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"Listening
to this CD one gets the sensation of waves of fresh sounds coming
across from the speakers like a welcome sea breeze in the middle
of summer afternoon. On their crest, Joan Morbée's crystalline,
sexy, throaty voice rides epigramatically like a female Poseidon
in search of another amorous adventure. Excellent rock EP from
a very promising group."
Stavros Moschoupoulos
FAO CASA Gazette
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations
Rome, Italy
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"This is an impressive debut album bringing together a variety
of musical styles in a very professional way. I feel that Senses
are perhaps wedged between the singer-songwriter-with-a- backing-band
genre and the prog genre. As a result the album is a mixed collection
of tracks. In saying that, there is nothing wrong with a little
bit of variation; certainly the album keeps you listening all the
way through. You never really know what the next track is going
to be. I did not know what to expect when I received this CD, and
it has been a breath of fresh air."
Frank Blades, Alternate
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"A
New Jersey based four-piece led by vocalist/keyboardist/composer
Joan Morbée, their style falls in the category of somewhat folk
influenced acoustic sounds juxtaposed with harder edged rock based
influences. Morbée's voice ties the effort together nicely, sounding
a bit like Jon Anderson with a huskier and deeper tone, though occasionally
hitting the high registers of a Steve Perry. The album's six tracks
are split evenly between a harder, more streamlined rock style (
the even tracks) and a more lush and symphonic oriented approach
(odd tracks - in particular the opener "Under The Weight of The
Rain" and the ten minute "In Light of The Moon/Reflection/ High
Tide"). The former are mostly song based, registering fairly low
on the progmeter (yet the closer "Burn The Candle Down" straddles
the band's stylistic poles), while the latter set extends well into
the traditional prog idiom, with extended intros, nontraditional
structures and metric changes aplenty. the use of piano and acoustic
guitar opposite the driving rock passage recalls Renaissance to
some extent, except the rock element here is a mite more simplistic
and edgy. The electric guitar textures and solos are worthy of note,
especially on the title track, occasionally reminiscent of Steve
Howe. In all, this is a band to watch. They definitely seem to be
going somewhere."
Peter Thelen, Expose Magazine
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"The
album commences with 'Under The Weight of The Rain', which has some
delicate piano work for the introduction. This soon picks up when
the rest of the band join in. Vocally Joan reminds me somewhat of
Sandy Denny combined with Grace Slick and to me there is very much
a Jefferson Airplane feel to proceedings at times. There are only
six songs on this rather short (35 minutes) album, but they are
enjoyable. Only investigate further if you want an album of songs
that rely on you having an interest in high quality music as opposed
to one particular genre.
Kev Rowlands, Rock Feedback, UK |
'Fields
Unsown', is what I would regard as a very pleasant progressive
rock album. There are 6 tracks lasting just over 37 mins.
The vocals are excellent from singer-songwriter Joan, who has
a great voice with a good vocal range. Most of the tracks carry
a lot of feeling, with nice melodies that you could say are folk
influenced with touches of progressive and hard rock. Joan's voice
reminds me a bit of Sandy Denny and Grace Slick and some of the
songs do have a slight Jefferson Airplane feel to them.
The musicianship throughout the album is also superb and there
is some oustanding guitar work.
This is an album to be listened to. One to enjoy!!!
Derek Daniel (UK)
http://www.intonet.co.uk/~derekdaniel/index.htm
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From
the very beginning I was very surprised with the line up of the
band. Joan Morbée is the name of the woman leading the band, featuring
the deep, demon-like voice. She is also responsible for sounds
of the piano and acoustic guitar.
Don Digiacopo is the second member staying in a band from scratch.The
sound of bass fulfill only the overall impression and makes the
music elasticer.
The band presents 35 minutes of music drifting in a various mood.
Each track is different from another by means of style, scratching
from quite a hard rock sound to sensual art-rock piano solos.
After hard "Under the weight of the rain", the album introduces
us into much calmer, almost idyllic mood of instruments in "Take
a strand" track, where the highlight is a sharp Joan's voice.
The title track "Fields Unsown" is built with the acoustic guitar
and a vocal differentiating it from the atmosphere of typical
rock- country.
"Free" and "Burn The Candle Down" are maintained in a similar
atmosphere of hard-rock. Nevertheless it is not a typical rock
and that is why enthusiasts of art-rock keep getting back to listening
to these tracks.
