Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best groups you've never heard., October 5, 2003
The sad thing about music is that some of the best artists go unheard or are forgotten as the years pass. I consider "The Best of Sea Level" essential for any Southern rock or fusion collection. Sea Level is an Allman Brothers 70's offshoot. Keyboardist Chuck Leavell (hence the band name~ C. Leavell) developed the group during Allman Brother soundchecks, when the group disbanded for a time, Sea Level took off. A few of us 70's folk may remember the funky minor hits "Shake a leg" & "That's your Secret". Memorable keyboard driven songs prevail throughout the album. The sound is largely derivative of funk and jazz that still sounds fresh today. The vocals are great and the music uplifting. The instrumental songs "Rain in Spain" and "20 Miles from Nowhere" serve as bookends to a comprehensive review of the band. The collection is generally solid. I could argue that "canine man" could've been left off for other songs but that would be a minor complaint. Originally released on the now Defunct Capricorn label which was the dominating label for many Southern Rock groups. Sea Level had a definite influence on groups like The Dixie Dregs. This album is a rare treat at a great price. It's a gamble that you can't lose.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Southern music at it's best..Bramblett and Leavell are tops., October 24, 2000
By A Customer
Sea Level is truly one of the best rock,jaz,blues combo bands to ever come out of the south eastern U.S. The combination of great vocals and outstanding instrumentals make this a prize recording for any musical taste. The colaboration of Randall Bramblett and Chuck Leavell with their musical superiority and inventive styles are simply terrific. The pure instumentals on this CD rival anything out of rock and roll today. The problem for Sea Level was that they were years ahead of thier time, today no band could hold a candle to thier music! This CD should be a classic and a must for anyone.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding Multi-Input Fusion, January 11, 2006
Fusion is exactly what you've got here, but what exactly is getting fused? It's not pure jazz fusion, a mix of traditional jazz with rock. It's not just a country-rock and jazz fusion, and it's most definitely not a pure form of any. (But keep in mind, that as a best-of album, there is a lot of musical territory and a considerable time period to consider.) What you've got here is a fascinating mix of late 70s/early 80s country rock, prog rock, the kind of electric guitar fusion of Spyro Gyra and Jeff Lorber (spot-on citations in the other reviews), as well as country- and rock- and jazz-influenced keyboard leadership. The result is a great sound.
For a good, quick take on this album, give a quick listen to the available samples of "Rain in Spain," "That's Your Secret," and "Twenty Miles from Nowhere."
The album is a good mix of the jazzy, fusion instrumentals like "Tidal Wave" and "Rain in Spain." There are also the blues tunes, "King Grand" and "Nothing Matters But the Fever," opening very much like traditional blues ballads, but maturing very quickly into something different due to their pacing and orchestrations. Then you get something that's almost a pop song in the form of "That's Your Secret."
The Allman Brothers sound really comes out, right down to a guitar solo that could've been lifted from "Jessica" in the opening track, "Rain in Spain." You get that flavor again in "Storm Warning." It's distinctive and immediately evocative of the Allmans, but then the music shoots off in another direction, and it's clear you're not listening to an ABB release.
Me, I hear a lot of other things in here. There's an undercurrent of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, even some of the harmonies and orchestrations of Kansas from the Kansas, Masque and Song for America early days. Another review has mentioned the Dixie Dregs, and there is a lot of sound here ("Twenty Miles From Nowhere"). I'm also hearing some of the instrumental sounds of the more jazz-influenced work of contemporaries the Little River Band ("Living in a Dream"). I hear Steely Dan in the keyboard intro and orchestration throughout "Tidal Wave." I hear Delbert McClinton in the arrangement and delivery of "It Hurts to Want It So Bad." I hear vocal harmonies that sound a lot like some of the early Alan Parsons Project work; maybe it's just the production and studio approaches of the time.
I'm also catching the sound, especially in the keyboard orchestrations, of the Lyle Mays work of the late 70s/early 80s with the Pat Metheny Group, such as in "Storm Warning" (maybe even some Weather Report in there, too) and "Midnight Pass."
Bottom line: If you're looking for the sax- and horn-led, West Coast Spyro Gyra fusion, this one won't get you there. If you're looking for more electronic, faster-paced Jeff Lorber fusion such as in Water Sign and Wizard Island, parts will get you close but not all the way there. If you're a freak for the Allman Brothers, this one will both please and disappoint; a lot of the basic sound is there, but then it just takes off on its own, part country rock but also serious jazz diversion. But, if you enjoy musical fusion with a country rock foundation, plenty of electric solos, and both vocal harmonies and orchestrations representative of a wide spectrum of 70s and 80s art/prog-rock and jazz, then this is an excellent addition to your collection.
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~ Chuck Leavell
~ Derek Trucks Band
~ Eric Clapton
~ Chuck Leavell
~ Jeff Beck
by Sea Level 
