APPLE PIE

APPLE PIE was one of those bands that looked far away from where its members were raised. This band was formed by Vartan Mkhitaryan in the city of Kursk, Russia which is located not too far from the Ukrainian border in the southwestern part of Russia. While many bands from the former Iron Curtain have emerged since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, many have adopted some of the homegrown folk elements and other styles unique to the Slavic nations however others totally looked westward for inspiration and if the name doesn't give it away immediately, it's obvious that APPLE PIE looked to the USA for its inspiration.

And by that i mean that APPLE PIE created the perfect fusion of Neal Morse era Spock's Beard with that unmistakable style of symphonic prog including Mkhitaryan's dead ringer vocal style for Neal Morse along with the occasional bombastic heft and technical wizardry of Dream Theater. In some ways on this debut release CROSSROAD, the band sounds a bit like Transatlantic which found both Neal Morse and Mike Portney cross-pollinating their respective bands' styles into lengthier knotty whirlwinds of sonic prog splendor so as i'm listening to this i keep thinking they should have named themselves Trans-Siberian Railway! But that would miss the point when your shtick is to imitate your other-side-of-the-world prog heroes!

To put it bluntly, this album is about as derivative as it can possible get. If you told me this was a long lost Morse album or even a Spock's Beard archival release, i'd totally believe it was. In fact i keep wondering if this band is just a pseudonym for a Morse project it's so convincing! I mean everything about this resembles a Morse album. It has a mutltiide of tracks that sprawl on to over 77 minutes of play time. It takes cheery pop hooks and crafts them into massive prog workouts with alternating atmospheric acoustic guitars segments morphing into heavy rock where jagged guitar riffs find keyboard antics jumping around like loose fireworks and then resolution with dreamy soft spoken bliss bombs and then a few deviations into some sort of weird unrelated style of music.

On CROSSROAD you will be treated to an amazing display of musicianship especially when the Dream Theater references are left off their leash. Vartan Mkhitaryan provides lead vocals, guitars and percussion. Alexey BIlden plays bass and saxophone. Oleg Sergeev provides keyboards and Andrey Golodukhin is the drummer. This quartet really has done their prog homework and delivers an impressive deliver of symphonic prog with a few metal elements bursting into the scene at key moments but mostly this one is on the mellower side with soft passages leading up to the noisier climaxes. In addition to the dominant Morse and Dream Theater influences, APPLE PIE does offer doses of Flower Kings, Pink Floyd and the surprising jump blues jazz of 'Temptation' which shuffles more like the Diablo Swing Orchestra minus the operatic diva, so the album's not an entire ripoff by any means.

While it's easy to be too critical of a band taking too many liberties of borrowing another band's stylistic approach to the point where it sounds like an eerie clone, i have to remember that APPLE PIE formed in a fairly isolated part of Eastern Europe and i'm positive the bands they worship have never set foot anywhere near where they are from as even Moscow is hundreds of kilometers away. It sounds like this band would be more of a treat to see in a live setting and provides the next best thing to a prog hungry part of the world that gets forgotten on all those prog festival circuits. CROSSROAD is indeed an impressive album musically speaking as all the members have mastered their craft in a most admirable way but they at this point anyway have failed to find their own identity which is a problem for me at least. Definitely a band that has a lot of potential and this album invites me to explore their second album which actually finds guest musicians like Derek Sherinian joining in. As for this one, it's really good but not what i'd call essential.

3.5 rounded down

When I heard for the first time Apple Pie, it was because I read very good comments about the band and they are from Russia, so I wanted to hear some neo prog music from that country to see the results. The outcome? Incredible, it's a very good album with excellent music passages in different styles that create a very good environment surruonding the whole album. Maybe not the level of the great bands in neo prog music such as Marillion or IQ, but definitely they deserve a good place in your collection. As it is typical in this sub-genre, the keyboard sound and the landscapes created with it are the ones that create the special landmark, the voice, trying to sound kind of retro from the 80s, and one song is a complete tribute to old swing music. Really amazing album!

