Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Jadis
Label: Inside Out Records
Released: 2006
Jadis deliver an album with “Photoplay” that’s even more compact than its predecessor “Fanatic” (2003). Of course, the album is pure neo progressive rock all the way through, but it’s also a really nice example of minimalism in the genre. A superficial parallel to “Photoplay” can be drawn with the commercialized splendor (read: the stripping down of typical neo-prog ingredients) of Marillion in the early nineties.
In this otherwise minimalist streak, Jadis even wrote a track with Standing Still that could easily have been released as a single and gone chasing a spot on the hit charts. Of course, you’d have to go back twenty years for that! In the UK in 2006, you have to be “wrecked” in the style of some “soft, milky sin” a la Gorilazz! The other songs on “Photoplay” blend the band’s already-mentioned exploratory spirit with “rock” directness brilliantly. What Jadis carried over most directly from “Fanatic” to the new album is nicely illustrated by the song Make Me Love. And “Photoplay” didn’t go without an instrumental either: it closes out the record with the title track.
The album is graced by outstanding musical polish and perfection, which is clearly a constant with Jadis. Martin Orford and Jon Jowitt bring to Jadis’ sound the same thing that makes their main band I.Q. so great. But Jadis are much more “down to earth” here, and the guitar riff is stressed even more than with I.Q., where the punch of the guitar riff gets lost inside the stretched-out “proggresive jams”! As for the production, Jadis are what they are. That is, the epitome of the traditional British school, inherited from Marillion. Crystal-clear musical balance.
“Photoplay” is an easy-going album. It’s over in the blink of an eye. Which means that everyone who’s “afraid” of the word “progressive”, hey! Tempt fate with “Photoplay”. The album is a great combination of exploration and direct “rock” expression! That’s why it’s superbly listenable all the way through and has the potential to please the spoiled ears of music gourmets who say Genesis already said it all in this field, as well as all of you who give a wide berth to “progressively drawn-out droning”, which “Photoplay” really doesn’t contain.
Line-up
Gary Chandler – guitar, vocals
Martin Orford – keyboards, backing vocals
John Jowitt – bass guitar
Steve Christey – drums, percussion
Production
Gary Chandler
Tracklist
1. Theme’s Light (4:57)
2. What Goes Around (5:18)
3. Asleep In My Hands (5:39)
4. Standing Still (5:21)
5. I Hear Your Voice (6:15)
6. Make Me Move (5:32)
7. Who I Am (6:07)
8. Need To Breathe (4:50)
9. Please Open Your Eyes (5:35)
10. All You’ve Ever Known (6:42)
11. Photoplay (4:19)
Total running time: 60:35
