http://www.myspace.com/juddrizzo
http://www.myspace.com/splitwrist
Mercury Rising
"Building Rome"
My venture into Dream Theater-like prog. rock.
Cathedrals.wma
Cathedrals.m4a
That's me at 4:45. Mike at 5:06.
Building
Rome.wma
Building
Rome.m4a
We chunkify it at 1:23. I love that part and the next. I have a short
solo at 3:35.
The
Occurrence of Tomorrow.wma
The Occurrence of Tomorrow.m4a
I have a short solo at 5:10. Mike takes over at 5:28.
A Narrow
Door.wma
A Narrow Door.m4a
Mike 3:28. I play a quick lick at 4:11. (Don't blink you might miss it.)
Moment
of Truth.wma
Moment of Truth.m4a
It hurts how out of tune the vocals are on this one 'cause I really like
my solo at the end (starting at 4:09).
Of Lesser
Men.wma
Of Lesser Men.m4a
I play some "shreddy" stuff I'm really fond of at 2:05. Mike
starts at 3:16.
Renaissance.wma
Renaissance.m4a
A nice soft and easy one for ya. Mike at 1:32. Me at 3:06.
Think.wma
Think.m4a
Probably the heaviest And most commercial song on the disc. Mike at 3:41.
Cool part at 4:17. Me at 4:40. I did play rhythm on this entire song as
well.
I didn't write any of these songs. In fact, I was only in the band 1 week before we went in the studio to record it! I improvised my solos under a Lot of (mostly self-imposed) pressure with the people from Noise Records and Dominion Records right there in the studio! I was honored to do some of the cover art. It was fun ta do the Dream Theater-like thang for a while. (It's funny, "Pull Me Under" by Dream Theater just came on 98 Rock in Baltimore, MD as I'm writing this. I haven't heard it in about 6 years.)
My thing with most "progressive" music is, it's a little "mamby pamby" sometimes. It's not usually cool-ethnic-mellow like Sade or B-Tribe and it's not usually heavy or chunky enough for me. Check out Nevermore's "Born" off "This Godless Endeavor" or Meshuggah's "Destroy Erase Improve" for some very heavy, very "progressive" music. I like Symphony X a lot too.
I do like some of the parts in these Mercury songs a lot. Being a member of Mercury Rising was fun. I hope you enjoy our music!
Note: Out of me and Mike Evans, I'm generally the more "aggressive/shreddy" guitar player on these. I really liked Mike's melodic playing style a lot. He plays some really nice stuff on these songs. We used to stay hours after the other members took off and write new material together. It was a joy to work and write w/him. Tha newer direction was a lot chunkier and more straight forward. It's a shame we never got a chance to put it on a CD for you all. But, Mercury was way back in 1998. Wait 'till you come out and see my current projects. I've been practicing A Lot! :-)
Judd