JAKE NIELSEN – Perspective (2012)

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“Perspective” is the debut album from Virginia multi-instrumentalist musician JAKE NIELSEN.

Jake has developed his own unique blend of music that combines the complexity of progressive rock with more melodic singer / songwriter leanings.

Jake Nielsen cites his main influences as Neal Morse, Dream Theater and Billy Joel. This is actually an extremely accurate representation of Nielsen’s music.

Jake did all the vocals and performed all the instruments on “Perspective”, except for the cello on the beautiful “A Still Small Voice”.

While hardly dismissing his compositional skills, which are exceptional, the piano work within this recording is his greatest strength.

You can hear echoes of the classic rock of a young Billy Joel, yet with a classical music style ramped up by a progressive rock injection; it’s a vibrant interpretation.

Nielsen can rock, too. As the album kicks off with “To Be Content” we are immediately met with an epic piano riff that comes to define the overall style of the rest of the record’s eight tracks.

“Let’s Live” and “Autumn” are lively numbers with harder, even heavier, moments with Jake’s piano leading the way. Here is evident his influences from Neil Morse’s textures and Jordan Rudess’s technically demanding parts in Dream Theater’s Images and Words.

While the early majority of Perspective has veiled references, the later “How Can We Know” and the autobiographical “A Still Small Voice” are more obvious professions of Nielsen’s Mormon religion.

However, even if you’re skeptical about religion in general, Nielsen’s music is terrific, even compelling, especially on that latter song. Like the works of Neal Morse, these songs should not be dismissed simply because there are references to faith or religion.

What is particularly impressive about Jake Nielsen’s “Perspective” is that he is the sole creative mastermind behind all of it. And all sounds terrifically cohesive and homogeneous.

The keyboard parts and vocals are of course performed by him, but he is also responsible for every other musical element on the album.

What I love about this music is its musicality and drive, Jake is a skillful composer and arranger. It’s a pleasure how his instrumentals simply fly through the progressions.

With “Perspective”, Jake Nielsen should be profoundly fulfilled and thrilled with his accomplishment, and the listener captivated by his piano-driven melodic progressive rock.

A vibrant, recommended listen.

01 – To Be Content

02 – Truth

03 – Decisions

04 – Autumn

05 – Let’s Live

06 – How Can We Know

07 – Prelude

08 – A Still Small Voice

Jake Nielsen – Vocals, all instruments

BUY IT !

www.amazon.com/Perspective/dp/B009IG453K