The third album from the one-man band known as VAST is out and I’ve given it a few listens through. My overall impression is that in depth and richness it sounds more like the first album, but it’s constructed along the same lines as the second in terms of keeping the pacing snappy and the song lengths down under four minutes apiece. (There are two notable exceptions to that rule, one good and one not-so-good.)
Visual Audio Sensory Theater, the self-titled-ish first album, was a dense and dark experimental work that was just as likely to explore religious as romantic themes. It is among my favorite records of all time, which is why I so eagerly awaited the arrival of Nude and before it Music For People, which I found to be generally enjoyable but with too much of a “must sell to radio” construction about it. My biggest beef with People is the uniformity of song length coupled with the reduction of subject matter down to being just a collection of love (new and lost) songs. It’s not a bad album, really, but it’s not exactly what I think of as a worthy follow-up to the original work.
Nude is better. The subject matter is still love, new and lost and obsessive alike. One can hear more interesting things going on under the surface this time around, though. It feels as though Jon Crosby is trying to do the interesting things he did on his first album while still keeping to the industry-friendly song lengths and rock-n-roll elements that keep his bread buttered.
Let’s cut to the, er, cuts. The two lead-off tracks are “Turquoise” and “Thrown Away,” respectively. They’re good, solid toe-tappers. Then we get to “Don’t Take Your Love Away,” which… isn’t. One of the two tracks to run over four minutes, it’s also the only track that leaves me completely underwhelmed. Ah well. “Be With Me” picks the pace up again, while “Lost” manages to be somber without sucking the enjoyment out of the listening experience.
“Winter In My Heart” is one of the standout tracks here. There’s a quality of elegant pain to it that captivates me. It also counts as the obligatory parental-advisory moment, since Jon seems compelled to work an F-bomb just once into every album. Don’t ask me why.
“I Need To Say Goodbye,” “Japanese Fantasy,” “Ecstacy” and “Candle” are generally good pieces, though only “Fantasy” stands out as particularly interesting among this set.
The other over-four-minutes piece is “I Can’t Say No (To You),” and it makes up for all of the failures of its counterpart early in the album. I think this song shows best the promise of what we can expect to hear on future albums… at least, I certainly hope to hear more pieces at this level. It’s dark, obsessive, gentle and beautiful all at once.
Nude closes out much as Music for People did, with a typically quiet piece centered on an acoustic guitar and uncluttered arrangement, in this case a little gem called “Desert Garden.” While not as hauntingly beautiful as “Lady of Dreams” from People, it’s still a charming little love song that I suspect will grow on me with time.
While I nitpick and kibbutz here about specific tracks, only “Don’t Take Your Love Away” actually disappoints. Nude is a worthwhile listen, though perhaps not a true classic in the making. I’ve taken to looking at VAST as a work in progress… and this album shows progress and promise.
