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| Multi-Genre Rock Opera “Fly [the End of Wars]” The groundbreaking multi-genre post-apocalyptic rock opera, “Fly [the End of Wars]”, is the new independent release from the mysterious anime character Rob Redlemon. The rock opera tells how Redlemon has somehow survives a catastrophic world-destroying event, struggles with the meaning of love in the face of the devastation, and begins to question the logic of war and the sacrifices we make. Many of the songs on “Fly [the End of Wars]” seem to be pulled from the headlines, from “Better than This” (WTC jumpers and personal relationships), “Fly” (love in the face of devastation), and “Always Love (the End of Wars)” (war and the overwhelming power of love), to “Truly (Patchen’s Song)” (inspired by, and including a spoken-word sample from, the late Kenneth Patchen, the famous beat poet and pacifist, dealing with war, love and addiction). Tackling sensitive topics inspired by, for instance, the jumpers from the WTC (“Better Than This”) was extremely difficult, said Rob. “I desperately didn’t want these people to be forgotten. When I saw those pictures, it completely overwhelmed me as a human being. The song doesn’t begin to do any justice to their memory, but I just felt it come out of me, I felt compelled to create some kind of memory song.” “It is in a turning point in the story where I realize that, given the ultimate prices people pay and the message they are potentially sending about love, I need to be a better person. The words were the most difficult, but I hope the message of hope in the face of devastation comes through.” Influenced by an incredibly diverse array of musical influences, like David Bowie, Annie Lennox, Elvis Costello, Oasis, and even the 1970’s art rock band Genesis, “Fly” represents a groundbreaking new paradigm of multi-genre post-modern pop music. “The palette of pop, rock and jazz musical styles seems really complete now and a lot of bands seem to be just repeating little niches of what’s already been done. I wanted to pick and choose and see what fit the best.” says Rob. The CD is filled with other songs with subjects like lust (“Make You More”), a mother’s illness (“No Ordinary Girl”) and death (“Waiting for the Rain”), homelessness (“Imagine That”) (a semi-fictionalized account of Chester Lee Miller – the homeless boy from Hazleton, PA who was put on a bus and basically starved to death after unsuccessfully begging for food), and child abuse (“Brave Parade”). “Those songs came a little more quickly, given that a lot of it was semi-autobiographical. It always helps when you are writing about something you know, ” says Rob. Joined by gifted musical contributors such as Jay Davidson (who has played sax with major artists such as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Stevie Winwood and even played at Nelson Mandela’s birthday party concert), Charlene Holloway (who has sung with Patti Labelle and many others), and Keith Atkinson (the seminal guitarist with his distinct signature sound, who played with SocialVoyeurs and led the band Tin Men), Redlemon has forged revolutionary new ground in this breakthrough release. “We were lucky enough to get permission to use the famous beat poet and pacifist Kenneth Patchen’s recording of his reading of his amazing poem, “The Character of Love Seen as a Search for the Lost, ” in the beginning of “Truly (Patchen’s Song).” Kenneth had a tough, painful life, he did a lot of very creative work with poetry / spoken word and jazz, and it felt wonderful to be able to almost work with him again in realizing his own desires and musical dreams.” write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Jazz News :: home page |