Product Description The Planet P Project was started in 1983 as a method for Tony Carey to put out a certain style of music that didn't fit in with some of his other work under his own name. The first album garnered the radio and video hit "Why Me", a year later Tony followed it up with the 2nd Plant P album (a double) "Pink World" which has been compared to Pink Floyds "The Wall" for its depth and intensity. Tony has over 30 albums to his credit and as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist has worked with some of the biggest names in the business. His searing Mini Moog work on the classic Rainbow album "Rainbow Rising" is legendary. Now after 2 decades Tony has come back to Planet P Project and is once again breaking ground."1931" is the first record of a trilogy: "Go Out Dancing", which will continue with "Levittown", about the fifties, from drunken Joe McCarthy to the Birth of the Cool to the Kennedy Boys, and "Out In The Rain" which according to Tony, will be all he has to say about the disgraceful state of the world's unfortunates - which of course is just about everybody... "1931" itself deals with the radical right, starting in Weimar Germany in 1923, right through to the Federal Building and including all that fun bunch of nazis, including Tim McVeigh and the militia movement... racewar, indeed! Tony hopes he doesn't pull any punches. Viciously satirical, at times quite lyrical and melodic and at other times some Sick Shit. "If you can SEE it, you're IN it - there's no line dividing the two" is the main theme in this record. What they used to call civic responsibility.... or civil courage. The 2nd and 3rd G.O.D. records will follow as fast as Tony can make 'em. KEEP BELIEVING. Review It s been several years since this former Rainbow Keyboardist decided to resurrect the name of his famed 80 s Planet P Project after years of simply going by Tony Carey for his musical endeavors. But continuing his prowess for elaborate projects, Carey has offered the first installment of a trilogy titled Go Out Dancing. Kind of a strange title when you think about what the concept of 1931 entails, so what was going on that year, what type of hell was going to be broken loose in Europe at the time, oh yeah, it s back to reality, no sci-fi themes here. Musically the album is filled with drum loops, layered keyboards, and the balance of electronic pop and progressive rock and although the album is straightforward throughout, Carey does tend to move through different forms of songwriting ideas to add different textures to the record; for example, there is the darkened atmosphe within My Radio Talks to Me, the Europop tinged Join the Parade, the emotional balladry in Waiting for the Winter, and there are jumpy danceable tracks such as The Judge and the Jury and The Tings Never Told Me; it s not exactly the type of music you would expect from a storyline that entails both brainwashing and war. 1931 is a return to his sound of his eighties solo work; but yet, there is no dated factor to it. 1931 is a record of solo musicianship proportions, where it is Carey s own musical personality that is front and center on this record. It s hard to tell where the next record will lead the dancing concept, but it will be interesting. --YtsejamSo when I bought this CD I was simply shaking with excitement. I mean I had felt Planet P Projects first two releases in the early 80 s (Self titled and Pink World) were really the direction I felt progressive rock music was going to take.Unfortunately that was not to be the case and I had assumed that Tony Carey and the PPP concept had faded into the great ether of fantastic music lost on the whims and poor taste of the consuming public.Fast forward to early 2005 and the new PPP 1931 lands in my music collection. 1931, as noted in the brief liner notes, is part I of a trilogy titled Go out Dancing . Part II, Levittown is under production and Part III; Out in the Rain is mostly written and should be in production in the not too distant future. But I am jumping ahead. This review is about the most excellent release 1931.I suppose that 1931 is a way to look back at some of the deepest and darkest times in human kind. It starts off with the very haunting My Radio Talks to Me, which is set in both Detroit and Germany. People are rushing home to listen to their radio where some of the great leaders and murderers of our time talk to the people through the radio, no TV in 1931.The listener is fed snippets of a Hitler speech, a snippet of a Hirohito speech and in general the stage is set for the beginnings of WWII.Each song lays the ground work for not only the Holocaust but also for some modern day actions like racism