SAN DIEGO, CA. (www.dominici.com) - The long awaited CD from Charlie Dominici, the original vocalist for 'Dream Theater' has been released and is getting some strong reactions from the music world.
Unlike the usual content one might expect from an acoustic solo album, this one is a powerful story about a man who is abducted in the night as a young child. His captors force him into a world of fanaticism, secrecy and world terrorism. When he is planted in the target country (we are never told what country that is, or where he is from) he begins to get a little too comfortable as he blends in with his surroundings. Years go by and he eventually has his own business, meets a girl and falls in love. Just when he believes that his cherished new life is safe, he gets the call from the leaders. This is where the story begins in a film-like flashback opening and goes on through numerous twists and turns, just like any good action, suspense film. Wait... did we just say film? Well that's what makes the CD so unique. It's really a film made of music with each track like a scene. The author kept the distractions to a minimum by using only one guitar and one voice. If we put on headphones and close our eyes to listen we are taken on a wild ride. This is only the first of a trilogy so naturally when the CD ends, there are many questions left unanswered and we are tempted to imagine the best and the worst of what might happen next.
The guitar work and vocals are seamless in that they serve as a medium for the most important part of the work, the story. The sound quality is excellent in that the guitar is recorded in stereo with a rich acoustic guitar tone. Most who know Charlie only as the vocalist will be surprised by his excellent guitar playing incorporating both finger picking and chord structures that show fine musicianship and music writing ability. The vocals are strong and resonate with the years and life experience of the singer.
The opening track, 'Introduction' finds the subject pondering how he ended up in the situation he is in. We are then brought through the events leading up to his dilemma.
Track two is called 'Unwilling Volunteer' and tells the tale of how the subject was abducted in the night and brought into the sinister world he now finds himself in.
By track No 3, 'My New Land' we find the subject has been placed as a 'sleeper' in the target country and after some time is seduced by the many pleasures of living in freedom.
In track No 4 'I Found My Love' he meets a girl and falls in love. Things start to take a downward turn from there. The religious and neo-political overtones are frightening at times.
A line from 'The Dream', song No 5: 'Ignorance hides in the darkest places and feeds its poison to its young. You'll wipe them from existence-you are the chosen one' suggests the speaker to the subject during a nightmare dream. When he later gets the orders to work out a chemical formula for a terror act, he learns that the true nature of this act will be an Armageddon- like world event. At this point a series of events, including the murder of his family cause him to become a total outcast and he finds himself all alone in a cold, cruel world.
In the song No 10,'The Hand of God' As he ponders whether or not to use the destructive formula on the world after all, we are left to wait for the next installment CD to learn our fate. This is entertainment at its best. The best of two worlds, music and storytelling blended together and offered up in the form of a CD trilogy.
Look for worldwide availability in stores and online.
The CD is available now from the website:
www.dominici.com and will soon be in stores worldwide.
