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Rick Miller



Last Updated: 10/28/2009

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Status: Single
City: Lakefield
State: Ontario
Country: CA
Signup Date: 4/2/2006

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August 19, 2009 - Wednesday 
4th album from this fine artist that remind me of Xavier Phideaux. Flirting with Pink Floyd, Beatles, Moody Blues, Alan Parsons Project, Barclay James Harvest and Steve Hackett to mention some of the most obvious influences, Rick brings us a fine piece of beautiful symphonic rock that stays interresting and vital throug out the whole album. A fine piece of work indeed! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
--The Missing Piece Posted 18 May, 10:44am

Rick Miller has been composing, producing, performing and recording since the early 1980s, gaining a great deal of production experience while working at Sound Design Studios in Toronto and later in his own studio in Lakefield, Ontario, all the while honing his skills as a singer and songwriter. Early this century, Miller turned his attention to progressive rock, the music he grew up listening to, and released four prog CDs between 2004-2009. Falling Through Rainbows (2009) is his latest; this is the new Unicorn Digital edition. Rick lists his influences succinctly as The Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Steve Hackett, and Gabriel-era Genesis, but its the first two that dominate, such that Falling Through Rainbows can easily be described as a cross between The Moodies and Floyd. Miller sings and plays guitar and keyboards (lots of Mellotron), assisted by other musicians on flute, cello, guitar, violin, and drums. This is old-school melancholy, and those David Gilmour-style guitar leads are just what is needed to shift The Moody Blues out of the late 1960s into the 1970s progressive rock era.
--Kinesis July 2009

Nouvelle bonne surprise en provenance du Canada ! Actif dans le monde la musique depuis les annees 80 mais concentre sur le progressif seulement depuis lan 2000, Rick Miller propose ici son quatrieme album solo, mais le premier sur sur le label Unicorn. Inconnu donc pour la plupart des melomanes progressifs, ce musicien possede la meme demarche artistique quun Phideaux par exemple, et avec le meme talent qui plus est. Plus influence par Pink Floyd peut-etre, Rick Miller offre un melting-pot dinfluences, parfaitement maitrisees bien sur, parmi lesquelles on reconnaitra les Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, BJH, les Beatles et meme Alan Parsons Project. Neuf compositions (de 4 a 8 minutes), superbement mises en son, sont ainsi au programme de ce Falling Through Rainbows qui devrait vraiment ravir les adeptes de Phideaux. Oeuvrant au chant (superbe voix !), aux guitares (Tres influence par David Gilmour !)et aux claviers (beaucoup de mellotron !), Rick Miller se voit entoure neanmoins de nombreux invites, a la batterie notamment, mais aussi au violon et a la flute. Rick Miller est donc un sacre songwriter, talent quil met au service de la cause progressive de tres belle maniere. Raffine et abouti...
--Cosmos Music, July, 2009