It's always delightful to find new bands that turn out to be a real splendor of good progginess. Apple Pie is the latest find for me, and perhaps even the "find of the year" so to speak. They emerge from what seems to be a third generation of prog rockers, with more clear references to acts like Spock's Beard, Ayreon, Dream Theater etc. than the innovators of the 70's. To me it is always nice to see people build upon well settled ground while exploring their own melodical and structural ideas. The Russian three piece group's second album The Gates of Never contains a bunch of grooviness (such as the upbeat ender Strange Thing Called Love), some strong yearnings for peace and justice (No Reason for This War), a well written and nicely variating while cohesive enough 23-minute suite (Letters of a Deadman) and even a pure prog metal song with a growl part (The Gates of Never). It is quite evident that these guys a very capable musicians, not a trace of amateurism can be found on this cd. With a running length of just under 55 minutes, the album doesn't feel any bit too long and it is one of those that leave quit a happy expression on my face after a listening session. So, recs from here, surely.

On Apple Pie's second album, The Gates of Never, the Spock's Beard-meets-Salem Hill approach taken on their debut (Crossroads) is swapped out in favour of a prog metal approach that really cranks up the Dream Theater influence on the band to 11 - so it's no surprise to find Derek Sherinian guesting on keyboards. The material here consists of competent and enjoyable prog metal with the occasional twist - the various parts of Letters of a Deadman being the most varied part of the album - and the band will probably pick up a few fans with this one. That said, the shift in their sound may alienate some listeners who fell in love with Crossroads, and the band still don't seem to have carved out a distinct identity for themselves.

Well, this is what I call evolution!! A few years ago I found out about this then quartet from Kursk strangely called Apple Pie. I liked their debut Crossroads very much, although with a few reservations, which was not a bad thing, since it was only their first efford and showed much promise. Now, six years after that comes their sophmore release, called The Gates of Never. Keyboardist Oleg Sergeev is out now, so they enlisted no one else but ex Dream Theater keysman, Derek Sherinian, to join in as a guest. Again I was impressed by the overall musicanship of the players, capable of using their great technique for the music. This is really a great team work.

Although billed as neo prog, there is nothing of the genre in here. In fact, the band now sounds more symphonic rock than ever, with a few nods to prog metal here and there. The album´s self titled opener is a real surprise with its heavy riffing and even more heavier vocals (including a few brief growls, believe it or not). This is the most Dream Theater influenced track of the whole disc and shows the band could handle this style easily. However, from the epic suite Letter Of A Dead Man (divided in four individual tracks) on the sound definitly takes a Spock´s Beard twist (around the time of their V CD) and some of Neal Morse´s latter, more symphonic works, including Transatlantic. Even Vartan Mkhitaryan´s voice reminds me of Morse´s. By the way, the guy did a great job and his vocal delivering is so good you can hardly believe he is also playing such a mean guitar. Add some jazz, classic Yes and even blues parts on some tracks and you have a good idea of what this new album is all about.

The results could be desastrous in less capable hands, but I found that The Gates Of Never does live up to the expectations. The songs are absolute winners, the arrangements tasteful and the perfomances of all involved are impeccable. Honestly, rarely I´ve seen lately such symphonic music flowing so evenly, from beginning to end, with every note falling so naturally at the right place. If they are yet not exactly too original in terms of style, they have the talent to at least do that with power, conviction and guts. Even the last track, with the corny title of Strange Thing Called Love, and its opening salvos of deceptively AOR synthesizers is really a terrific song that becomes a great melodic symphonic epic during its glorious 15 minute running time.

The production is top notch. Both the instrumental and vocal parts are simply perfect and there are no weak parts to be found on the whole album.

I`ve been listening to this CD for the last few days almost non stop and I can assure everybody that this is one of the best symphonic prog records I´ve heard in years: complex, yet melodic, full of virtuosity and yet accessible. With the Gates Of never the band reaches new heights and more than fulfills the initial promise. Congratulations for the fantastic upgrade in terms of songwriting and vocal department!

