Review Summary: Beautiful musical eulogy of one rock's great forgotten talents. A taste of Kevin, at his top. Oh, what could have been.....
The Shaming Of The True by Kevin Gilbert was on my radar for years before I finally got a chance to get a physical copy. It was considered a "lost masterpiece" by many who knew the album but since it was only released posthumously in 2000, it remained a very hard to come by album until a series of rereleases starting in 2008 introduced the album to more interested ears.
Still, it never quite reached the masses it might have reached, had Kevin Gilbert been around to finish the album and do promotional work for it.
Gilbert was found dead at only 29, while he was on his way to rock's higher echelons. Having made name with his prog band Giraffe, and later Toy Matinee , his grip on the music industry tightened and Gilbert soon found himself working with diverse and increasingly popular artists ranging from indie band 4 Non Blondes to shredder Marc Bonilla and later he also acted as backing vocalist for Madonna and did studio work for Michael Jackson.
Through a related engineer he was invited into the Tuesday Might Music Club, a local LA group of likeminded musicians, where Gilbert in turn introduced his then-girlfriend Cheryl Crow, basically facilitating her reach at stardom.
Gilbert started work on his second solo album The Shaming Of The True in '95, and it became the last thing he worked on before his death in 1997. The project was finished after Gilbert's death in 1997 by dear friend and collaborator Nick d'Virgilio of Spock's Beard. Further aided by several musicians for selected solo's and other parts, Gilbert played almost everything else but the drums himself.
The album is a rock opera in every aspect and since it was almost entirely recorded using a vintage Neve mixing desk, the sound is excellent! Some parts were only available from live performances, and thus mixed in (eg "Certifiable #1 Smash"). The live sound and crowd noises add a cool change in sound and atmosphere here and there.
So yeah, a rock opera. The album is a rich and diverse musical endeavor with clear musical theatre influences, combined with rock, going from prog to more hard rock stylings. There is one overarching story line about an upcoming musician/artist getting to grips with that same music industry he played so nicely earlier.
However cliche that might sound (or is?), Gilbert pulls it off excellently, avoiding typical rock opera faux-pas, like overlong songs, solo's or false emotions. Although the album is almost 70 minutes long, it hardly ever feels as overly long or forced. No filler.
What helps is the fact that Gilbert's a great lyricist, being able to tell a story but staying nicely within the realm of basic rock vocal stylings in regard to timing and delivery.
At times though, especially in the first part of the album, the musical theatre influence is more evident. The opening song "Parade"' for instance could have been a leftover from the musical Rent or Spring Awakening. Elsewhere, similarities are also noticeable, most often when Gilbert sings lower pitched verses. Broadway all the way on "Suit Fugue (Dance Of The A&R men)". Nothing wrong with that, in my book, but it's definitely not everybody's cup of tea.
But when Gilbert rock's, which is most of the time don't get me wrong, he does so with a cool swagger, and tracks like "the City Of The Sun" and "Staring Into Nothing" show what a great producer he is on top of that.
The latter is the musical heart of the album, and one of the better progrock songs here, with great vocal work and beautiful production.
"Fun" is a pretty typical nineties midtempo Indierock track in the vein of Beck and the Fun Lovin' Criminals, the horn section adding a cool vibe!
"From Here To There" shows why Gilbert was on the radar to replace Philip Collins after he left Genesis. A song in the late eighties Genesis style.
"Ghetto Of Beautiful Things" is a cool concept, and a pretty nice hard rocking song but ultimately a bit forgettable. This is one of the few songs that maybe drags a bit too long. But it does rock!
"A Long Day's Life" is one of the best songs here. A true epic, feeling like a sum up of the whole album so far, and preparing the listener for the end with the last two songs.
Protagonist Johnny Virgil's universe is brought to life beautifully by Kevin Gilbert. One of the album's biggest merits, and why it works so well is the dynamic eb and flow of the album. You're easily pulled into the album, enjoying it and listening to it longer then you had anticipated. And that's just amazing, when you think of what kind of album it musically really is, how complex both musically as well as lyrically. It's not supposed to be working, but it does!
This is not a true masterpiece or prog rock's forgotten gem by any means. It's lacks a degree of idiosyncrasy, something that makes it truly Kevin Gilbert.
But it is definitely a very good and impressive album in every way possible.
But most importantly, it serves as the ultimate testimony to Kevin Gilbert's extreme and unique, but unfortunately largely forgotten, talent.