here in the US, white supremacists in the wilds of Idaho (The Other Side of the Mountain), and the Oklahoma City bombing (The Judge and the Jury).Tony Carey s song writing is just heart wrenching all across this CD and each song grabs you by the throat and pulls you deeply into the fray. Join the Parade points out how mob mentality works, how you can have a hate filled ideology and as long as you remain part of the crowd you can do your nasty deeds and simply fade into the background. Good Little Soldiers says just follow along and do what you re told and I (insert name of leader/ruler/king) will set you free. Two songs, Work (will make you free) and Waiting for Winter are definitely about the Holocaust and just really make your heart hurt as we are again reminded of man s tremendous inhumanity toward man.Tony Carey however brings this CD crashing into modern times with the last song Where Does it Go? which opens with a line implying that why should we worry about past atrocities, I mean it can t really happen again... now can it?And we are left pondering the fact that we humans just don t get it, we don t get the fact that we have over and over and over again repeated the most horrendous acts of our past as we simply refuse to learn from the errors of our ways.This is a very dark and moody CD but the tunes are at times toe tappers with great hooks and riffs. It simply does not sound like a one guy plays it all CD but of course this is a Tony Carey release.If you have liked Tony s other works and especially if you have enjoyed the two previous PPP releases you will really love 1931. As a little hint, Tony is finally working on a follow-up to the critically acclaimed Pink World that was released in 1984. Buy 1931 and pray that parts II and III are released soon. --Prog4YouIf you only knew how many times I listened to Planet P s Pink World what I m about to say won t come as a surprise. I never did get into the first Planet P LP but the second, Pink World was so full of great compositions, a great concept and a great sound that I was hooked as a fan. At the time of its release in 1984, it was some of the most progressive stuff available to the common man (or woman). So imagine my surprise to find out that a new CD release was imminent on ProgRock Records. Had the sound changed? Would it live up to expectations? Well I m here to tell you it s done all that in spades!Planet P s new release is entitled 1931 and is the first of a three-part trilogy entitled Go Out Dancing. As such, this CD has been in gestation for some time, being recorded between 1992 and 2003. As with his other releases, this is very much the work of Tony Carey who is after all, Planet P Project. He does have some assistance on guitars, keyboards and background vocals but for the most this is his show. But forget any ideas you might have about thin-sounding, one-man-band recordings. This is cinemascope baby! From the opening brooding atmospheric sound effects of My Radio Talks to Me I was hooked all over again. And speaking of hooks, Carey has that uncanny ability to write them and they re sprinkled throughout. Its worth mentioning that this is not prog of the complex-time-change-every-minute variety; instead, Planet P s prog style is one that incorporates concept, theme and a myriad of musical styles mixed with sound effects, dialog and solid musicianship. Little snippets of dialog are placed throughout the entire CD to propel the recordings overall theme. But the real power of this work is in the strength of the compositions, the songs. Take for example Work (will make you free) a song about being hauled off to a concentration camp that is strangely set in an unusual upbeat musical style that is right out of what could have been a propaganda soundtrack. This strange otherworldly juxtaposition enhances that cold brutality of what was happening to so many individuals. However, this is not a concept about just what was happening in Germany, it s much more than that. Carey presents a message for us today. The overriding theme of the recording is about the radical right in it s various guises and is perhaps best summarized by the line ready or not, well here they come, just like 1931 reprinted in the liner notes. I can t remember the last time I was so excited about a new CD landing in my mailbox. After just one listen it was everything I was hoping for. If you enjoyed Planet P s Pink World, you ll love this, it s a logical extension of that style. If you ve never had a chance to hear Carey s work before start here. Planet P Project s 1931 easily makes my Top 10 for releases in 2005. I can hardly wait for parts two and three. --progressiveears
T**N
What the funk is going on?
