"The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up” is a progressive rock concept album by bassist Marco Bernard (The Samurai Of Prog). It takes listeners on a musical journey through the mind of Peter Pan, the eternal boy who never grows up. The album explores themes of youth, hope, and the struggle to hold onto innocence in a world that demands maturity.
Featuring virtuosic bass playing and intricate compositions, "The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up" is a powerful and emotive listen. In addition to drawing inspiration from the classic story of Peter Pan, it incorporates the bassist‘s own experience of growing up and navigating the challenges of adulthood. With influences ranging from 1970s prog rock to modern experimental music, "The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up" is a unique album, taking listeners on a sonic journey through time, from the past to the present, and ultimately to a place where young hopes and dreams never have to be left behind…
The set is built around the A and B sides of singles, with album cuts salted in between. This is effective in charting the band's progression from melodic popsters to hard rockers and back to the pop-inflected music that closed out their career. The highlights are scattered throughout – "American Woman," of course; "Rain Dance," with its unnerving echoes of American massacres, the funky, improvised live "Truckin' Off Across the Sky," even the goofy "Clap for the Wolfman," which came when the Guess Who were all but finished. The Ultimate Collection works well as an introduction to the Guess Who, but will not gratify anyone with more than a basic need to know. On a sonic level, the set sounds good, however.
Brooklyn-via-Cape Cod rockers Highly Suspect continue to bang out the rollicking riffs on their second album, coming on hot and heavy with the woozy opening crunch of “My Name Is Human.” They’re positively adrenalized on the swaggering “Postres” and moved by the power of piano on “Chicago,” a dramatic stunner that showcases Johnny Stevens’ passionate vocals. They close things in grand fashion, as the wild “Wolf” eases its way from a glittery soft open to an unhinged finale of blistering, spacey guitar solos.