Victor in Bloomington, MN

Rush
guitarist
Alex Lifeson
's 1996 solo project
Victor
, his first, released a self-titled album in 1996.
is an odd blend of modern hard rock and swirling, programming-heavy songs.
Lifeson
's trademark
guitar style -- ringing chords and sharp, brief solos -- is utilized in some places, but not throughout. Guest musicians on
include
I Mother Earth
vocalist
Edwin
,
Primus
bassist
Les Claypool
and
's son,
Adrian Zivojinovich
, who contributes programming. Musically, the songs with a traditional, straightforward structure are the least interesting, with the exception of
"Promise."
It's the odd material that stands out on
. Two instrumentals -- the slow, quirky
"Mr. X"
and the atmospheric
"Strip and Go Naked"
-- are noteworthy.
"Shut Up Shuttin' Up"
-- a title almost certainly lifted from one of
Yosemite Sam
's many orders to
Bugs Bunny
-- is practically a novelty song; two women carry on a man-bashing conversation before instructing
to "shut up and play the guitar," which he does before interjecting his own yells telling them to shut up. Due to its complex music and lyrics,
is often incorrectly viewed as being comprised of humorless members, but die-hard fans know that
is the joker in the trio and this song proves it. The two best songs on
"At the End"
"Victor,"
are unorthodox in musical construction and lyrical tone.
himself doesn't sing the lyrics, he recites them, often in a whisper.
is an intense, brooding song about an elderly widower whose soul-crushing loneliness after her death drives him to commit suicide. "Victor" uses a musical bed of programming and warm horns underneath the disturbingly vivid lyrics, taken directly from English poet
W.H. Auden
, about a cuckold who murders his cheating wife. ~ Bret Adams