Final rating: 4,5 stars (not so final, since probably I´ll uprate this one to five in a few more spins). Remember the time when virtuoso progressive rock also meant great songs, emotion and melodies? Well, they are back! Highly recommended!!

I have to admit that I haven't really had much experience with Russian prog bands, so I can't say how well Apple Pie represents the Russian prog scene, but their debut album (and so far only album!) Crossroad sounds as American as... well... Apple Pie! The stylings of US prog greats like Dream Theater, Spock's Beard, Salem Hill, and perhaps a little Kansas infuse the album, and whilst on the whole it doesn't quite hit the spot for me the band show a lot of potential and I'd say that if they ever get around to producing more material, they might end up creating some really neat results.

The story of Russian Art-Rock band Apple Pie begins in 2000 in the cold city of Kursk,when they were formed under the force of guitarist/vocalist Vartan Mkhitaryan.In the line-up was also included Little Tragedies' bassist/saxophonist Alexey Bildin.Between July and November 2004 the band records a demo album entitled ''Новый День'' (New Day) with all music and lyrics written by Mkhitaryan.

In this album Apple Pie play a happy mixture of Pop,Rock,Jazz and Funk,a style quite challenging but definitely far from what one calls ''progressive rock''.In fact they sound a lot like the accesible side of SPOCK'S BEARD in their short tracks.The majority of the compositions are in a pleasant groovy style,rather straightforward, with lots of vocals and under a surprisingly good production.Mkhitarayan's guitar's style ranges from Classic Rock to Jazz to Funk,depending on the track,and he is always accompanied by the organ of Oleg Sergeev.Sometimes keys have a more symphonic edge,while Bildin shines with his excellent and demanding bass lines.Ten out of the fifteen tracks are sung in Russian,the rest in English with a bit of an accent.The problem here is that the compositions are too catchy and groovy with almost no instrumental sections and, while they are well-executed,they tend to get the listener stuffed from this material.Additionally the wide range of different styles between the tracks avoids the listener to get to a specific mood.A couple of boring ballads could have also been avoided.

''New day'' finds Apple Pie searching their way onto a more specific music style.This demo album is well-produced and executed and the band is definitely tight,but it is way too accesible to satisfy the lover of intricate sounds.Not recommended.

The good thing I experienced with this band was that I knew nothing about the band and what sort of music they play. Once I listened to it for the first time, the music flew nicely and naturally into my mind. I only noticed that there were many changes in style and tempo throughout the music which I did not see the booklet at all until I spun the entire album. I re-spun the CD naturally because the first experience was quite nice with me, honestly. AT the second spin I then realized the biggest influence the band had: it's Spock's Beard. But it's knid like funny to me, as I was initially not a big fan of Spock's Beard even though I like their 8th album "Octane" after the front-man Neal Morse left the band for solo works. Having known the big influence, it did not stop me to re-spun the album again and again until I found more than 5 spins in its entirety. I enjoy the music, really.

The introduction of opening track "1. a) Overture b) Once Upon a Time" (8:21) is basically unplugged thing (acoustically driven music) which sets its stage for the next segment with heavy prog style in the vein of Spock's Beard. It's quite a nice adrenalin-exploding track with its energetic style with changing tempos. The next track "2. Sunrise" (9:17) starts mellow with clear voice backed with acoustic guitar and stunning electric guitar solo. Yeah, the music is quite Spock's Beard, and I like it very well especially the one at the middle of the track where the music turns to move into heavier style with nice riffs with typical progressive metal style, combined beautifully with excellent keyboard work. The interlude is really rocking and it's hard for you who love heavy prog for not liking this beautifully crafted track.

The third track "Crossroad" (7:57) starts off beautifully with a dynamic drums work followed with energetic music in riff-based style. Yeah, you may call it still like Spock's Beard until you find guitar solo that sounds different than typical Spock's Beard music. The middle part of the song (interlude) there is a beautifulparts combining great guitar work and inventive keyboard solo. Bass guitar, as with previous tracks, play a distinctive roles during the track. It's an excellent composition. "Nothing" (3:42) is an ambient track with programming rhythm section. It brings back to an energetic - this time is NOT Spock's Beard - in "Temptation (4:40)" as the music is now using brass section with different singing style. Oh man .... This is a very nice music even though it sounds like a pop music. There is a very nice bluesy guitar work in the middle. It's so interesting!

