Scott's Song by Song #90: Barry Cleveland & Robert Rich - Ellipitcal Passage
Welcome to issue #90 of Scott’s Song By Song (#scottssongbysong).For more information about this series, click here:
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Today’s album is slightly older than my more recent reviews, but certainly not an old album. Released on December 5 of 2025, “Elliptical Passage” is a collaboration between Barry Cleveland and Robert Rich (no relation to me that I am aware of). According to the press release I have received:
Barry Cleveland is an LA-based
composer, guitarist, recordist,
journalist, and author. His seven
albums showcase a range of styles
from ambient to avant-rock to world
fusion. Cleveland also penned the
cult classic book Joe Meek’s Bold
Techniques, and served as an editor
at Guitar Player magazine for 12
years. (barrycleveland.com)
Robert Rich has released over 60
albums across five decades,
defining his unique language of
ambient electronic music. Rich
began building synthesizers in
1976, when he was 13, and later
studied computer music at
Stanford's CCRMA while
researching lucid dreaming. His allnight
Sleep Concerts have become
legendary. (robertrich.com)
Barry says the album began when he discovered some decade old recordings he had made. While improvised, he felt that the ideas had musical merit, and he contacted Robert Rich about using the recordings as a basis for an album, and he agreed.
Recently, Barry reached out to me about reviewing this album, and I agreed. As always, I receive no additional compensation, and I call it like I hear it. As per my usual method, this is a cold listen.
Album credits:
Produced by Barry Cleveland and Robert Rich.
Mixed and mastered by Robert Rich.
BC: Guitar, pizzicato arpeggione, bass, gongs, bowed cymbals, loopers.
RR: Piano, flute, lap steel, percussion, Prophet X, Haken Continuum.
All compositions by Barry Cleveland and Robert Rich.
Primary guitar figure in “Zero of the Sanctified” derived from a line by Steve Rapetti.
Track 1: Tangible Silence (6:55)
This fades in with sustained synth chords, and swelling guitar notes. As it progresses, there are some interesting low pitched tones. The music gradually crescendos. There are no noticeable underlying rhythms. This might make a good meditation track. Various tones come in and out of the soundscape. At around 4:20 a flute takes the spotlight and most of the other sounds drop out. Different sounds gradually come back in. This reminds me of the introduction from Led Zeppelin’s “In the Light”. While this type of track is not in my usual wheelhouse, I can tell you that I enjoyed it and I found it to be well-done.
Track 2 - Beckoning Voices (6:26)
This one came so smoothly out of the first track, that I initially didn’t realize that the track had changed. Once again there are long sustained sounds at first. However, a bass pattern begins to emerge, giving a sense of rhythm and momentum that the first track did not have. The overall sound, however, is still based on long, floating sustained tones. The music on this album, so far, would work as the soundtrack for a movie about space travel. The sounds are quite interesting and engaging. Later in the track, the bass pattern has dropped out, but the melodies are becoming more pronounced, with some subtle rhythms on piano. Intriguing track.
Track 3 - Elliptical Passage (8:31)
Once again, the transition from one track to another is seamless. A sound that makes me think of a spaceship enters the soundscape. This one feels more ominous than the first two. That said, there are some lighter tones in with the more foreboding ones. At around 3 minutes in, there are reverse recorded guitar sounds. Some harmonics are played in octave unison with a descending bass line after 4 minutes in. At around 6:45 there is a sustained guitar melody that actually reminds me of a melodi in Fleetwood Mac’s everywhere. Another point of reference is that some of the sounds just before the eight minute point remind me of ones in Phil Collins’ classic “In the Air Tonight”.
Track 4 - Gathering Stars (12:53)
Once again, the transition is seamless. The guitar harmonics float on top of the sustained tones. The slide guitar notes are a recurring feature of the music. Some of the tones remind me of “In the Light” once again. I feel like we are about to “arrive” somewhere at about 8:30. This is becoming more intense as it goes along. The bass notes provide some tension and release. This is less melodic than its predecessor. The last portion has some hopeful sounding brighter tones.
Track 5 - Luminous Expanse (10:51)
As has been the case throughout, another seamless transition. The title implies sunrise over a wide, open area, And that is what the music implies to me as well as this track emerges. There is a subtle underlying rhythmic pattern on this one. The flute brings an organic touch to the soundscape. At around 6:40, there are some distorted power chords in the mix, but they are not the most prominent part. The guitar chords become more prominent at around 9:30.
Track 6 - Zero of the Sanctified (9:30)
As this one transitions out of the previous one, there are some clean guitar chords and a bit of smooth lead guitar phrases, but all still very sustained. The guitar is much stronger and more up front than it has been on the other parts of the album. This one is more horror movie soundtrack like than floating through space. The longer it goes on, the more disturbing it gets. The music calms down at around 5:30 and becomes more peaceful. The music begins to fade a bit with about one minute left, then some chime-ey guitar notes close the album out.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:
While electronic, ambient music is not really my favorite subgenre of prog, I can tell that Barry Cleveland and Robert Rich took great care in where every note and sound was placed on the album. The soundscapes are warm and rich. Fans of this genre will love this album. So, while it is not really an album that I will likely return to very often, I must reward the quality of it. I give it a 4 out of 5 stars. Or 80%. Many will rank it higher.
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Prog On!
Scott
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LINKS for Listening/buying:
The Album is available on Bandcamp:
There are several videos on Youtube here:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Barry+Cleveland+and+Robert+Rich+Elliptical+Passage
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