Riverside - "I.D. Entity"

Frustratingly good Prog Rock jammed into a bad concept album

This one is infuriating. Four tracks in, I thought this could be the first Blue of the year. Musically, there's some incredible material here. Then you get to track 5, "The Place Where I Belong", the longest track on the album at 13 minutes.

And it all just falls apart. Like, the lyricism on the first four tracks isn't great by any means. I tried to chalk it up to the fact that the band is Polish, so the English writing isn't going to be the best, generally. However, the ideas being championed are just...basic at best, especially in a genre like Prog Rock, which, you know, carries the Pink Floyd stereotype of its fans all gung-ho about "The Man, man!", etc, etc.

Track 3 is called "Big Tech Brother", btw. I really shouldn't have to say anything more to elaborate in that direction.

But "The Place Where I Belong" falls into the trap of most 'clever' political poetry - it's too vague in its messaging and purpose. If you're going to come out and 'say something', then commit to it and be at least a *little* explicit. This specific song is either Pro-Centrism or uses a centrist strawman while trying to make a bigger point; either way, I don't like it, and the whole thing falls flat.

I mean, please feel free to read them and weigh in: https://genius-lyrics.com/the-place-where-i-belong.../

But don't listen to it. For the love of God. I absolutely adore long-form music, and I'll tell you this one is an atrocity, and I almost dropped this album from Blue (8+) to Yellow (>6.5) - it's sitting somewhere around the 6.7 range now, especially because the second longest track, and album closer, wasn't very redeeming, especially for the first half of its playtime (but it finished strong enough).

If you're looking for good Prog Rock, this album definitely delivers it. There are strong moments here. Just don't wander into the shadowlands.

Rating: Green (for now)