THE ORPHAN PROJECT

"Spooning Out the Sea" (NePlusUltra Music; 2009)

Reviewed by R. Scott Bolton

The Orphan Project's "Spooning Out the Sea" is an interesting Christian progressive rock project that sounds a little like ELP, Dream Theater, Danny Elfman and David Bowie. Yeah, that's a lot of name-dropping but it's that kind of rich and varied recording.

"Spooning Out the Sea" has a lot of the symphonic elements of Dream Theater but not as much as it has the rock standards sound of ELP. Shane Lankford's vocals have the artiness of David Bowie and the quirkiness of Danny Elfman and also have a lot of soul and emotion in them as well. This is easily one of the best "sung" albums I've heard in years. The CD also boasts the necessary production values in order to succeed at one of these kinds of progressive albums.

 Impressive in its ability to sound big without ever being overbearing or too slick, "Spooning Out the Sea" is an album that will probably appeal to fans of progressive rock more than those who aren't but it's still solid enough that it won't alienate any fan of hard rock.

The Orphan Project: Shane Lankford - Vocals; Tim Kehring - Drums, Vocals; Bill Yost - Bass, Vocals; John Neiswinger - Keyboards, Vocals; Shane McBride - All Guitars.

For more information, check out http://www.myspace.com/orphanproject.

Rating Guide:

A classic. This record will kick your ass.

Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.

So-so. You've heard better.

Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.

Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.

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Revised: 02 Dec 2024 12:03:49 -0500.