Sound of Contact - Dimensionaut Album Review

If it wasn't for Progressive Rock (although I'm not even sure that term was around in 1978 when I discovered this music), I most likely wouldn't be where I am today. My experimental youth began at a very early age and bands like Pink Floyd, Yes, Jethro Tull, and especially Genesis provided the soundtrack to much of that experimentation.

Later on my passion for music would lead me to drop out of college so I could get a superviser position at the local record store. From there I went on to manage local bands and work for a few major record companies. After 20 years of working in the music biz it was time to move on so I could begin to again appreciate music, my first love.

This week I purchased (yes I really do purchase my music) the newest project from Simon Collins' band, Sound of Contact. Simon is the son of that famous drummer and singer from Genesis, Phil Collins. Simon's last few albums were less prog and leaned a little more techno. Although both of those genres collided on his last album U-Catastrophe in the song "The Big Bang", which found father and son playing dueling tribal drums set against some progressive electronica.


Sound of Contact's debut album is named "Dimensionaut". A concept album, in their words about a "space traveler who is on a mission to expand the boundaries of the human experience." Despite being an old proghead, I usually cringe when I hear the words "concept album", with few exceptions, I find this to be the weakest link of almost any album. Most recent examples that come to mind are the latest albums from Rush and Ian Anderson. Just calling it a concept album traps the songs into a box, and most of these concepts tend to be half hearted stories.

Unfortunately, my itunes purchase of Dimensionaut did not come with a digital booklet (a bit surprising considering the tech background of some of the band members). Without the booklet, I have no clue who wrote what, who played on what, and most importantly a lack of lyrics to make sense of the "concept". The barrage of lyrics will take some time to digest before I can make heads or tails of the story other than what I was told from the band's website. Then again that may be a plus as I get to focus more on the music and less on the concept. So let's get on with the music.


The album opens with some space static and morse code followed by a brief clash of guitar and drums that rapidly turns into the first Pink Floyd tease on the album. Keyboardist Dave Kerzner, founder of Sonic Reality, samples instruments from some the top bands and musicians. It was his work with Tony Banks on the final Genesis tour that introduced Dave to Simon. Dave wastes no time on the album finding the exact keyboard sound that Pink Floyd used at the start of Echoes. The echoes of Floyd blends with some brief vocals before launching into "Cosmic Distant Ladder", a rock prog metal instrumental with Simon sounding like his dad on drums.

This agressive piece turns into a keyboard tease of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" to introduce "Pale Blue Dot" and Simon singing some infectious lyrics. Right off the bat this song hit me and hit me hard. This song is catchy, rocking, and despite being mired in the concept can easily stand on it's on two feet. If the lyrics "Pale Blue Dot" aren't stuck in your head after hearing this tune, you'd better get that head checked. Easily my favorite tune off this album.


I'm still on the fence about the next song, "I am Dimensionaut", it has some great moments but I think this may be the first place they lack having an outside producer (Simon and Dave were co-producers, and I believe that Nick Davis engineered the album). The vocal intro seems a bit awkward to me but once the song gets some legs you quickly forget about the awkward. This is one of the tunes on the album that requires repeated listens before grasping how good of a tune it really is.

"Not Coming Down" shows that not only does Simon sound like his father at times on both drums and vocals but Simon has the gift of writing (assuming he wrote it) a catchy ass song just like his dad. And like "Pale Blue Dot" this song was an instant hit with me and didn't require repeated listens but did prompt me to listen to it repeatedly. It's a bit of an edgy ballad, complete with strings, that stands on it's own lyrically outside the concept. One things for sure, if "Pale Blue Dot" isn't stuck in my head "Not Coming Down" certainly is. 



"Remote View" so far has been a very forgettable song. That's not to say it's bad, it's not, it's just bookended by better songs like "Beyond Illumination" featuring Hannah Stobart. "Beyond Illumination" finds Simon sounding more like Peter Gabriel than his father. The song could easily be a Gabriel tune with it's bouncy rhythm, abstract lyrics, and catchy chorus. Hannah comes in at the halfway point complimenting Simon's voice like Kate Bush did on several Peter Gabriel tunes.

"Only Breathing Out" is a great song but falls into the forgettable realm like "Remote View". Both songs sound reminiscent of bands like Fuel, Our Lady Peace from the late 90's and early 2000s. In reflection, most times Simon sounds more like the leader singer of Our Lady Peace than his father. Not surprising considering Simon grew up in Canada. And both songs are good and will probably stand out a bit more after repeated listens (although I am guilty of listening to this album at least 20 times in the last 3 days). 

A now for the next Pink Floyd tease, "Realm of In-Organic Beings" is spacey, dreamy, and upbeat music piece that makes me feel a bit like floating through a happy space. I'm not sure who the female vocalist is (digital booklet, guys) but it sounds like they sampled Clare Torry's vocals from "The Great Gig in the Sky". It's a little too close to her voice.


"Closer to You" has Simon sounding like he is singing one of his Dad's songs. I'm a sucker for Phil's music so I have no problem with this. This song could easily fit in on Phil's Testify album.

"Omega Point" points the band back on it's concept course and has some driving, spacey guitar noodlings and signature Phil Collins drum fills. You won't find yourself humming the lyrics but it's a good segway into the final beast of a track.

No progressive, concept album would be complete without the 20 minute song and "Mobius Slip" certainly fits that cliche. Unlike some long songs that completely miss the mark, Mobius Slip is a great 20 minutes of music filled with nods to Pink Floyd. You will hear "Welcome to the Machine", "Empty Spaces", and "Echoes" as the band takes the dimensional traveler on a final psychedelic journey into space.

And like Dark Side of the Moon, keep this album on repeat and the final static and morse code that starts the album, ends the album making for a nice continuous loop.

Back in the days before VCRs, video games, MTV, or computers, music was one of the only forms of entertainment that you could play over and over again. Progressive or Art Rock, as we called it back then, appealed to me because the music was like a movie that painted pictures in my mind. Spending the last 3 days just listening to Sound of Contact's "Dimensionaut" brought back a bit of the magic from my youth with a sound pointed towards the future.

Update: After spending a week with the album, it only improves with each spin. If I had to describe their music, it would be a mix of the best parts of Porcupine Tree and Our Lady Peace, with a solid touch of Pink Floyd.