnt apply to any of these categories. They blend riffs tasting of Dream Theater with better compositions than whats been made for a long, long time. So, yes, its complex but theres also the direct and instant melody layer so nobody is left outside. And since I mentioned pretensions and Dream Theater in the same paragraph, I thought Id say that New Machine is not close at all. They have the ability to do Dream Theaters stuff, sure, they just prefer making music.

Ability and composition isnt everything. New Machine has the third cornerstone too, which seems to be a characteristic of most debuts: passion. Passion with a big P. It is to be found in the poignant lyrics, the music itself. No one without a fair amount of devotion can produce music like this. Theres passion in the magical vocal work too. Both David and Bob sing and they sing excellent. One voice is slightly darker in tone than the other one, and when they put it together, in tune one cannot but melt inside. Im usually harsh on vocals, but theres no need for that here. No need for complaints at all.
1. Going Home 01:41
2. New Horizon 05:08
3. Falling 04:14
4. Blood In The Ocean 04:12
5. In The Wake 04:36
6. Cold 05:11
7. Forgotten Man 04:53
8. Meant To Be 04:30
9. A Thousand Lies 05:21
10. Waterfront 11:22
Total playing time 51:08

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
I have the CD... Wow!!, July 27, 2003
By "wicked_and_worn" (Honolulu, HI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: New Machine (Audio CD)
Its hard to find such diversity coming from a two person band. Bob and Dave put together an extremely nice piece of art. The entire CD is a great listen. From expert guitar play to the masterful drums, this CD will have you rockin' all the way through.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Absolutely Amazing, July 2, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: New Machine (Audio CD)
I just picked this album up on a whim. I saw the reviews on [Amazon.com] and they caught my attention. Every single reviewer is right and then some! I haven't heard music like this in a long long time. These guys definitely show their influences which tend to be from the 70's but the sound really isn't retro. It can't be pinned down or designated to just one era. I keep finding myself concentrating on the complex instrumentation and yet singing along the whole time. What an amazing album!
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simply great music, May 3, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: New Machine (Audio CD)
there are a lot of heavy handed reviews here! to me it's pretty plain and simple. new machine is simply great music. good lyrics, good songwriting, good peformance. this is one of those albums that you can just put on and listen to from beginning to end. it's just a terrific listen.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, April 19, 2003
By Jon (New York) - See all my reviews
This review is from: New Machine (Audio CD)
THANK YOU NEW MACHINE FOR PUTTING OUT ONE OF THE BEST ALBUMS OF THE PAST 10 YEARS. I AM SO SICK AND TIRED OF THE MUSIC I AM HEARING OUT THERE. IF I HEAR LINKIN PARK ONE MORE TIME I'M GOING TO VOMIT. IF YOU LIKE GREAT MUSICIANSHIP, GREAT SONGWRITING, AND SONGS THAT ACTUALLY MEAN SOMETHING, THEN TAKE A LISTEN TO NEW MACHINE!
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A prog band who got it right, April 12, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: New Machine (Audio CD)
I am a pretty big prog fan. I've been listening to all sorts of prog music for over 25 years and have a seen a lot of bands come and go. Most of them had a song or two on an album that was pretty good but for the most part the album was garbage. They would try to impress the listener by writing 20 minute songs just for the sake of writing a 20 minute song. But the songs just wandered and went nowhere. There are exceptions to this of course in the likes of Yes, Rush, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Kansas, and even Dream Theater (though DT is starting to slip).
This debut New Machine album is incredible and if this is a sign of things to come from this band they will most certainly be added to that list.

I agree with the other reviewers about the musicianship of this band, but I noticed no one has commented on the individual songs so here we go:

GOING HOME-
This song is weird in the fact that it's not really a song. It's more like an intro piece. Very reminiscent of Yes. The vocal harmonies especially remind me of Yes.

NEW HORIZON -
Going Home goes into New Horizon and with a slam. The guitar riff is really cool. This song is very well written and the chorus is phenomenal. David Garcia's vocals really soar on this one. He sounds a lot like Geddy Lee. NH reminds me of Queensryche in their Mindcrime days.

FALLING -
Can anyone say Rush? This song soooo reminded me of Rush in their Counterparts days. The vocals especially. Garcia sounds so much like Geddy! The solo break has a neat backwards guitar effect which works perfectly as the song seems to be about a mental struggle of some kind.

BLOOD IN THE OCEAN -
Very Floyd-esque. Kind of reminds me of Floyd meets the Beatles. This song has one of the greatest choruses I've ever heard. BITO is super emotional and I can really feel what Garcia is singing. He sounds a lot less like Geddy on this one. His voice changes a lot. Also the guitar solo in this song is an instant classic. Why this song isn't all over the radio I have no idea.

IN THE WAKE -
We re-visit Rush on this one. Except this one reminds me more of Rush in their Hemispheres days meets Dream Theater in their Awake days. ITW has a very cool solo break with a guitar solo that steamrolls. Bob Gilmartin sings this one. His voice reminds me of Robin Zander. Very cool.