6:59 PM 
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August 19, 2009 - Wednesday 
Although Rick Miller is no stranger to the DPRP with five previous CD’s to his credit I can tell you very little about the man. His last release The End Of Days from 2006 was certainly well received and provides some interesting pointers of what to expect on this follow up. A tad misleading however is Miller’s futuristic cover painting based on the well-worn theme of a winding road to a precarious mountain top citadel (the only thing missing is an armour clad warrior riding some other worldly beast). The artwork is certainly a far cry from his pastoral landscape that graced the last release. On the musical front he handles the vocals, guitars and keyboards with additional guitar contributions from Barry Haggerty. ‘Drumatisms’ (as the sleeve notes would have it) are provided by the ambiguously named Will.
The song titles suggest an air of gloom which reflects the musical tone of the album, especially the first four tracks. As a result, to my ears at least they sound a little samey despite the crafted execution. Lords Of The Abyss sets the tone with a low-key ambient intro with atmospheric mellotron and guitar. Miller’s vocals have a deep, resonant quality with a measured delivery that at times takes on the tempo of a Gregorian chant. The songs melodramatic mood intensifies culminating with a blistering guitar solo. Eternal Moonlight follows the same pattern this time incorporating a tolling bell and ethereal female voices with the holy ambiance of a cathedral choir. In contrast Miller’s heavily processed voice is a throwback to the edgy sound of 21st Century Schizoid Man. And on the subject of King Crimson the lush mellotron backdrop during Angel Of My Soul is another reminder of their earlier years. The title song also includes a memorable song section with Miller all but spitting out the defiant words. During You Are Gone, the final song of this opening segment the guitar sound is more spacious reminiscent of Mark Knopfler’s picking style.
As we move into the second half of the album the mood changes, starting with For The Love Of You which is a song of two halves. To begin with it has a stately pace that echoes Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb before morphing into a biting rocker with distinct Nickelback overtones. My Nightmare lives up to its name with stark guitar and keys punctuations seasoned with a welcome dose of crisp drumming. It’s followed by the evocatively titled Footprints In The Snow which appropriately has the albums loveliest melody performed with polished harmonies worthy of The Moody Blues. Following the brooding intensity of some of the previous tracks, The Moon And The Stars sounds like a classy slice of pure pop and is no less enjoyable for that. In addition to the strong chorus it also boasts a silky smooth sax break which came as a surprise considering that no such instrument is credited. A deep breadth at the start of the final song suggests that a barrage of sound is about to be unleashed which fails to materialise. Instead Dark Is The Night is an acoustic ballad evocative of Crosby, Stills & Nash and even The Eagles providing a surprisingly mellow folky conclusion.
There is no doubt that this is a thoughtful and supremely constructed album that scores high marks on virtually every level. The singing, playing, writing, arrangements and production are all superb especially when you consider they’re mostly as a result of the labours of one man. The songs for me improve as the album progresses which is something of a rarity given that the reverse is often the case. The burning melancholy that pervades the album is probably best appreciated through headphones with a glass of your favourite tipple to hand. Having said that it also sounded good to me in the car so who said that driving music had to be the anthemic sing-along variety?
--DPRP 2008 Vol.33
6:58 PM 
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August 19, 2009 - Wednesday 
The End of Days is the latest release from Ontario-based Rick Miller, a musician with a diverse resume of past musical efforts, including TV scoring and new age releases in the 1980’s, one of which has sold in excess of 30,000 copies world wide. The material on The End of Days is richly symphonic progressive rock, with a slight electronic and modern edge. Points of comparison include Alan Parsons and Pink Floyd (from an electronic/production standpoint), as well as possibly the Moody Blues and Genesis (symphonics and tone).
Title track and album opener “The End Of Days” is a pulsing, nearly organic sounding piece of dark symphonic prog, with a chilling, mechanical arrangement over the living, beating rhythm. The lyrics tell of the end times, of regret and loss and confusion, and are spoken by a number of narrators, including a priest and one of the converted. While certainly spiritual in nature, neither the lyrics nor the delivery are proselytizing in any way.
“The Knives of Indifference” features a fantastic guitar solo over solemn organ and mellotron sounds. This is modern symphonic progressive at its best, bereft of any pretense, and pure in delivery. Considering the self-produced nature of this release, the production here is well worth noting, as instruments have their own defined space in the mix. The arrangements are densely packed, yet the overall result is a sound that is rich and full, rather than muddy and poorly defined.
“The Prisoner” carries on the lyrical themes present in “The End of Days,” while “The Prisoner’s Escape” works as a sort of second part, although there are no musical interconnections between the two parts. The songs maintain the darkly rich arrangements that push this release above a majority of the symphonic progressive music being created today. Miller’s vocal delivery, while restrained, maintains intensity throughout, and his addition of sitar and Eastern modalities in “The Prisoner’s Escape” are inspired and add an extra layer of interest to the composition.
“I Can Hear The Sunrise” is a very camel-inspired track, with weeping electric guitar easily evoking comparisons to Andy Latimer. The arrangements are lush, with string synths and mellotron dominating. After the emotional opening fanfare, the song pulls back to flute over a quiet, gentle synth pad, continuing the comparisons to Camel. Latin percussion and simple, elegant acoustic guitar completes the mix, while lyrically the song brings things full circle. The album opened with darkness and despair, and as it closes, a new beginning is seen, musically and lyrically. Despite the inclusion of a brief, country-esque epilogue in “Face Into the Wind,” “I Can Hear The Sunrise” is truly the album closer, and is an impressive track.
2006 has been a surprising year for new symphonic progressive bands. In an earlier review I mentioned how impressed I was with the debut release from another symphonic progressive band, Deluge Grander. Rick Miller’s The End Of Days is another pleasant surprise, and should be eagerly sought out by fans of traditional progressive rock.
--Progscape, Jan. 31, 2007
6:56 PM 
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