The Apparatus

 Tuesday, 27 November 2007 When it comes to the originators of White Reggae Rock The Clash's 1977 debut beat out The Police's 1978 Outlandos d'Amour debut by a year. Yet, Both bands equally have a profound influence on modern music. Though The Clash was a little more punk and The Police a little more "new wave" their caliber of impact is about equal only on different spectrums.

Not only did The Police crossover with a predominately African American genre Reggae, they went even further into jazz. In a nutshell The Police play with a groovy Political angst, insightful songwriting, technical drumming compositions, and have an all round comforting sound.

There would be no Chris Pennie without Stewart Copeland, Period. Most people wouldn't affiliate The Police with modern Mathcore/Tech Metal because of their poppy, new wave audience but their soft, sophisticated sound has broken more boundaries for math/tech metal than any actual metal bands.

This album starts off with one of the greatest songs ever written and when you hear it on the radio next time, give it a good listen. Message in a Bottle is a depressing epic that ends in a vast enlightenment (something Machine Head or any other shitty band that covers this song could never write themselves).

The title track of the album is probably The Police's most complex and technical reggae and jazz fusion. Not to mention it's a Grammy winning instrumental.

This album was a giant leap from Outlandos d'Amour and though Reggatta de Blanc is a landmark forward-thinking album but it wasn't until their next release that wrote their greatest masterpiece.

 Tuesday, 27 November 2007 Though this album is far from perfect it exceeds anything in modern rock today. Few exceptions like The Mars Volta, A Palace In Persia and the obvious rip off by Between The Buried And Me come close. In all honestly, I'm fully in love with the first 4 songs for the album and only parts of the latter 5. This album starts off catchy as shit. These are real, oddly dissonant 80s pop songs. It's highly enjoyable for all ears but some thing's not quite right.

I don't know if it's Robert Fripp himself or Adrian Belew's fretless guitar but to me it's like their fingers never leave the strings. I hear a constant 'sliding' all over the guitar. This period of King Crimson has this calm and collected (almost soothing) writing style, it gives a very uncomfortable feeling that takes a few listens to get use to. This slight dissonant technique doesn't turn you off but somehow catches and draws the listener in closer.

By this time in King Crimson's career they had lost their horn section and strayed away from their Jazz Fusion roots, but not completely. Drummer Bill Bruford keeps the fusion lingering in 'No Warning' and shows that the shoes of original drummer Giles can finally be filled. If anyone can fill, or surpass his drumming, Bruford is the man.

The weakest songs both plague and bring down the album as a whole. Songs like 'Nuages,' 'Industrial,' and 'Dig Me' drag on and on and don't seem to have any complete thought. Though that work's for many bands and even other King Crimson albums, it's doesn't seem to work on Three Of A Perfect Pair, especially up against the first half of the album.

Adrian Belew manages to save the end of 'Dig Me' with his vocal performance but most listeners wouldn't wait around for the end of the song. Adrian's vocals are beautiful, soothing and clean which is very intriguing considering the abstract music and lyrics. This is definitely not a singer wasting his vocal performance with mediocre hardcore screaming...something Tommy Rogers should keep in mind when writing an Alaska follow up.

As non cliche as Progressive music is, this album is very retro 80s sounding. It has a huge amount of crystal clear production and is synth laden throughout. I don't know if I'm out my league to compare Adrian Belew to David Gahan but I wouldn't dismiss it.

This, unlike King Crimson's previous albums, has a small yet secure line up and doesn't have any guest musicians. This time around the quartet highly expanded on their own instrumentation. Adrian Belew's use of a fretless guitar, Tony Levin's pioneering use of the Chapman stick, and Bill Bruford's acoustic and electric drums give this album a unique and original sound.

 Tuesday, 27 November 2007 Don't get me wrong. I have my fare share of love for cheesy 80s synth but not from a Jazz Violinist, Period. This would have some credit if it was an amateur, one man band project in times of today but it just falls SO short knowing who's playing it.

The first track on the record is so repetitive I could barely get through it. Next, I don't know whether to play Sonic the Hedgehog or go ride a fucking elevator. It seems by now I already know the only thing enjoyable on this record is going to be the violin but it's highly spoiled by repetitive drumming and synth.

