Artist: Roth, Uli Jon
Label: SPV Records
Release: 2008
Uli Jon Roth is a self-proclaimed professor of acupuncturing classical music composition with ear-splitting rock racket, best known to most as the former guitarist of German hard rock scarecrows Scorpions. The 53-year-old Uli, a “freak” in the truest sense of the word, a multi-instrumentalist who single-handedly takes care of the healthy forging of ideas and arrangements, is really the only protagonist worth mentioning of so-called neo-classical guitar playing, which has been feeding the dreams of countless young six-string-kneading hopefuls for decades.
Uli Jon Roth is always looking for something new. This time his thoughts landed on a futuristic musical experiment going by the name Under A Dark Sky. It’s an apocalyptically minded tale that quietly sketches the outlines of amateurish enthusiasm for classical music. Besides the shenanigans of a brilliant guitarist, this ambitiously conceived project features a full vocal backing in the form of a quintet of throats, the so-called “heavenly choir”, and its string namesake, fatter by about half a dozen souls. Uli Jon Roth may well dunk his fingers into the sour minestrone of classical and rock with enviable lightheartedness, but that’s by no means a guarantee of quality, or at least of an ear-friendly musical journey. Quite the opposite! Under A Dark Sky is anything but an operetta of high artistic value, though by some strange coincidence it’ll probably put a bullet through an unprepared listener’s temple in no time.
Eccentric Uli clearly has no major problems with his ego, at least judging by the stubbornness with which his quasi-expertise in the theory and practice of vocal and instrumental fields keeps bombarding us. The same goes for Under a Dark Sky, which isn’t satisfied with small things, since it dilettantishly experiments all the way through with stringing together single-movement compositions that have neither head nor tail, and that feel completely empty and artificial even to an undemanding ear, which once again confirms the clichés about the incompatibility of rock and classical music. Uli has woven an impenetrable web of kitschy instrumental chaos that changes its mood colors faster than a hyperactive Christmas tree. Then there’s the unstable vocal delivery of former Yngwie Malmsteen and Royal Hunt warrior Mark Boals. He may not lack drive, but unfortunately his room to maneuver is squeezed down to dutifully following pathetic melodic patterns and shapes that, each rounded off in its own sweet way, seem self-sufficient. On top of that, the vocal collaboration, probably first conceived as one of the album’s highlights, comes across as too inorganic and lifeless on the Boals-to-choir axis. Boals is also forced, again and again, to race the quintet up into registers that far exceed the singer’s capabilities, so instead of gaining momentum, Under A Dark Sky definitely loses it.
If we add the conceptual tedium that drags on into infinity, Under A Dark Sky turns out to be a rather painful experience, if not an outright indigestible musical romp. The album came into my hands in a cardboard sleeve, which, if I leave aside its general uselessness from an audiophile’s point of view, is a shame. For potential buyers, I’d rather recommend picking up some real toilet paper in the future.
Line-up
Uli Jon Roth: vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass
Mark Boals: vocals
Liz Vandall: vocals
Peter Ewald: tenor
Kerstin Domros: alto
Michael Flexig: baritone
Michael Ehre: drums
Production
Uli Jon Roth
Track list
1. S.O.S.
2. Tempus Fugit
3. Land Of Dawn
i) Techno Man
ii) Land Of Dawn
iii) Lion Wings
4. The Magic Word
5. Inquisition
6. Letter Of The Law
7. Stay In The Light
8. Benediction
9. Light & Shadows
10. Tanz In Die Dämmerung
i) Destination Twilight
ii) Morgenrot
iii) Searchlights From Hell
iv) Seelenschmerz
v) Inside The Titanic
vi) Fama Errat
vii) Requiem For The Nations
viii) Morituri
ix) Rex Tremendae
x) Star Peace
xi) Tanz In Die Dämmerung
xii) Silence
