A press release says
that Jimmy Brown “created the idea of Jupiter VI, a band that in a science
fiction setting would be sent from Earth to the planet Mars to find notoriety,
fame and acceptance. He loosely based
the story of Jupiter VI on his experience in the Christian Music Industry with
the band Deliverance”. The debut album
from Jupiter VI was 2006’s BACK FROM MARS.
Their second and latest album is mOVEABLE WALLS (2014, Roxx
Records). It is said to be “a conceptual
piece based on his experience in the work force and the travels he had
experienced”. Here, I am reviewing the
standard edition of the album. There is
however a limited edition five song bonus EP, which includes a cover of Alanis
Morrissette’s ‘Thank U’.
The album begins with the lengthy (19:54) ‘Sleepless End Pt
I-IV’. To start, it sounds like a
thunderstorm occurring in the galaxies.
It features terrific guitar work and later sounds like you are standing
on a sea shore. These lyrics from it,
are about self-discovery: “Ohhh, they invited you in, but you’ll never be in,
to them it’s a sin/While the trumpets blow to announce your arrival, it’s
minutes and seconds before the reprisal/Crisis marks the links that connect you
to it all/Forgone conclusions, it sets the tone/The virus that eats down to the
bone/You’re caught up in it all before you realize you’re lost, and can’t find
your way home.../Life moves on (2X)/Don’t you slow down!/Don’t you stand
still!/Because light and life, it moves on, it moves on”. Jimmy P. Brown II writes all the songs solo
except for the next one called ‘Wasting Away’, a co-write with Rick
Mester. It is a rock ballad about
relationship woes: “Life is fading away, failing to breathe, wasting away/She
said she loved me still, never believe, want to believe/It happened when I
closed my eyes, one last time, then the silence/I hope she can forgive me/I
have fallen, I’m lost outside”.
‘Running’ is a passionate song about a spiritual journey: “Feeling
overrun, like the night won’t seem to end/Feeling paralyzed and the notes don’t
seem to bend/Feeling lost, with no bearings on where I am/Somebody help me/I’ve
done all that I can/And I’m running but my feet they don’t touch the mirrored
glass/And I’m running with the promise that this too shall pass.../Lie so very
still/Waiting for Your voice/Echoing the words, you’ve done it all by
choice/Now I’m in and the race has just begun/I can’t grow weary and undo what
has been done”.
‘Face in the Sky’ is the album’s lead single. It is a good rock song from the perspective
of one who is longing: “Eyes open and I stare across the room that seems like
miles/Hoping to hear a sigh or a breath from you/It’s then I realize that I’m
alone, sobriety comes to wake me from my sleep and I gaze at a picture of
you.../And now I’m missing you, like I’m drawing my last breath, and my senses
are numbing like I’m going blind and deaf/This feeling of anguish and panic are
taking me for a ride, feelings subside/I’ll see you soon and feel your breath,
but for now all I have is your face in the sky”. The album ends with the twelve minute and
sixteen second long ‘A Message From Home PT I’.
It has an experimental musical feel to it from the start. It seeks to connect humans with the Divine:
“There’s a message from home, can’t you hear the telephone?/A message from home
saying we feel all alone, did you hear it?/Did you hear it?/No offense is meant
when there is no return, silence completes the interstellar burn/There’s no
answer”.
On this project, Jupiter VI is Jimmy P. Brown II (vox, gtrs,
drums, bass and keys) and Jeff Ceyba (electric lead, slide, baritone and clean
guitars). mOVEABLE WALLS is an
incredibly brilliant, artistic album both lyrically and musically. I absolutely love the abundance of guitar
solos and Jimmy Brown’s deep, smooth vocals are well suited to this
project. For best effect this 48 minute,
33 second album should be listened to as a whole. This is ethereal, progressive rock in the
vein of Pink Floyd. I’m rating mOVEABLE
WALLS 95%. For more info visit: www.roxxproductions.com.