Search - Trion :: Pilgrim

Not What It Could Be

Dave_42 | Australia | 11/25/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

""Pilgrim" is the second album from Trion, an instrumental group from the Netherlands. One can hear influences from other groups, such as Genesis and Yes, but they are not simply recreating other group's sounds. The frustrating part about this group is that they are clearly quite capable of playing at a high level, and yet instead they produce very bland music, which is enjoyable, but not something which even remotely pushes their skills to the limit or engages the listener in much of any way. So while this makes for pleasant background music, I don't think it lives up to the musician's potential.



The liner notes indicate that this is somewhat of a follow-up to their first album "Tortoise", though since the pieces are all instrumental, unless one reads the liner notes that is irrelevant. The album opens with the title track "Pilgrim", which has some hints of just how good these musicians are, but like most of the rest of the album it is pleasant but not noteworthy. "Silence of the Universe" is next, and is a more acoustic number, which provides some contrast, but not enough. "Walk on Land" opens as a rather slow and monotonous piece, though about midway it turns into a light and pleasant tune, before changing its feel one more time. It is about this point that the listener realizes that this is all this album is going to be, and "How We Used to Go" reinforces that certainty.



"The Magnificent Forest" opens with a flourish and provides hope for something a bit more adventurous, but soon enough it turns into more of the same, with some strong hints of Genesis in the process. "Reveal The Mystery" is more original, though still another piece which hints at something extra, while delivering very little. "Giant Man" is along the same lines, though at least it has a bit of something extra in it along with more of a drive to it, all of which makes it one of the better tracks on the album. "The Book" does provide a unique sound to the album, but once again they play it too safe. "Blue Shadow" returns to the somewhat monotonous opening style which was there in "Walk on Land", and it along with "A Dream" and "The Deep Ocean" are probably the weakest part of a fairly weak album.



There are a couple of bonus tracks on the CD I am reviewing. While one might think that it wouldn't matter, in this case it makes a big difference. "Out There Somewhere" doesn't add much, but it is at least as good as most of the rest of the album. "Frank (New Version)" is the best piece on the album, and at nearly 23 minutes that provides a good chunk of interesting music which provides a little salvation for what was a very weak album. It isn't enough to push the rating above two-stars, but it does serve as an example of what this group can do, and maybe it will provide some inspiration for the group as they move forward. Not that this is a perfect piece, but it is a much better effort than the rest of the performances on this album.



Trion is Edo Spanninga (Yamaha PF80 piano, Hammond XP-1 & Motion Sound Tube Leslie, Roland XP-80 & Vintage Synth Expansion Board / Keyboards of the 60's & 70's Expansion Board, GEM Equinox Workstation; Menno Boomsma: (Yamaha Recording Custom drums, Zildjian K & Paiste 2002 cymbals, Ludwig & Yamaha snare drums); and Eddie Mulder (Galama Stratocasters, Galama TPG bassguitar, Ibanez acoustic 6-string, Sigma Acoustic 12-string, AT&T amp "Little Willy", ART effects Rickenbacker bassguitar on "Frank").

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