The Bollenberg Experience
If Only Stones Could Speak

John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg suddenly and prematurely passed away today, January 12, 2024. I didn't know him personally, but in the mid-90s, when I was trying to expand my knowledge in the progressive field as much as possible, I often found myself reading his reviews on foreign websites or fanzines (iO pages, for example). Of Dutch nationality (I believe), he wrote about music, I imagine for pleasure (like myself) and also for pleasure, he composed and sang. In many years of total dedication to progressive rock, he had the rare fortune of writing an entire album, managing to record it (with the help of truly significant musicians) and even releasing it through Musea, a specialized French label. The work, released under the name The Bollenberg Experience, I listened to back then and wrote a review for the fanzine Paperlate, which unfortunately is no longer active today. It seemed to me that sharing that review here might be of interest to those who wish to read it and certainly a tribute to his tireless passion. I report the review exactly as I wrote it, without changing or sugarcoating anything.

For quite some time in the progressive field, there have been numerous examples of both supergroups, where various artists combined their compositional energies to create an album, and musical projects where a composer wrote the pieces and then surrounded himself with big names to record the various instruments. Going in strict random order, we can mention Liquid Tension Experiment, Explorers Club, Morte Macabre, Ayreon, Fyreworks, The New Groove Project, Martin Darvill & Friends, Nolan/Wakeman Jr., Trent Gardner's project dedicated to Leonardo Da Vinci, and finishing with the famous Transatlantic. The results have sometimes been very positive (especially LTE, Transatlantic, and even though their album contained almost all covers, Morte Macabre), other times only reasonable ("The Greatest Show On Earth" will certainly not be remembered in the annals of prog) but surely there has always been great anticipation and curiosity with which prog enthusiasts awaited these records.

The latest in time is this project conceived by John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg, a freelance rock journalist and singer in the band Quies. Bollenberg wrote the 9 pieces that make up this album along with the talented Swedish guitarist Bjorn Johansson, who already collaborated with Par Lindh on "Bilbo" and created the excellent "Discus Ursi," and then surrounded himself with a not bad team including, besides Johansson himself, Rick Wakeman, Jordan Rudess, Roine Stolt, Par Lindh (at this point I don't think there's any need to add more), William Kopecky (of the eponymous band), Heather Findlay and Bryan Josh (Mostly Autumn), and even a choir (the Ensemble Macogall Choir).

The style of the album is a sort of well-crafted symphonic prog mixed with strong doses of folk and medieval melodies that seem to come directly from the bards who entertained King Arthur's court or from the drunks in some lost tavern in the Scottish moorlands of the year one thousand. When these latter take over (which happens quite often), the instrumentation also becomes, so to speak, "of the time," just listen to track 3, "Minna," where the sweet melody is first accompanied by classical guitar and harpsichord, then by violin organ and trumpets, leading to a brief electric guitar solo that suddenly brings us back to 2002. Even the following "Ursus Brugghia" seems taken from a score of a few centuries ago or perhaps from one of Lorena McKennit's works since the style and taste for arrangement seem to stem directly from one of the skilled musician's albums. Elsewhere, symphonic prog dominates, the instrumentation is modern, and from Wakeman's or Par Lindh's synths come solos that challenge Stolt's and Johansson's guitars, still always within a melodic context.

The main downside of the album is, in my opinion, Bollenberg's voice which, beyond the timbre that I don't quite like (but this is a strictly personal view), tends sometimes to dangerously reach its limits, resulting at times in goosebumps (unfortunately in a negative sense..., for example, listen to "Holy Blood"). Another thing I didn't like too much (but it's only noticeable sometimes) was the way the drums were recorded, sometimes too dry and, so to speak, "intrusive" (listen to its entry in "Cafe Vlissinghe"...). In conclusion, apart from the flaw of Bollenberg's voice (a flaw that is mitigated thanks to the co-presence of a good female voice and the choir), the album is certainly quite interesting and will appeal both to fans of the symphonic current of progressive and to those who would like to live in an ancient mansion, perhaps located near Camelot, and spend their evenings discussing progressive with friends. Sitting around a nice round table...