ALBUM REVIEW: Brain In A Jar – Dr. Raza

’70s progressive rock, despite its detractors, is undoubtedly one of the most influential movements in the history of rock and roll. PINK FLOYD are undoubtedly one of the most successful groups to ever form, while YES, KING CRIMSON and GENESIS are frequently heralded as being among the most revolutionary groups of their era. Many of the albums released during this time have rightly earned their place in the annals of history; some, such as Dark Side Of The Moon, has become so iconic, even their image is inescapable. It even influenced its detractors indirectly; the ever-significant explosion of punk that came in the late ’70s itself was a violent reaction to prog’s sickening indulgences. The endless solos, the insultingly-long tracks, lyrics which acted as a lethal repellent for all women within range of an EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER record – it, sadly, became its own parody, and a revolution was needed. While they were hard to ignore at the time, many of the tropes of this style have since been shaken off – unless done for comedic/nostalgic purposes, you have to stray far to encounter the once-familiar endless flute-solos and ludicrous narrative concepts. Progressive-rock, with bands like TOOL and PORCUPINE TREE spearheading it in the modern era, even boasts, dare we say, a ‘cool-factor’. However, some artists seem stubbornly trapped in tradition, and willingly indulge in all the trappings other bands have worked so hard to bury. With this, it is time to introduce DR. RAZA.

This all may sound horrifically negative, but there are a great number of positives to make note of first. DR. RAZA is an entirely self-taught keyboardist from Canada and is the sole performer here. On Brain In A Jar, he is able to make his virtuoso talents abundantly clear. His DIY approach allows him to showcase such talents utterly untamed. The five tracks here are sequenced excellently – an intro and an outro, the space filled by three schizophrenic, high-energy prog-rock freakouts. The bookending pieces offer a complimentary breather to proceedings, focusing more on humble piano-work much like that of Brian Eno’s ambient classics; it’s a wise decision and testament to the musical knowledge of DR. RAZA.

Furthermore, for any fan of music at its most eccentric and untamed, this is likely to appeal immensely. Osiris Protocol even calls upon such avant-garde influences as THE RESIDENTS – the gene-pool is far larger than simply the ancient Canterbury first. There’s also a level of modern technical wizardry, made popular by such groups as ANIMALS AS LEADERS and SCALE THE SUMMIT, which makes the album feel refreshingly frenetic in a number of places.

There are some glaring flaws in the final product however, some of which are too testing to overlook. Primarily, some of the tonal choices present here are utterly puzzling; DR. RAZA repeatedly adopts a hideous, fuzzy keyboard which calls upon the most oft-parodied tropes of ’70s prog. As difficult to describe as it is to listen to, it’s a halfway house between the jarring squall of a theremin and the jaunty warmth of a rock organ, and it rears its infuriating head throughout the record.

Furthermore, it becomes abundantly clear rather quickly that many of these songs sound, quite simply, boneless. There is very little obvious structure, and it makes the pieces often feel more tiresomely aimless than thrillingly unhinged. Any album which suffers this issue will have limited appeal, but when the album is meant to be delivering a concept (totally indecipherable), it’s criminal to be unfocused.

To conclude, DR. RAZA’s Brain In A Jar is by no means a bad album – his technical proficiency and knowledge of this style of music is abundantly clear throughout the run-time. It will suffer from a limited appeal, but those who are interested in long-form, keyboard-based prog-rock, you are unlikely to find another album this year which scratches that itch quite so successfully. However, frequent willingness to indulge ’70s prog fan-boy fantasies often disrupts the experience, and it is your willingness to accept them which will determine your enjoyment.

Rating: 5/10

Brain In A Jar is out now via self release. 

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