Taking Steps

The Album’s title ‘6.1.4’ represents Allen’s initials numerically. and is a compilation of hard rock and progressive rock sounds like those he played in the late 70’s and 80’s music scene. A project that takes us back to the rock era of dramatic hard core riffs, Allen wrote all of the music and lyrics for 6.1.4, except for ‘Anthem’, which was co-written with singer/songwriter Alex Ritchie as well as lending his talented, larger than life, vocals to most of the songs. Allen, a self-supporting artist, also performed guitar and keyboard, recorded, mixed and mastered all of the songs in his home studio.

The album opens with the hard pounding ‘Upon the Kingdom’, which is about the greed, corruption and deceit of the government and corporate America. 'Anthem' is a song about those in power attacking our rights and freedoms and how we allow this to happen believing it is just the way it is and there is nothing we can do about it. But there are things we can do so "take a stand" and "get up!" in protecting your individual rights

The third song on the album, ‘Saved”, is about alcoholism and the process of recovery, and as it states in the last line of the song, that it is possible to be “truly saved”. In ‘Darkness from the Light’ we dive into the world of depression, but hopefully leaving one with the feeling that there is a way out, for “in the end is where you begin”.

‘Judgements Gate’ and ‘City on Fire’ are reflections of prejudice, oppression and racial bias that haunts us around the globe. ‘City on Fire’ focuses specifically on an incident in Los Angeles where areas of the city burned down due to a massive riot of its citizens reacting to the beating of Rodney King, but this is an emotion that can be applied to many events happening today.

A change in the direction of the album comes with ‘Taking Steps’ which is sung by Allen and deals with recovery from alcohol dependance, while ‘Before I Die’ dives head on into the sordid world of drug and alcohol abuse, its effects on the people caught up in that despair and their desperation to escape its hell. Gary Noone who sang vocals on the demo song was one who fell victim to that nightmare and died shortly after the recording of the song. The album ends on a positive note with an instrumental that reflects on the American heroes who had a vision for a better future.

The album was written and recorded over a 17 month period and is Allen’s first album release. Allen’s musical goal is to write songs that bring joy and to give his audience pause to think about what is currently happening in their lives and in the world around them. Based on events both past and present the album is an hopefully an opportunity for reflecting and promoting positive change in our world and with each other.