Reviewed by Aaron Cloutier
Las Vegas’ own Renaissance Rock Orchestra create lush sonic tapestries and sweeping cinematic soundscapes on the majestically enthralling “A Christmas Eve’s Dream.”
Inspired by instrumental rock titans the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, RRO fuse hard rock and epic symphonic elements to create a sound that transcends their respective genres of influence. The end result being epic thematic orchestral infused rock that is ten times the sum of it’s parts.
Written by composer, keyboardist, and RRO founder Gregg Fox, “A Christmas Eve’s Dream” showcases a high level of technical ability without it being a complete smoke show. These are some extremely accomplished musicians that seamlessly balance technical ability with an astute melodic sensibility as well as a penchant for massive musical hooks.
At first listen, the production style reminded me of something you might hear on an album like “Images And Words” from Dream theater. Crunchy distorted guitars churn out tightly played riffs and soaring leads while the keyboard spill dazzling arpeggios all throughout. This all being rounded out by a gloriously solid rhythm section keeping things together in 6/8 time (Don’t quote me on that but I think so…). The mix as a whole is very clean and punchy and showcases the top-notch performances smashingly well.
As for the songs meaning, in the words of RRO “A Christmas Eve' Dream embraces the joy and inspiration of the holidays as it takes the listener through a dream of all things Christmas with visions of sleighs and glimpses of Santa throughout a comfy night before Christmas sleep full of excitement and hope for Christmas morning!”
One can’t help but agree with that statement after being swept up in the cacophony of sound that RRO creates. Frenetic yet precise. Heavy yet joyful. Metal yet melodic. What more do you need out of holiday music? Give this one a spin!
About Renaissance Rock Orchestra
The Renaissance Rock Orchestra is a union of well known and seasoned rock musicians that is creating more than a “buzz” out of Las Vegas.
This year renowned composer & keyboardist Gregg Fox and internationally acclaimed vocalist Mark Robert Boals from the Yngwie Malmsteen record “Trilogy” (Malmsteen, Ted Nugent, Dokken) have created a remarkable holiday record called “Christmas Rocks!”
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