"Escape" (10:30) sounds like a heavy prog music than a neo prog scene, much more driven with riffs and frequent tempo changes and style changes. With its long duration, I believe this one was destined to be an epic. The composition is nice and not like Spock's Beard. The interlude part with keyboard solo is really killing! " Still got my Faith in You" (4:02) is like a ballad to me, with an opening acoustic part combining acoustic guitar and vocals. The guitar work is really nice. "Solution" (7:26) starts with an energetic keyboard work that reminds me to the intro of Van Halen's "Jump". What follows is still another music with excellent composition - this time in the vein of SB even though Apple Pie has its own style.

The opening acoustic guitar solo that opens "Nothing Comes Everything" (8:06) is really cool and it's followed with beautiful piano work. This instrumental work moves the music beautifully from mellow parts in the beginning and goes into complex one. It flows seamlessly to the concluding track "Final" (13:00) with inventive keyboard work that reminds me to Gentle Giant.

Overall, I have to admit the beautiful composition these guys have made - creating an energetic music with nice harmony, frequent style and tempo changes. There are many influences from Spock's Beard. It's a highly recommended album. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

We have lived up to that exciting moment when Russia's progressive music gradually comes out of hiding. Example of Apple Pie, I hope, will prove contagious. Published in Russia a fresh plate received excellent press in Europe and has all chances to get loose on the full program - in certain circles, of course.

Nothing is so amazing and magical staff in his attempt did not create, but their mix of classic Spock's Beard Neal Morse with the old mic stand and a Dream Theater album version of the last two 90-ies (the atmosphere, in the first place) listens well. Thus the sound of the national team does not allow her to consider a choir of clones. The musicians skillfully varied influences, moving from the classic British symphonic rock to neo-prog last wave, from hard to funk. This adds a record of lightness, airiness. So in Russia, it seems, no one has ever played. Apple Pie initially rejected the artificial complexity of the material, with an emphasis on melody and atmosphere. Very nice work, which warms the soul with their origins. Keep it up.

"Crossroad" is the debut CD by Russia's APPLE PIE, which is a quartet comprising Vartan Mkhitaryan on guitars and lead vocals, Oleg Sergeev on keyboards, Andrey Golodukhin on drums and Alexey Bildin on bass (I'm just wondering, is this the same Alexey Bildin who plays saxophone in Little Tragedies?). Although the band is on the run already for seven years, all its members have full-time jobs, which explains their relatively low production. Alongside perfect (with no accent!) English vocals, the group's remarkable compositional, arrangement and technical skills are all brightly reflected on each of the ten tracks present, seven of those ranging from eight to twelve minutes. The style is a fusion of symphonic Art-Rock and Prog-Metal, suggesting something halfway between Spock's Beard at their most intricate and hard-edged and classic Dream Theater. This is just a brilliant album, really; it's definitely worthy to be viewed in detail, but since I had to spend ten days in the health center this month, while still having more than 100 discs in my queue on average, it is beyond my powers to do any detailed reviews this time around, for which I offer my apologies to all the musicians whose recordings I have examined for this update, as well as the readers.

Dream Theater + Neal Morse / Spock 's Beard = Apple Pie

For those who like labels, Apple Pie is a shot of the best things I ever heard in the Neo-Prog, does it sound like bands that want to imitate the keyboards of Marillion. While mixing the sound of the bands mentioned above, such as the title track (where the drummer literally copy a turn of Portnoy) and the melodies very reminiscent of some work Neal Morse, but it is a sound and enjoyable and easily digestible Swing.

Keyboards, organs, and worked with an instrumental comassos compounds always present; baladinha to a retro sound that way. Progger for a conservative would mean, for someone with more open mind, a pleasant revelation.