With its evocative title, the goal of Music For People is clear: Jon Crosby, the man behind VAST, is attempting to move from a critical success to a more commercial success. Less innovative than its predecessor, this second album distills VAST’s original sound into fatter production for a suitable though unsurprising result.
Music For People, in the line of Audio Visual Sensory Theater, remains faithful to its knowing mix of Gothic incantations and industrial arrangements. Crosby’s harmonies are always of a dark and tormented beauty but profit this time from a big production sound and the mixing of Alan Moulder (Depeche Mode). If the presence of monastic samples of choruses and other Chants Des Voix Bulgares are undeniable, here the rather incisive guitars of the first disc are sweetened and embedded in radio-phonic layers of keyboards. A less personal and introspective album whose obvious influences, from U2, Depeche Mode (Alan Moulder obliges), to the Beatles reflect the tastes of Crosby.
"The Last One Alive" with its pulsating bass, rhythmic guitar and lyrical flights is one of the most forceful pieces of the disc. On the contrary, the following song, "Free", is rather laborious, and the choice of it as a release single is surprising. "I Don't Have Anything " is a beautiful acoustic ballad accompanied by violins and marked with a Beatlesque imprint. ("Beautiful Girl"). "The Gates Of Rock ‘n’ Roll" is so pompous and grotesque that it is unbearable (is Crosby a new Jim Morrison claiming to save Rock?). "What Else Do I Need" is the first song that returns to VAST roosts with its chorus samples. "Blue", which allures with its softness and arrangements has a light taste of "Strawberry Fields Forever." "Land Of Shame" catches on with more aggressive guitars while "A Better Place" arrives to calm with a charming melody. "Song Without A Name" reclaims the sonorities of the first opus. "We Will Meet Again" is a melancholic ballad full of beauty. "My TV And You" is a report on dependence with the small screen. Finally, "The Lady Of Dreams " closes the C.D. with dreamlike violins.
Much too polished to be honest, Music For People lacks spontaneity for a result that still remains on this side of Visual Audio Sensory Theater. This is the disc of a musician with very promising talent who is still searching.
Vast Music For People
