Artist: EUREKA
Album: SCHACKELTON’S VOYAGE (CD)

Year: 2009
Media type: CD

His album Shackletonґs Voyage is spectacular in every respect and sees Hamburg’s multi-instrumentalist Frank Bossert return to his musical roots. Influenced more strongly again by rock acts such as Yes and Rush, Bossert’s Eureka project tells the true story of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s sensational Antarctica expedition in the years 1914 to 1916. Musically, Shackletonґs Voyage operates at the interface of prog rock, symphonic, Celtic and – mainly in terms of his guitar style – Mike Oldfield influences. Another sensation is the involvement of Billy Sherwood, a former member of prog rock legend Yes, who contributed the vocals on ‘The Challenge’ and ‘Going Home’. “I’d always dreamed of working with Billy Sherwood”, says Frank Bossert. “Eureka came to his attention a while ago via my MySpace site. Billy sent me a message, telling me how much he liked my music, so contact was established and we decided to work together.”

Along with Sherwood, Shackletonґs Voyage features other illustrious guests: Yogi Lang of the German act, RPWL, mixed and mastered the album and contributed a fantastic Moog solo on ‘Heading South’, complementing Bossert’s synthesizer passages on ‘Going Home’ and ‘Into The Lifeboats’, and Troy Donockley (IONA, Nightwish) played bagpipes and flute on ‘Departure’. In terms of content, the songs on the concept album are connected by a narrator, the voice of British actor Ian Dickinson, noted for his part in Wim Wenders’ movie ‘Person To Person’, among others. The album’s cover artwork and booklet featuring original photographs from the expedition (licensed by the London Royal Geographical Society and the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge) are also well worth seeing.

TRACKLIST CD:

1. The Last Adventure 0:50
2. Departure 3:10 feat. Troy Donockley
3. The Challenge 3:32 feat. Billy Sherwood
4. Grytviken Whaling Station 3:02
5. Heading South 3:58 feat. Yogi Lang
6. Icebound 5.06
7. Plenty Of Time 2.58
8. The Turning Point 0:49
9. Going Home 5:10 feat. Billy Sherwood
10. Into The Lifeboats 4:39
11. Elephant Island 2:39
12. Will You Ever Return? 3:09 feat. Kalema
13. In Search Of Relief 6:57
14. The Rescue 3.27
15. We Had Seen God! 1:46

LINE-UP:

Frank Bossert (Guitars, Keyboards, Bass, Mandolin, Percussion)
Billy Sherwood (Vocals)
Troy Donockley (Uillean Pipes, Low Whistle)
Yogi Lang (Moog, Synthesizers)
Kalema (Vocals)
Ian Dickinson (Narration)