The Run – November 12, 2015 – Creek Out and Back
Being the fair-weather runner that I am, I was a little concerned on Thursday, when I could see that it was raining in the morning. I thought that maybe my run would be washed out like it was on Tuesday.But the front moved through and by the time I was ready to run at around 4 o’clock it was cloudy but not raining. I decided that I would run my Creek Out and Back since it was getting close to dark and that course crosses only one main street and it is an easy run, which fit well with a day that started a 7 am at Target!!
The run was another 4-mile run that was close to being completed in less than 40 minutes. The total time 40:34 for a 10:08/mile pace. The splits were Mile 1 10:05, Mile 2 10:09 Mile 3 10:10 and Mile 4 – 10:08/mile! They all were very consistent and I even was able to pick up the pace a little at the finish!! My average heart rate was 143 with a max of 154 at the end! Overall it was a comfortable run.
The Soundtrack: Citizen – Billy Sherwood
The soundtrack for the album was Citizen the current release from drummer Billy Sherwood. Since I was never a big fan of Yes I did not immediately recognize his name. He is currently the band’s bassist, replacing he band’s original bassist Chris Squire, who passed away in June of this year. His resume with the band according to Wikipedia includes:
vocals (1994, 1997-2000, 2015-pr, sent; also worked with the band as a producer or mixer in 1991, 1996-1997 and 2014-2015), guitar, keyboards (1994, 1997–2000), bass (2015-present) Full Yes biography
Citizen is Billy Sherwood’s eighth solo release and is a concept album about a lost soul reincarnated into various historic moments in time. Some of those moments in time include: a meeting with Galileo,” Just Galileo and Me”, charging across “No Man’s Land” in World War I and “The Great Depression” The album was composed and produced by Billy Sherwood and he enlisted an array of legendary progressive rockers to help out! The list includes:
– Rick Wakeman (Yes) / keyboards (5)
– Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) / keyboards (9)
– Tony Kaye (Yes, Circa) / keyboards & Hammond Organ (1)
– Geoff Downes (Yes, Asia, DBA) / keyboards (7)
– Chris Squire (Yes, Squackett) / bass (1)
– Steve Hackett (Genesis, Squackett) / guitar solo (2)
– Jerry Goodman (The Mahavishnu Orchestra) / violin (6)
– Steve Morse (Deep Purple, Dixie Dregs, Flying Colors) / guitar (4)
– Patrick Moraz (Yes, The Moody Blues) / keyboards (8)
– John Wesley (Porcupine Tree) / guitar (10)
– Colin Moulding (XTC) / vocals (3)
– Alan Parsons / vocals (6)
– Jon Davison (Yes, Glass Hammer) / vocals (11)
Wow! The result was a really terrific album! Windhawk in his review of Citizen at ProgArchives writes:
….My main impression is that “Citizen” is a well made and excellently produced concept album, in terms of style residing somewhere in the neo-progressive oriented parts of the symphonic progressive rock universe. The main focus is on melodies and harmonies, and with the lead vocals given a lot of the limelight here. Which isn’t all that unexpected presumably, as a concept is explored and stories are told. Those with a general taste for compelling, well made and well produced albums that arguably may be placed somewhere close to a neo progressive context comes across as a key audience for this album in my book. Full Review
Well, in my explorations of progressive rock I tend to gravitate towards neo-prog and symphonic, so I guess that’s why this album appeals to me so much, Anyway, check it out!! I’ll be listening to some of those other Billy Sherwood albums!!
Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of Billy Sherwood
Artist’s Website
Facebook
ProgArchives
Frontiers Records YouTube
Amazon
Here is the track “Just Galileo and Me” from Billy Sherwood’s Citizen.
