[nicola]

BEN CRAVEN





Ben Craven ... you can say all the best about him ... self-taught begins trying to participate in bands that do not appreciate his compositions and after several attempts he fortunately decides to abandon them to their fate since they did not have understood the luck that had happened to him ... in Italy they say .... better alone than badly accompanied .... and today he composes, produces and plays all the instruments and the result is an excellent symphonic progressive rock and in addition to label with which he is defined "grandson of Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson" but I also add some techniques to use the keyboards of Dave Kerzner in short, a truly top music and the track I have chosen will participate in the choice of the best track of the 2022 ..... the album cover entrusted to Roger Dean who contributed to give an extra touch to the successes of Yes and I hope that the same will happen for the next albums for this excellent musician.
.... from the MONSTERS FROM THE ID album
.... the track I chose is Die Before You Wake




ABOUT

BEN CRAVEN


From Official Website




Ben Craven is a cinematic progressive-rock artist from Brisbane, Australia.

He likes to make records.

Immersed as a toddler in the era of big prog rock, Craven taught himself guitar and keyboards and joined a series of bands. None of them made it and none of them remotely played the kind of music that had been burned into his mainframe as a kid.

Nonetheless, the songs he wrote accumulated steadily. In 2005, Craven dispensed entirely with the band approach and recorded his debut album, Two False Idols under the name of Tunisia. The result was a work of incredible maturity, with influences ranging from Pink Floyd and Brian Wilson to the likes of Bernard Herrmann and John Barry.

As Craven worked the album it became painfully obvious that the music business was in the midst of a sea change, and most of the old guard didn’t seem to realise they were the cause. Very quickly he took an anti-DRM stance and released the live acoustic EP Under Deconstruction as a high-quality free download.

Craven stepped up a gear for his sophomore album, Great & Terrible Potions. Delivering on the cinematic promise of Two False Idols, Potions went widescreen as Craven blurred the boundaries between conventional songs and orchestral soundtracks. Augmented by a stunning cover designed by legendary artist Roger Dean (Yes, Uriah Heep, Asia), Potions was dense, complicated and unashamedly pretentious – everything a good prog rock album should be! Or, to put it another way, Craven sounded exactly like someone revelling in the creative freedom that came only from not worrying about what others wanted, and delivering what he felt instead.

His 2016 album, Last Chance To Hear, was a stunning triumphant musical masterpiece of progressive rock. The grandness of the album suggested it was performed by a five or six-piece band. Craven explained, “In keeping with the idea of the album as an endangered species, the new album’s title is Last Chance To Hear. It’s another solo album in the true sense of the word where I play just about everything, like on Potions. The difference this time is a much greater portion has turned out to be instrumental. Not that I dislike vocals, but sometimes the music can be strong and emotional and moving enough to stand on its own without them.”

There was also a special appearance on the album by legendary Star Trek actor William Shatner, providing spoken-word vocals for the track Spy In The Sky Part 3!

Craven achieved a great accolade in 2016, winning the MusicOz Australian Independent Music Award for Best Instrumental, for the track Critical Mass Part 2.

Monsters From The Id is the logical realisation of Craven’s musical trajectory thus far. It’s an album of two halves, each containing a traditional progressive rock “epic” the length of a side of vinyl. The two pieces comprise flowing parts and movements with both rock and Hans Zimmer-esque orchestral arrangements, punctuated by Ben’s distinctive lead guitar and vocals. Yet the album is predominantly instrumental.

“Lyrics are incredibly important to me,” explains Craven, “but this music was not driven by words or language. It’s pure other-worldly escapism. It’s playing dress-up, wanting to make the world look much bigger than it seems right now, trying to recall the feeling that anything is possible, no matter how unlikely that might be.”

Visually, the album cover is a treat, featuring breathtaking artwork by Freyja Dean adorning the triple gatefold CD/DVD wallet. Sonically, things are equally ambitious. A 5.1 surround mix is included on the DVD, while both stereo and surround versions are available for digital download in 24-bit 96kHz high resolution.

Here’s what the press raved about Ben Craven’s previous release:

“Heavy-duty prog rock monster”
– Anil Prasad, Innerviews

“Cracking virtuoso performance by an absurdly talented individual”
– Classic Rock Society

“Craven’s one-man-band production is a prog opus for the 21st century”
– Musoscribe

“All the drama, thunder, strum and drang you could want the spiritual grand child of Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson to bring”
– Midwest Record

“Craven’s tremendous ability to combine memorable hooks with complex progressive rock and cinematic orchestral music is astounding”
– Sea Of Tranquility

“Press play and this album does the rest”
– Muzikreviews

“Seriously well-distilled and blended”
– Van Dyke Parks

In closing Ben has this to impart to his fans and listeners, “The music business is becoming an increasingly cynical place. The landscape is dominated by reissues, remixes and repacking of old material in what feels like a ‘last hurrah’. But there are still true believers out there flying under the radar and producing music primarily out of love and obsession. Not because of contractual obligations, deadlines or other market forces. I’d still be making music if the industry was truly dead and buried. But I’d much rather people listened to it!”












Hi friends

2022 Work in Progress..ive



These are my best tracks of 2022



Track Title-Group or Artist-Album

The Chosen Ones-LALU-Paint the Sky

Land of Green (part 1)-KARFAGEN-Land of Green and Gold

Jagannath-SIMON PHILLIPS-Protocol V

Alda-BREIDABLIK-Alduorka

Mrs Tibbets-JETHRO TULL-The Zealot Gene

Living For A Better Day-TIME HORIZON-Power Of Three

A Needle Tree-KARCIUS-Grey White Silver Yellow and Gold

No Still Moment-LIGHTHOUSE SPARROWS-Aerials

Little Pretty-STEVE VAI-Inviolate

The Elephants of Mars-JOE SATRIANI-The Elephants of Mars

Wilderness Excursion-KAIPA-Urskog

Changing Worlds-THE JOHN IRVINE BAND-Psychopomp

In 256 Zeichen-TANGERINE DREAM-Raum

Scissors-GHOST OF THE MACHINE-Scissorgames

Die Before You Wake-BEN CRAVEN-Monsters from the id















Die Before You Wake-BEN CRAVEN
https://bencraven.bandcamp.com/track...efore-you-wake



Wicked Delights (Single Edit) -BEN CRAVEN
https://bencraven.bandcamp.com/track...ts-single-edit


GOOD LISTENING