Forest For The Trees is the brainchild of a single slightly insane music producer named Carl Stephenson. Stephenson, best known for his production of Beck’s breakthrough Mellow Gold, began work on Forest For The Trees in the early 1990’s. But the album wouldn’t appear in any form until 1997.

While not nearly perfect, Forest For The Trees is a wild, exuberant album. It lacks the lyrical loveliness of Beck but often smacks of inspiration in the production department. Stephenson provided guitars, arrangement, sitar, vocals, and mixing in addition to his production. This is indeed a one-man-project with only the occasional help of other music types.

Suffering from an apparent lack of identity, Forest For The Trees is probably less inspired than experimental. Stephenson tried desperately to be goofy, genre-bending, and catchy all at the same time. Aside from the occasional interesting track, he was unsuccessful and came off as little better than average.

Dream, the introductory track, is probably the most worthwhile to mention. The biggest hit from the album, Dream spent some time in the MTV Buzzbin. It was certainly a strange place for the track considering it’s utter insanity but it did get Stephenson some exposure that otherwise wouldn’t have been allotted to him. A collage of sitars, bagpipes, spoken word/rap, scratching, and drum machine, it’s a difficult song to neatly categorize. The bagpipes and drum machine nicely prop up the smooth female vocals and raps. It’s a fascinating, absolutely insane track that proves more appealing with each listen.

When I am dreaming
I don’t know if I’m truly asleep
Or if I’m awake

Unfortunately, Dream is the only really great thing about Forest For The Trees. A mix of revamped naturally annoying sounds—chirps, crackles, footsteps—the remaining eleven tracks unfortunately sound much too similar. Infinite Cow is mechanical, difficult and in the end absolutely annoying. It actually serves the album well in that Dream sounds all that much better…as does the multi-layered and bizarrely arranged next song Fall.

You Create the Reason is a ridiculously bad cut. It sounds like techno gone very, very bad. Incessant beeping, chanting, drum machines, and various other electronic elements are mixed together to create an ambiance that proves absolutely ridiculous, pointless, and seemingly endless. Come on…what’s the point of the rock guitars thrown in? What about the Middle Eastern vocals? There is no point. This song is the best example of the deepest, most problematic issues with Forest For The Trees.

Different, though still obnoxious, problems exist with Tree. It is quiet, melodramatic, and inane…not to mention insane. As the track continues, layers and noise are added. By the middle, the music itself is good despite the fact that the low, distorted lyrics are nearly inaudible of the whirrs and guitars. Tree would be fine if not for the purposeful weirdness.

The bagpipes return in Wet Paint. Not surprisingly, the track itself is also somewhat better than the majority. Not that there’s really a point…the utterance of a rainbow of colors seems rather strange and meaningless, but then again this the work of a man with mental issues at the time or writing and recording. There seem to be defined verses and choruses, which is more than can be said for most of the songs on Forest For The Trees. And then there are the sounds of barnyard animals—sheep, chickens, etc.—that really through a wrench into the otherwise decent song.

Stream also seems to go somewhere. Although the drum machines and melody are a bit repetitive, the use of a violin and various other unexpected stringed instruments is refreshing. But like many tracks from Stephenson, it breaks down as it nears the end and is just barely held on by the consistent electronic drums.

Ohm is on one level a new age-feeling electronica and on another rather similar to the monotonous Numb from U2. The droning noise, keyboards, Stephenson’s dull and emotionless vocals, and samples all are decent enough. But without purpose music like Ohm lacks a clean beginning or end or statement. While I enjoy the track, I’ve somehow seemed to miss the point.

Rock guitars, 80’s style synthesizers, orchestral strings, and a catchy melody combine nicely on Algorithm. Even Stephenson was able to collect himself just enough to inject a bit of emotion and fun into this song. It’s nicely structured with distinct sections marked by a guitar solo. If this song were on a different album, it would make more sense. In the context of Forest For The Trees it seems misplaced…probably because it’s so much better than the vast majority of the offerings.

Green Light Street and Planet Unknown aren’t worth the time it takes to listen to them. Green Light Street is quirky and sounds more like alternative pop/rock than the rest of the songs. With that said, it’s also repetitive and boring despite a decently catchy melody…how may times can Stephenson repeat the track’s title? Planet Unknown sucks for another reason altogether. It’s too mechanical and difficult…it lacks structure, audible lyrics, and purpose (yet again). By the time a trumpet pipes in, listeners should already be forwarding to the final song.

Unfortunately, Thoughts in My Head loses the listener from the beginning. The waves crashing are rather relaxing but as the drum machines kick in and contributing singer Squeaky G. pipes in it’s too late. No song should be driven by crashing waves…ever!

Forest For The Trees is the work of a madman. It’s scattered, exaggerated, ridiculous, and riddled with musical problems. There are high points--Dream, Wet Paint, and Algorithm come to mind—but the majority of the offerings are just too inaccessible and experimental for even the most seasoned of listeners. If you’re up to hearing some truly crazy music, then possibly it would be worthwhile to pick Forest For The Trees up in the bargain bin (though it’s out of print) or for a buck at Half.com. Otherwise, you might just want to download check out Dream on its own.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Track Listing:
01. Dream
02. Infinite Cow
03. Fall
04. You Create the Reason
05. Tree
06. Wet Paint
07. Stream
08. Ohm
09. Algorithm
10. Green Light Street
11. Planet Unknown
12. Thoughts in My Head

Recommended: Yes