The electric violin and keyboard leads could almost work. Even the ambiance but all the back beats and rhythm section piss all over it.

To add to the cheesiness, the song 'In Spiritual Love' they have a programmed clap along throughout the entire song. The anticipation of Dr. Robotick up ahead is just killing me. The video-esque sound is amazing in other artists but this guy takes himself too seriously. By this time Jean-Luc is 41 and has about 40 albums under his belt including Frank Zappa, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Elton John.

I honestly think the guy ran out of ideas and settled for the 80s synth trend. No more Allan Holdsworth or Daryl Stuermer...This was the first album of a bad direction. I might have been able to enjoy some aspects of this record if I didn't do any research before hand. 'Individual Choice' might not be as bad as I make it out to be but any Mahavishnu fan would be disappointed by this. Not only that, Jean-Luc had some amazing solo albums before hand.

 Tuesday, 27 November 2007 Michelangelo was a sculptor first and a painter second. He was torn that his life's work, the painting of the Sistine Chapel, was not his first passion. Jean-Luc was a violinist first and a composer/pianist second. Ironic how his best album features little to no violin.

The Overture dives face first into this album. Though technically there's only 6 tracks on this album, the 40 minutes of music doesn't leave a single idea behind.

Mirage has these sour and heavy notes that remind me of Bloodrock's D.O.A. By the third song it's already slowing down but in a good way. 9 minutes into the album I've already gone through one hell of a roller coaster ride. By this time I still haven't scratched this album.

My favorite is Enigmatic Ocean part II. It doesn't fucking slow down! I almost hear a little Pinnella/Romeo when Holdsworth, Stuermer, and Ponty duel back and forth with that monster Steve Smith behind the kit. The whole song is extremely progressive with jazz techniques exercised to their fullest extent.

Surprisingly there is no saxophone on this album. The use of guitar and keyboards effects sometimes resemble a sax and play were one would be. It's alright though; I don't think there's anymore room for one.

This album is perfect. The mixture of prog and jazz are fully expanded on. For fans of either of those genres it really can't get any better. But it does. There's a flare of funk and psycadellic thrown in here and there. Jean-Luc's compositions are very compelling. His clean tones, crystal production and infectious grooves will give insight to anyone. While at the same time extremely complex and fulfilling to any ADHD musicianship fan.

 Tuesday, 27 November 2007 Throughout the 20th century, we have a cemented idea of what music should be or sound like. When the birth of Heavy Metal started it had the ideology of rebellion. People were both repulsed and excited. When Psyopus and other like-minded bands rebel against modern aggressive music's traditional style of playing, they are rejected and ridiculed.

This music isn't pleasant. It is challenging, unorthodox, and at times obnoxious. Psyopus pushes ideas of what music can be, because in art there is no absolute form, structure, shape, limit or definition. Psyopus embodies the raw creative power of music when all pre-conceived notions of what is "right" in standard music lore are abandoned.

This record eclipses their previous release Ideas Of Reference by far. Adam and Arp's lyrics are far more developed this time around. The words have so much hate and anger behind them. The joke song on the album, "Play Some Skynard," is a 32 second homage to the "outspoken" kids on message boards who claim "Psyopus can't write songs." My favorite tracks are the instrumentals "Siobhan's Song" and "Imogen's Puzzle Pt. 2." There are so many layers upon layers of music that harmonize on a most profound basis; one will have trouble disputing Psyopus' writing ingenuity.

Psyopus thinks out every note they write. This is not messy; it's precise and controlled in every way. Adams' vocal performance is like a person running from a huge disaster zone and meeting you after running for three miles trying to frantically tell you what just happened. Unlike other highly regarded, fairly mainstream tech bands, Adam respectfully stands on the sidelines when he isn't needed. On this album his vocals seem faster, ballsier and, my favorite addition, feature more cursing. Drummer Jon Cole tastefully uses gravity blasts and gives an added level of musicianship to all the millions of parts throughout the album. Freddie and Arp's relentless tapping flows down the fret board like Galaga ships on Level 101.* This album is only 37 minutes long, but it has countless amount of notes, passages and ideas. A most groundbreaking album, Our Puzzling Encounters Considered is the musical equivalent of being atomized by a large explosive.

*Paul Gendek's personal best