Album of the Week 12-2024: For All We Know – By Design or By Disaster
For All We Know has always been one of my favorite side projects by a prominent musician, the musician in question being Within Temptation guitarist Ruud Jolie. The emotional, somewhat proggy rock music Jolie has been exploring on the For All We Know albums is fairly subtle compared to the bombast of his main band, but that is exactly what makes them such a rewarding listen. They are albums that reveal new secrets every time you spin them, but also contain memorable melodies that stick immediately. ‘By Design or By Disaster’ is no different, though it sounds slightly more contemporary overall.
Calling For All We Know a prog band might be a bit misleading, because bouts of virtuosity and odd meters are kept to a minimum, while memorable songwriting takes center stage. It rarely gets very heavy either. In fact, Jolie seems to prefer making the heavy moments come across as heavier than they actually are by cleverly applying dynamic contrasts. The result ends up sounding somewhat like a blend of the most easily digestible material of Porcupine Tree and Pain of Salvation – whose drummer Léo Margarit and former bassist Kristoffer Gildenlöw are actually the band’s rhythm section – with some early Steve Hogarth-era Marillion thrown in for good measure.
What really elevates For All We Know above the average solo project is that Jolie works with a tight-knit group of musicians. Margarit, Gildenlöw and pianist Marco Kuypers have accompanied him on all three albums. But the most notable partnership is between Jolie and singer Jermain ‘Wudstik’ van der Bogt. No disrespect to Jolie’s songwriting by any means, but it is difficult to imagine For All We Know’s songs having quite the same impact without Wudstik’s incredible vocal delivery. There are so many shades to his voice – from a near-whisper to a subtle aggressive edge – that it really helps take the songs into various emotional directions.
Picking highlights is no easy task, as the excellent flow is part of what makes ‘By Design or By Disaster’ as good as it is. The relatively heavy and highly dynamic ‘Flaws’ might be the best song to ease metalheads into the wondrous world of For All We Know, though my personal favorite ‘Lifeline’ is also on the heavier end of the spectrum, due Margarit’s propulsive rhythms and Jolie’s beefy riffs. The intense guitar solo in closing ballad ‘Goodbye’ is a true highlight, while ‘Ghosts of Summers Past’ is an exercise in atmsophere. ‘The Future That Came Too Soon’ effectively explores all the dynamic possibilities For All We Know has to offer.
But really, everything on ‘By Design or Disaster’ is worth hearing. Emotional rock music doesn’t get much better than this. To me, For All We Know is one of those ultra-rare examples of a side project of prominent musicians where the result is much, much bigger than the sum of its parts. And there is one simple explanation for that: the one aspect of For All We Know that transcends everything else is the excellent songwriting. Anything else is in service to what the songs demand. While I would love For All We Know to release something more often than once every six or seven years, at least every release is of stellar quality.
Recommended tracks: ‘Lifeline’, ‘Ghosts of Summers Past’, ‘Flaws’
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