I liked some of the songs from Planet P/Tony Carey from the early 80's, "Why Me", "Static", and "What I See" (though it's obvious he had a hard-on for David Gilmour and Roger Waters).So I bought 1931. I like some of the sentiments here (just as on Pink World) about being careful about who you follow and getting too bound up in allegiances. I'm a (right) libertarian and have little love for Statism in all its manifestations. Fascism was a just one of the many versions of Statism that has crippled the world for the last ~140 years. I can't necessarily be against an album that seeks to attack it and the modalities that created it.But, as is unfortunately common, right Statism is (rightly) demonized while left Statism is given a free pass. If Mr. Carey is about freedom and individualism, then perhaps he could have had a few things to say about the cult of personality that surrounded Stalin or Mao or even Castro. Yet not a word can I find on this album about the left Statist. Mr. Carey has even been quoted as saying the US' preoccupation with "the Russians" was a problem. Americans don't have a problem with rank and file Russians per se (just as the US didn't set about genocide in Germany after WWII, it was about toppling an expansionary Statist machine), but the Statist construct that allows millions to be starved to death."My Radio Talks to Me" (nor the whole album) isn't subtle as early on it has Hitler speech extracts mixed in and sets about showing how the masses are so easily taken in through media technology. "Join the Parade" follows illustrating how those newly indoctrinated behave accordingly and follow the swelling masses. "Good Little Soldiers" speaks of the sense of belonging now having joined the ranks. Then the chronology jumps directly to the consequences for the next few tracks. All is well and fine.Then the logic starts to crumble. He begins to liken an anti-social terrorist like Tim McVeigh ("Believe It"), the folks in Waco, and the Third Reich. Pretty scattershot thinking in my opinion. The right wing fascist movements with which McVeigh have been involved with are the lunatic fringe, while the Third Reich (and the point of the first half the disk) embodied the rank and file. The study of how Statist regimes are created and do so much damage is abandoned to concentrate on one (of many - right AND left) who wish to bring down the rather Statist amalgam they live under, the US.And Waco and the Branch Dividians were Fascists? That's news to me. I suggest that Mr. Carey should watch "Rules of Engagement" about Waco. Granted it is slanted toward its point of view, but he might be surprised who comes off as Fascistic. And while doesn't excuse McVeigh's actions a few years later, it might put his frame of reference into perspective. Mr. Carey goes on about not being afraid of other people because they are different, but doesn't seem to have a problem roasting children alive simply because their parents belonged to a cult that Janet Reno didn't cotton to. The Branch Dividians, though swallowed by a literal interpretation of the Bible, and were preparing themselves for the "end-time", didn't hurt anyone else, or harm anyone's property. They kept to themselves. Their biggest crime (or more directly David Koresh's)? Being a gun dealer and having a "stock pile". I might not agree with their/his point of view (I'm an atheist), and certainly would have to pick a side (not likely theirs) if they were actively using force on others, but they had a right to live their life as they chose to, without having the might of the US government swoop on them for ATF photo ops.So what to make of it overall, setting aside Mr. Carey's blanking out on left Statism and the left lunatic fringes in the US (unfortunately fairly common in the soft Left)? The music is good, if a tad overproduced (but that was true of Pink World too, not so much the debut) the music seems a little out of touch with the lyrical content. It's too 'funky' for my tastes. It doesn't seem to suit the album's content. It much of it starts to sound the same, rather surprising since it took ten years to produce. But it has some redeeming qualities, and he is a still a good musician.It would be nice if he could follow through on his sentiments and abandon his soft left position and champion the cause of individualism fully and be consistent against those who deem to find ways to crush it. Fascism, Communism, and Theocracies are ALL problems, and I agree that racism is foolish. His album should have concentrated on ALL the manifestations of how a portion of the masses allow themselves to be led by "leaders of men" and the damage it has caused to themselves and the other individuals they pull in after them."And I was completely in favor of going and putting out Saddam Hussein's candle. I don't care if he has A-bombs or not."-Tony CareyI wonder what his opinion of going after Muslim Theocrats is?
T**S
Great Music with Great Lesson...
The former RAINBOW keyboardist, Tony Carey, hits on all cylinders with "1931"!! The music is generally very catchy and the lyrics are always thought-provoking. The story begins with people listening to their radios (no TVs in 1931) to hear their leaders speak. Germany was undergoing a massive "rebirth" after the devastating economic downfall of 1929-1930 and Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party were on the rise. To keep this short, the music grasps the sentiments of most of Germany at the time: wanting pride back, needing a scapegoat and looking for answers. Hitler seemed to satisfy all those sentiments in 1931. Carey takes us through what became a horrifying experience in Europe (and the world in general) before wrapping the CD up with a warning that it can happen again if we don't learn from our past... Great, music and wonderful lyrics about a truly world-impacting time in our history... Highly recommend!!!
