The eclectic composer/guitar virtuoso/keyboardist Rie a.k.a. Suzaku recently released a CD-ROM of demo tracks and outtakes called Rudra. Available only upon e-mail request to Rie’s record company (records@poppin.jp), the ten songs on Rudra offer a tantalizing, if frustrating, glimpse into Rie’s creative process.

Long-time fans will find all of the key elements that characterize Rie’s music – stunning melodies, sweeping lyricism, and stupefying fretboard pyrotechnics. As always, Rie’s playing is well thought out, inventive and full of surprises. Her legato technique remains amazing. She uses slurs, string bends, precision picking and a feather light touch on her whammy bar to create a sound as seamless as a flowing mountain stream.

Rie’s Musical Experiments

Rie may have been experimenting with the songs on Rudra. For example, there are some sonic differences from Top Runner, Rie’s last instrumental album. The most obvious difference is in the tones she extracts from her guitar. She has always seemed to use a compression pedal as an important element of her sound. On Rudra, the compression is even more pronounced, perhaps because she appears to have cranked the gain on her amplifier so that the cleanness of the notes breaks up faster. As a result, the sound of her guitar is more distorted than in the past. In addition, the synthesizer soundscapes that envelope the guitar in the mix may be a bit more prominent than in previous albums.

Rie’s Musical Craft

But those are relatively minor points when discussing an artist such as Rie. Her approach to music is basically the same as the great classical composers of the 19^th century. Like those composers, Rie uses an impressively broad musical language, writes melodies that create emotional resonance, and uses theme and development to build a cohesive whole. With respect to her musical language, Rie writes in a wide variety of the musical modes and scales. The tonal center – the note that that the music resolves to – may change from an introductory section of a track to the main theme. The minor modality of a “verse” may resolve into a major key “chorus,” resulting in a sense of triumph.

In fact, many of the songs have a standard song structure of verses, choruses, and bridge. But Rie doesn’t simply repeat herself. She maintains interest by varying the melody. For example, on repeating a verse section, she may change the tempo or throw an extra triplet above the expected top note of a melody. Towards the end of these tracks, such as “Zero=∞ “ or “False World,” Rie typically explodes into a fiery “solo” section in which she demonstrates her goose bump-inducing high-speed fretwork.

A Musical Journey

As is always the case with Rie’s instrumental albums, the quality of the songs is so high that it is difficult to pick out a stand-out track. There does seem to be a conscious progression of the songs. “Rudra,” the title track, is a heavily distorted hard rock kick-off to the album. It is suffused with Eastern influences, including a raga-inspired section played on what sounds like a real sitar. The three songs that follow are in much the same driving, yet uncertain, mode. The track “Ending my love story” is so emotionally charged that it may have been a good thing that this particular love story ended. The mood then suddenly changes with “Summer Carnival,” a major key explosion of joy. From that point, the album takes on a more majestic and inspirational atmosphere, as if earlier problems have now been resolved.

Spinning on the Wheel of Fortune

“Wheel of Fortune” clocks in at 7 minutes and 12 seconds, so it is perhaps the emotional high point of the album. The first minute is dominated by querulous, explorative keyboards. The main theme and its variations take up most of the song before exploding into a 30 second “solo” that leads into the final reprise of the main theme. It’s almost a musical examination of the twists and turns that life can take.

The closing song “for you…,” is introduced by a lovely piano arpeggio. The main theme is absolutely gorgeous. With lyrics, it would be a perfect melody for the iconic shape-shifting singer Tenge Fuyuki (Fuki) of Unlucky Morpheus and DOLL$BOXX to sing as part of her solo project. That would be a musical partnership worth hearing. Elegiac in mood, “for you…” is the perfect conclusion to a fascinating set of songs.

The Mystery of Rudra

Rudra is yet another great album from Rie. The frustration comes from the fact that it is a bit of a mystery. There are no credits or album notes. It is unclear which songs are original compositions and which may be covers. The poppin.jp website states in English “All instrumental by Rie a.k.a. Suzaku.” This would mean that Rie herself is responsible for playing and/or programming all of the instruments. So it is Rie who plays the lovely piano on “Wheel Of Fortune.” She plays the wild bass solo on “Answer Back.” The drums? Who knows? If the drums are programmed, it is no surprise that they sound totally organic. Rie, who has always been responsible for the production and programming on her albums, has always been a wizard in the studio. So, of course she put as much care into the drum tracks, synth and bass as her guitar work. Needless to say, this is all very impressive.

The real question is why this set of songs was apparently not considered worthy of a full CD release. No song seems unfinished. No song seems to be a promising idea that didn’t pan out. No song seems underproduced. Perhaps it is simply a question of timing and the fact that Top Runner was released less than a year ago. Maybe she is just too endlessly prolific.

Heart and Soul

Rudra, like all of Rie’s work, merits repeated and close listening. It is the kind of album that would benefit from a magazine length article exploring what inspired Rie as she was writing and performing the songs and how she recorded the tracks. The guitar geek would want to know the guitars, effects and rigs used on each song. For the rest of us, Rudra is an album we can simply enjoy. We can marvel at Rie’s virtuoso guitar work or simply get lost in the glorious melodies, letting them worm their way into the brain.

Rie is a great artist. Like all great artists, she puts her heart and soul into all of her work. The tracks on Rudra may be demo tracks and outtakes rather than finished works. Nevertheless, their originality, their magic and the care with which they were created confirm the great artistry of Rie.

日本語訳を読むにはページトップの「日本語」のところをクリックして下さい。