![]() ![]() Paul Adrian Villarreal, Kroon’s cohort from Sun Caged, lends his voice and lyrics to this linked pair of songs. “Fine Lines / My End of the Island” is two songs melded into one, forming the album’s longest track at 10:00 minutes long, and is my favorite overall composition on Crossing Over. ![]() This tune is really the only on the album to feature extended soloing, traded between Poelman’s guitar and Kroon’s synth, and also strongly emphasizes the joint foundation provided by Kuiper’s percussion and Hoebink’s bass. His introspective lyrics render the most significant of life decisions as analogous to freeway driving, where the decision to choose a new direction involves an all-or-nothing u-turn. ![]() There’s some Geoff Tate and some James LaBrie in his high-throated, metal-influenced singing style, but his versatility is more apparent on his performance of “On My Way to You,” the album’s later, soulful ballad. “Freeway” opens the album with an introduction to both the Philosophers’ primary style, grooving rock-and-roll, and also to van Asselt’s songwriting. This diversity is due at least in part to the album’s plethora of guest vocalists (in addition to van Asselt), and also to the fact that its compositions span a number of sub-genres. Yet despite the numerous metal influences and a certain 80‘s-style, neo-prog bend, Crossing Over remains a distinctly modern album with roots in a multiplicity of styles. More melodic, spacey, and hook-oriented than some of their contemporaries’ writing, the Philosophers’ music is more oriented toward songwriting than album-oriented composition. ![]() Crossing Over’s writing is undeniably less technical (though certainly not less nuanced) than some of these latter influences, but it is still unquestionably a prog album, surfacing perhaps a little closer to the Marillion end of that artistic pond. Comparisons to the likes of Marillion and Queensrÿche are almost inevitable, but there’s also plenty of Dream Theater, Fates Warning, and Pain of Salvation in the mix as well. Traditionally, a good philosopher is one who incorporates the best conceptions of his peers into his own original ideas, and that’s very much what the Philosophers have done. The current lineup still includes Kroon, Poleman, and Kuipers, but now features Bas Hoebink on the bass, and Crossing Over serves as the debut of Peter van Asselt as the band’s lead vocalist. Together, they released one album back in 2009, Sparrow, and returned to the market late last year with Crossing Over, releasing this sophomore project on 11 December. The thematic content of Crossing Over can certainly be interpreted in light of that notion, as songs like “The Space Between,” “Freeway,” “Beyond the Stars,” and the album’s title track in particular all riff on some of the larger themes of human existence: loss, uncertainty, self-criticism, love, risk, and sacrifice.įounded in 1997 by Martin Kuipers (drums), René Kroon (keys), Ivo Poelman (guitar) and Mark Portier (bass), The Barstool Philosophers was created as a side-project to each of its members’ current bands. I don’t know the actual origin of the band’s name, but “The Barstool Philosophers” moniker puts me in the mind of those who wax eloquent under the influence, perhaps solving the world’s problems in an evening of scotch and contemplation, but remember none of it in the morning. ![]()
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