COLD -
Cold brings up so many different elements. It's the heaviest song on the album and has a weird but awesome sort of Styx, Metallica, Queensryche, Mozart mix. I mention Mozart because Cold has a solo break with this piano part that is very classical. It was refreshing to hear this actually as these kinds of piano breaks just don't exist in music anymore. There's also a choir-type vocal arrangement on top of it that is just incredible. Garcia sings his tail off on this tune.

FORGOTTEN MAN -
This is the most straight ahead song on the album. It's a good song but compared to the others it seems slightly out of place. Although it does have a really chunky solo break that is actually pretty cool. Gilmartin and Garcia do a vocal trade off that works very well.

MEANT TO BE -
I didn't know prog bands did ballads. The last prog band to do it was Styx in the sense of a pure ballad. Which is actually what MTB reminds me of. MTB has a beautiful arrangement and Garcia's vocals are heartfelt and honest. They should be he dedicates the song to his wife.

A THOUSAND LIES -
INCREDIBLE musicianship on this song. This song screams Dream Theater but in a more coherent tighter box. It's not as overblown as DT can tend to get. Again the guitar solo is just fantastic. This one is Gilmartin's best vocal song and his voice really carries this tune.

WATERFRONT -
This is the epic on the album. Every prog band worth its salt has to have at least one song that clocks in over 10 minutes and Waterfront is New Machine's masterpiece. And I don't use that word lightly. New Machine tips their hats to Pink Floyd quite a bit on this album but on Waterfront they GIVE Floyd their hat. Garcia sounds so much like Roger Waters on this it's remarkable. A slow orchestral beginning that builds into a Dark Side of the Moon type verse is awesome, complete with 3 part harmonies throughout. I had chills listening to this one. The song ventures into all sorts of different movements and sections but without getting lost or boring. Very few bands can pull this off but New Machine did it perfectly. Definitely my favorite on the album.

New Machine is an outstanding band with so much promise. They have it all. Great musicianship, great vocals, great songwriting. It's a real accomplishment to belong on the CD rack with the other great bands of the prog genre.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
amazing, April 12, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: New Machine (Audio CD)
i bought new machine a few weeks ago and haven't been able to get it out of my disc player. this band is amazing! i'm only 15 and didn't grow up with rush or pink floyd or bands like that. but i love those bands and new machine reminds me alot of them. i'm just happy that a band is doing this kind of music because no one else out there is. my favorite is blood in the ocean. that is a great song.
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And the winner is....., April 12, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: New Machine (Audio CD)
Every so often a band comes along that just blows you away. But the sad part of it is, it's usually a band who'll never get noticed or signed to a 'major label'. New Machine is that next band. And while I'm not saying they *won't* get noticed or signed to a major label, we all know the chances are very slim - especially for a band of this musical magnitude.
When I first heard this album I found myself saying "there is no friggin' way this band shouldn't be huge." I was completely stunned by the songwriting and arrangements. New Machine has pulled together every element of rock that makes this genre so great. The musicianship is outstanding. And when I say outstanding, I don't mean like some kid who says "oh my God, Nirvana are great musicians." 'Cause lets not kid ourselves, Nirvana wrote some great songs, but great musicians they are not. This is where New Machine really shines. You can hear in every part of every song how much time and effort has gone into the arrangements, the melodies, the counterparts, the vocal harmonies. The list goes on and on.

My point is this. While you may never be watching the Grammy's and hear "And the winner is...... New Machine", the reality is that this band belongs there.

THEY ARE THAT GOOD.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Just what I was looking for!, April 4, 2003
By "sunshine2470" (Hoboken, New Jersey) - See all my reviews
This review is from: New Machine (Audio CD)
A friend told me about this album and I decided to visit the website. All I can say is that I've been waiting to hear a band/album like this for a very long time and never thought it would happen! It's really hard to classify the style of New Machine with a label, but that's alright. Powerful songwriting that connects with the heart and at the same time hits you like a two ton heavy thing! This album is full of substance and it's an album that you put on start to finish. No need to skip tracks on this bad boy! The cd has not left my disc player since I got it! Very refreshing. Take a Listen for yourselves. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
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Music with some teeth, April 1, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: New Machine (Audio CD)
It's about time someone put out an album with some teeth. This album is slammin' from start to finish. Even the ballad is worth listening to (and I usually hate ballads) - it reminds me of Styx. Each song is different from the next one, but the album doesn't sound confused. It's extremely coherent given the wide range of musical styles and depth. New Machine definitely has some bite.
As TheMusic.com reviewer wrote...Bravo!

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
You can Still ROCK in America!, April 1, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: New Machine (Audio CD)
Oh yeah, all right! These guys ARE kinda 80's retro, but SO WHAT? They still [rule]! IMMENSE SOUND, PROFOUND lyrics, THANK GOD REAL ROCK is BACK in the form of the NEW MACHINE.