Paradox Lost: Allen Welty-Green’s Prog Recordings Unearthed from the Past

The End of Rodney Continuum – Paradox Lost (2024)

From 1974 to 1982, composer, musician, and multimedia wizard Allen Welty-Green was deep in the trenches of his musical evolution. He describes the material on Paradox Lost as The Prog Years.

During this transformative era, Welty-Green found himself in the orbit of several bands: Cerebrus, Flowstone, Oz, DGM, Redshift, Paradox (both trio and quartet forms), and the aptly titled Call My Lawyer. The glue that held these acts together? A rotating cast that always included at least one of the essential trifecta: David Parr (guitar, vocals), Joe Douglas (bass, vocals), and Phillip Hart (drums). These three core members were the foundation, while a cadre of other musicians like Curtis McGuirt, Duane Rice, Russell Cox, Danny Montgomery, Chris Petschulat, Alex Griffin, Grey Griffin, and Bryan Talbot drifted in and out, adding their flavor to the mix. But no matter what, at least two of the core gang were always in the room.

Welty-Green, the maestro behind most of the instrumental magic, steered the ship, handling everything but vocals and the occasional guitar and drum work. The guitar, bass, and drum tracks were faithful to the original compositions, staying true to the bones laid down by the band members themselves. The music of Paradox Lost is a wild ride, swinging from lush, sprawling symphonic prog rock to a smattering of shorter, more radio-friendly ditties. But the heart of the album pulses with the thrum of Welty-Green’s keys; synths that shimmer like an old sci-fi soundtrack, organ tones with the weight of a cathedral, Mellotron strings that paint in widescreen, all touched by the ghost of Western classical influences. Meanwhile, the guitars weave in and out like trusted companions, whether it’s the delicate pluck of acoustic strings or the bite of electrics that know when to hit the sweet spot.

Now, let’s not sugarcoat it: the recording quality doesn’t always hit the mark, dipping into demo territory here and there. The vocals and drums, especially, carry a bit of that lo-fi grit. They don’t always shine as brightly as you’d hope, but in a way, that imperfection lends a certain charm to the whole thing, like a relic unearthed from a time capsule, still dusty but undeniably intriguing.

Where Paradox Lost truly hits the spot, though, are the moments where everything clicks. Tracks like “Malevil (Song of Our Ancestors),” “Flowstone,” “Temples of None,” “Soldier of Fortune,” “Running Man,” and the sweeping, cinematic “Cuyler Impressions” feel like they could’ve been lifted straight from a lost prog classic. Then there’s “The Magician’s Suite,” an exercise in symphonic charm that somehow feels just right.

As for the vocals, Curtis’ original takes, recorded on a humble cassette porta-studio in the mid-’80s, were salvaged and seamlessly woven into the newer instrumental layers. Ralph and Melissa brought their vocal magic to Welty-Green’s studio between 2020 and 2022, while Kris laid down her parts with the help of engineer Nathan Brown. Rob Dwyer dropped his guitar contributions from his home setup, and Phillip Hart laid down his percussion at Welty-Green’s space back around 2010. It’s a patchwork quilt of timelines and places, but somehow, it all threads together into a strangely cohesive whole.

Allen Welty-Green moved to Atlanta from Nashville, Tennessee in 1992 to explore and develop his artistic connections. In Atlanta, he’s worked with theater and dance, and in various music collaborations: Z-Axis, Zentropy. He also created tributes to David Bowie, Kate Bush, and others.

Musicians: Allen Welty-Green on keyboards, synthesizers, drums, and percussion (live & programmed), bass (live & sampled); electric guitar (live & sampled), and acoustic 12-string guitar; Rob Dwyer on electric guitar (1, 7, & 8); Phillip Hart on drum templates, percussion; Curtis McGuirt on vocals (3, 8, 10);
Ralph Gleason on vocals (4, 5, & 6); Melissa Goehner on vocals (6); and Kris Nelson on vocals (5).

Buy Paradox Lost.