Kalle Vilpuu Rocks Hard
Igor Garšnek
The first solo album of ex guitarist of Estonian rock flagships Ultima Thule and House of Games, Kalle Vilpuu – „Silver Lining“ – comes off both characteristic of the forceful colors of this original musician and as a personal summary portrait.
Kalle Vilpuu. Silver Lining. © Guitar Laboratory OÜ. Kalle Vilpuu (guitar, keyboards, vocal), Andrus Lillepea (drums), Henno Kelp (bass guitar) et al.
The first solo album of ex guitarist of Estonian rock flagships Ultima Thule and House of Games, Kalle Vilpuu – „Silver Lining“ – comes off both characteristic of the forceful colors of this original musician and as a personal summary portrait. Because it seems Vilpuu has concentrated in this album the rock music sub-currents (heavy-feeling, prog rock, blues et al.) that have called out to him the strongest over the past few decades. Thanks to this development, the CD “Silver Lining” in turn speaks to a more demanding audience, looking for more than what’s hot and youthful.
Instrumental rock music, that makes up the lion’s share of Vilpuu’s record (with some sporadic vocal backgrounds here and there), sets somewhat higher standards in terms of the composition and structure of tracks than is required when dealing with traditional verse-chorus type songs. Additionally, the cohesion between
Kalle Vilpuu. Silver Lining. © Guitar Laboratory OÜ. Kalle Vilpuu (guitar, keyboards, vocal), Andrus Lillepea (drums), Henno Kelp (bass guitar) et al.
The first solo album of ex guitarist of Estonian rock flagships Ultima Thule and House of Games, Kalle Vilpuu – „Silver Lining“ – comes off both characteristic of the forceful colors of this original musician and as a personal summary portrait. Because it seems Vilpuu has concentrated in this album the rock music sub-currents (heavy-feeling, prog rock, blues et al.) that have called out to him the strongest over the past few decades. Thanks to this development, the CD “Silver Lining” in turn speaks to a more demanding audience, looking for more than what’s hot and youthful.
Instrumental rock music, that makes up the lion’s share of Vilpuu’s record (with some sporadic vocal backgrounds here and there), sets somewhat higher standards in terms of the composition and structure of tracks than is required when dealing with traditional verse-chorus type songs. Additionally, the cohesion between
individual tracks pulls into play the general concept of the album as a whole here.
Letting Vilpuu’s “Silver Lining” play from start to finish without pause, the initial impression puts its expressive core somewhere in the middle of the album. In other words tracks four, five and six that come off in noticeably more intensive, prog-heavy colors.
The very opening riffs of “Industrial No 4” send a clear message the track means absolute business. Similarly to the very interesting effect of the asymmetric logic of its interludes that ignore quadratic form schemes. The following tracks, “In the Back of my Head” and “Aliens (Have Landed)”, also arrive with enrapturing intensity, making for very clearly defined compositions in terms of their musical vocabulary and style.
That said, while “Trappings” offers up a synthesis of ambient thinking and industrial, that in themselves make for an interesting combination, Vilpuu has probably not aimed for compositional integrity at all here. And it is fine, as form solutions are only limited by the author’s fantasy.
To give this text a lining of its own, I can say that Kalle Vilpuu’s “Silver Lining” is definitely a worth while listening experience to everyone attuned to the progressiveness of prog, the intensity of heavy but also to ballads born of blues.
Letting Vilpuu’s “Silver Lining” play from start to finish without pause, the initial impression puts its expressive core somewhere in the middle of the album. In other words tracks four, five and six that come off in noticeably more intensive, prog-heavy colors.
The very opening riffs of “Industrial No 4” send a clear message the track means absolute business. Similarly to the very interesting effect of the asymmetric logic of its interludes that ignore quadratic form schemes. The following tracks, “In the Back of my Head” and “Aliens (Have Landed)”, also arrive with enrapturing intensity, making for very clearly defined compositions in terms of their musical vocabulary and style.
That said, while “Trappings” offers up a synthesis of ambient thinking and industrial, that in themselves make for an interesting combination, Vilpuu has probably not aimed for compositional integrity at all here. And it is fine, as form solutions are only limited by the author’s fantasy.
To give this text a lining of its own, I can say that Kalle Vilpuu’s “Silver Lining” is definitely a worth while listening experience to everyone attuned to the progressiveness of prog, the intensity of heavy but also to ballads born of blues.