| Last updated: 28 October 1997 |
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Members
Comments October Project mysteriously appeared on the scene in 1993 with their single, "Bury My Lovely". The group immediately captured my attention with Mary Fahl's beautiful vocals (and lovely harmonies by Marina Belica), their lush music, and intriguing lyrics. Sadly, the band lasted only two albums - word is that they lost their record contract and broke up. A pity, as those two albums stand in my mind among the best of 1990s pop/rock. I also missed a chance to see them perform live in Madison's Club De Wash (which burned down during the following year).
Albums October Project October Project hearkens back to certain progressive rock groups of the 1970s, such as Renaissance, in their reliance on strong vocals and intricate melodies in different time signatures (always a hallmark of a prog-rock group, it seems). "Bury My Lovely", their first single, heads the album, with its driving percussion and lyrics of childhood abuse; an effectively dark tune. The next song, "Ariel", is of a more melancholy beauty and is more representative of the band's overall sound. Adler and Flanders are the group's main songwriters. Flanders' lyrics sometimes become a mite treacly - as on "Return to Me" - but I'm personally far more interested in the music and the performance than in the lyrics. At worst, October Project makes pleasant background music. At its best, as on the closing track, "Be My Hero", it contains some real power in the arrangement and is genuinely moving. A nice single of "Be My Hero" was released in 1994, with acoustic renditions of "Bury My Lovely", "Ariel", and two other songs. Well worth owning if you can find it.
Falling Farther In © 1995, Epic (Sony), Produced by Peter Collins Falling Farther In is more focused and diverse than the group's first, self-titled release. The album kicks off with "Deep As You Go", which has a surging, ocean-like cadence which moves neatly from verse to chorus and back again. "Funeral In His Heart" has a more powerful, syncopated rhythm, and rocks harder. Other songs are similarly more diverse than those on October Project. Some of this might be due to producer Collins, who has worked to similar effect for bands like Rush. Mysteriously, the single from Falling Farther In was "Sunday Morning Yellow Sky", which was of some interest for its almost tentative arrangement, but it's really one of the album's weaker tracks. A better choice would have been the title track, which is more of a straight 4/4-time number, and works very well (although perhaps it stands out perhaps because it feels different from the rest of the album in its more straightforward approach). Other worthy tracks include "Johnny", "After The Fall" and "Dark Time".
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