J**F
Five Stars
first song is really cool.....very interesting album....I went on a Pink World kick, again, then found this
B**L
Awesome Music.
Very Timely warning: be careful who you follow. Awesome Music.
D**H
Five Stars
Enjoy the Product; it was delivered before expected.
G**N
Enjoyable music along with lyrics to think about
It would probably be more accurate for me to give this a rating of 4.5. It's better than a 4-star rating, but not quite a 5-star. But since I can't pick 4.5, I'll go with 5 just to balance out the vote for 2-stars. There's no WAY this deserves less than four stars!!The person who gave this 2-stars seems to miss that Tony has lived in Europe for most of the past 20 years, and much of that time he's been in Germany. He isn't writing about fascism just to rage against "state-ism from the right" while giving a free pass to "state-ism on the left". He's writing about the society HE IS IN RIGHT NOW. Stalin and Mao might make very good topics for an album -- but neo-Communism is not a big threat in Germany right now, so Tony isn't writing about them. He's writing about what he knows, instead of trying to cover "Every Evil Known to Man", and I see no reason to complain about that.In the song ``Believe it'', the he sings: "Believe it -- you better believe it now! Ready or not, well here they come, just like 1931". He's not talking about the hitler youth of 1930's, he's talking about some of the skinhead groups that are right outside his door. I have no idea why the reviewer thinks this has to do with Tim McVeigh or Waco. The song is about the "lone supreme commander of the boys from Charlie street". Another line is "he believes this is his destiny, he believes this is fate, and he believes he was born about 50 years too late". I can't imagine why the reviewer thinks that has anything to do with Waco. This is a great song. Great sound, great lyrics.Some reviewers have remarked that the music seems out-of-place, because it's a bit danceable or "funky". What else would you expect from an album called "Go Out DANCING"? And actually, it *does* fit well with the theme of the album. The whole idea is that people want to turn away from disturbing trends, ignore them, and just "go out dancing". I'm not a fan of dance-music for the sake of dancing (which to me means "stupid meaningless lyrics"), but I don't mind a danceable song if there's a point to the lyrics. And I think these songs are talking about significant issues. Some of the songs are danceable, but not all of them. And I wouldn't say that any of these are really "dance songs", even if some of them have a recognizable beat to them.The theme of the album is summed up at the start of "Where Does It Go?": ``If you're watching it, you're part of it. If you're close enough to see it, you're in it. There's no line dividing the two. And if you don't know where you've come from, you don't know where you're going, Do You?''.A few of the songs here fall a little short of 5-star material, but I liked the album a lot. I listened to the whole CD a few more times to write this review, and I don't think there's a song here that deserves less than a four.I should say that I'm a bit of a history buff (particularly WW-II history), and I am also concerned with a number of trends in the world today. So maybe this speaks to me more than some others. Tony has said that this CD is meant as the first of three CD's in a series, and I'll admit that I hope that this CD sells a ton of copies mainly because I really want to hear what the other two CD's will be like!Also note that the Planet P Project wasn't supposed to be about any specific "sound", it was simply meant for songs which were about political or big society-level issues. His other songs are more stories of individual people, and those are released as "Tony Carey" instead of "Planet P". Musically I think all of these are good tunes, even if they don't sound exactly the same as the two previous Planet P records. Twenty years have passed, there's no need to create a carbon copy of the earlier music.
R**.
When you like the music you get it
This came in a few days ago not yet listened to it but plan on it cos I like Tony Carey's music I got a pile of it on my old dead PC that I will get back soon
P**3
こんなの聞く人いるのかな？
シングルのwhy me? はもう数十年前なんですねぇ。ちょっと曲の作りがくどいですが、よく出来ています。でもやっぱりファーストが好きかな。
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