Dawn Of Paradise [LP]

The Chicago-to-Portland husband/wife team of Paradise's Steven Denekas and Tamar Berk have crafted a loving homage to the classic rock opera in Dawn of Paradise, a double-vinyl LP which recalls the heyday of The Who's "Tommy," Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and Yes' "Tales of Topographic Oceans," produced and engineered by the legendary Ron Nevison, who manned the boards on both "Quadrophenia" and "Physical Graffiti." A sprawling epic described as "the journey of a child to God," that encompasses both religion and politics, family and work, mortality and transcendence, it is an unabashed attempt to bring this classic-rock genre into 2017. Denekas and Berk have been working their way through the history of rock on their previous two Paradise albums, as they start from the British Invasion's mid-'60s garage-rock roots, graduate to psychedelia and then fully immersing themselves in the '70s conceptual, progressive rock era. Along with drummer Thom Sullivan and bassist Allen Hunter, the pair bring both craft and passion, updating the form with instrumental prowess and a larger-than-life vision.