Hans Van Even
Stardust Requiem

Stardust Requiem is a massive offering from Belgian guitarist Hans Van Even who’s releasing his debut solo album with it. Nineteen tracks and 77 minutes of music, that is a lot. Less is more does not seem to be words this guy have ever heard. I think he is risking a lot by making such a long album, especially considering that it is an instrumental album. Using vocals can always add a bit of variation to make the album last a bit longer. But let us not get ahead of ourselves but say that Van Even is a known musician at home and has enlisted the help of some well known names.

Instrumental rock music with influences of jazz, fusion and such things making it a very varied album. Excellent sound, the music speaks volumes without words. The skills in the performances are great and the variation is strong over the album but at the same time it does not matter how much variation you have because 77 minutes is too long when it comes to almost any album and this album runs out of variation well before the hour mark.

I think that this is a fairly decent album, well I would say that it is a good album. I enjoy the dreamy atmosphere and the feel of it. There is no real weak point of the album but the long playing time makes for a big obstacle to overcome for a listener. I think he should have heeded the call ”less is more” because this becomes too long to really focus on for the entire time. I think that the ideal instrumental album plays for no more than 45 minutes and this is pretty much longer than that. I guess you have to be a fan of instrumental music to really appreciate this album, I may not quite understand what is so good with it. Maybe as a self-publisher you want to have the maximum of value for your money and crams in as much as you possibly can onto an album, unfortunately that often leads to an album that lacks the energy and dynamics that makes the good albums good so in order to maximise the playing minutes you minimise the dynamics of the album. Most of the time should be added and in the case of this album it is very true.

I think all the tracks are quite good but none stand out, kind of like the album in general. It is a good album but it just isn’t interesting enough to make any kind of lasting impression and will not rank amongst my favourites of the year. I think that in order to really appreciate this fine album you have to be a fan of instrumental music and if you are I think you will really enjoy this.

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