Christopher “Hamerhead” Schlegel
The Values of Man
Truth Against The World
This majestic, computerized symphony is what Hammerhead calls his first fully-realized step toward that which he sees as the development of his newly discovered universe of musical direction known as Futuristic Romanticism. Explains the Maestro, “In order for a Music Work of Art to belong to this genre, it must be Logical and Passionate, Intelligent and Beautiful, Serious and Entertaining, Moral and Practical, Benevolent and Determined, Original and Gorgeous, Innovative and Integrated. Most of all, it must project a vision of The Individual Human Being as The Absolute Towering Hero of the Universe. A Being with the capacity to experience pure joy and the desire to hear this represented in musical form. A fearless Being that is confident of the Value of His own Life and the Beauty of His Soul.”
Once again we have a bold, uncompromising work (like several others by Hammerhead) that’s inspired by John Galt’s Speech from Ayn Rand’s novel, Atlas Shrugged, and is broken into three REALLY LONG movements: “Reason” – 17:25, “Purpose” – 13:45, “Self-Esteem” – 17:11! While the melodies and rhythms are quite simple, clear, playful, and enjoyable, Schlegel’s music is too vast for me to comprehend all at once. I can listen to and hum along with all of his music, but 10 minutes into a movement (my gawd!), it becomes hard for me to tell where it’s going or where it’s been. When I consciously focus on this music for too long, I get very tense; similar to when I am solving a very long and critical mathematical equation. On the other hand, if I just let it play while driving or working, I find it is very consumable. His unconventional (yet beautiful!) chord progressions are modulations are some of the best in the business, and his orchestration techniques are quite a bit better than Matchbox 20’s. This music is written for those rare earthlings who are not less than epistemological giants, and it takes a person with an intense love of logic and an unusually long attention span to enjoy it. Regardless of what anyone thinks or feels, Schlegel has chosen a very respectable and unique direction for himself and will continue to work very hard to independently produce vast quantities of excellent music like this one. Truth Against The World Music Co., 1995 Old State Rt. 76, McKenzie, TN 38201; http://www.cookeee.com/truthmusic, rmntccmpsr@aol.com.