My definite favourite here is 10-minutes long song "In light of
the moon/reflection/high tide". This track presents the sound
of the real good art-rock.
The tension is getting higher and higher together with the piano
progression.This mystic track, changing its speed, becomes a very
passionate song with a voice that seems to cry over some old wounds.
This is the most dramatic and for me the most beautiful song on
this album.
The whole is not what many people expect to be a typical example
of progressive music. This is an art-rock album without all those
conventions of 90th. It reminds rather about recordings from the
beginning of this genre.
The truth is that SENSES has released a very beautiful and 'sensual'
album,which is original because of the raw sound of the piano
without so popular nowadays synthetic keyboards. "Fields Unsown"
is for sure one of the best art-rock debuts from behind the ocean.
Magdalene Grabias, Gallery of Contempt
Progressive Rock of Poland
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Senses
is a progressive rock band that was formed in November 1994, by
the self-taught musicians Joan Morbée (vocals, keyboards, Acoustic
Guitar, composer and bandleader) and Don Digiacopo (bass guitar).
They are from New Jersey, USA.
Their influences are many. Ranging from progressive and rock bands
from the 60's and 70's such as Yes, King Crimson, ELP, Jethro
Tull, The Who and Led Zeppelin to several jazz, new age and classical
artists such as Copland, Holst, Vivaldi and Bernstein. Maybe you
can ad a slice of Pink Floyd, Camel and Dream Theater to the list
as well. They sound very professional. This is their impressive
debut release, and it also features session musicians Bruce Uchitel
(lead guitar) and Vinnie DeNunzio (drums), making this a four
piece line-up.
Maybe you can label it song based, folky / country, melodious,
hard / symphonic / art / progressive rock (I know it sounds crazy,
but it isn't). Joan's voice reminds of Jon Anderson, Geddy Lee
and Steve Perry (although she's a girl), and all track's are written
by her. In fact when I first heard her I thought she was a man.
The album keeps you interest all the songs through, because each
track is different from the other. The best songs are the tracks:
"Under The Weight Of The Rain", "In The Light Of The Moon / Reflection
/ High Tide" (9 minutes long) and also "Burn The Candle Down".
The most catchy songs are "Take A Stand" and "Free", and they
are very good. I think that those two tracks could appeal to a
wider and bigger audience.
This is an album with very beautiful songs, and the use of a real
piano instead of keyboards is a very good move. Unfortunately
there is only six songs on this album making it rather short.
With the right promotion I think that we hopefully are going to
hear more from this very promising group in the future.
Reviewed by Greger Ronnqvist-(Sweden)
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Senses
- Fields Unknown
Like what 10,000 Maniacs has done? You'll like the swinging rock
sound of Senses that actually puts some old fashioned meaning
into their movement. As a writer, I can really really really Really
connect with the lyric "why is it that people treat you this way/
when they never had anything bad to say". This reminds me of the
tragic flaw of web writing - no one ever gives you any criticism!
Or if they do, it will be short, marvelous statements which really
don't say Anything.
However, imagine my self-embarrassment when I thumbed through
the nice chapbook-looking lyric folder included with the cd, and
saw that the line was actually "when you've never had anything
bad to say". Interesting how a change of 1 line can alter the
complexity of meaning. I still like the lyric, but it's just a
wondrous experiment in the arts/sciences of Audio Only.
Whoops! Went off topic. But perhaps not. Even though I got the
lyric wrong, does it matter? It spoke to me, like a religious
zealot looking for a sign, making of it what I will. I love the
lead singer's voice, and she is backed up with good drum work
by Vinnie DeNunzio and the cool, soft, and hot guitar of Bruce
Uchitel who switches gears like a 1999 car in 1998. The "progressive
rock/rock band" is based in NJ and for a debut album, "Fields
Unknown" has a tight hug sound like some of the influences they
state - ELP, Jethro Tull, King Crimson. And yes, at times Joan
Morbee's wonderfully organic vocals remind me of Jon Anderson
praying loudly to some distant ocean god for a great day of water
skiing. I don't know if she wrote all the tunes, but all the words
here are hers, and for anyone who likes progressive music (like
me), you'll find that this stuff Actually progresses. Can Yes
still say that?
And just by listening to 35 minutes of their music, I'll bet Senses
makes damn fine, colorful t-shirts. Visit their site and find
out. Good music that actually Does something awaits...
Written By: Ben Ohmart
http://www.atnzone.com/
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