Harkens back to Thematic Albums
Bill Simons | Watchung, NJ | 11/21/2003
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Sketchbook as a very eclectic rock album that harkens back to the days of thematic albums. It wouldn't take much imagination to put a storyline to it to proclaim this dreamy, rock/pop/techno music a rock opera of sorts. It has the necessary long pauses of instrumental music for scene changes, allowing the mind to put up new pictures. In 'Long Nights' Keyes develops a Bowie-type surround sound (think the Black Tie, White Noise era) to drape the night with caffeine and walking.long nights are killing me
all I need I take from my friends
I talk to them after midnight
4 cups of coffee and newspaper headlines
say it again, will it keep me alive From his informative website we learn that Keyes was a: Graduate in Music Composition and Music Theory from The University of Notre Dame. During college, his talent as a composer emerged big time. In fact, the success of the third movement of his String Quartet No.1 and the second movement of his Six Pieces for Piano landed him a scholarship to the Aspen Music Festival, where he studied composition, conducting, and performance with Charles Jones, Leonard Bernstein, and Andre Watts. That dedication to a start in classical music thinking is why his pop/rock sound is so undiluted with the current tides of indie that constantly wash up on shore. The 10 tracks on Sketchbook are as original as if he's never bothered with a Beatles or Nirvana album, and that alone is compliment enough at this point in history."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1