Customer Reviews

Calling

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Incredible songs! Incredible arrangments! Incredible vocals, guitar,super bass, keyboards, and drums! Incredible funk, progressive jazz, and rock! Im 52 years old and have been a professional vocalist and lead guitarist most of my life, and thought I had heard everything. Man was I wrong! This is just too good to be true! They have a new live DVD out and I am watching it as we speak. Get it. If Amazon doesn't have it, go to abstractlogix.com and buy it for $17.00! I thank God I learned about Jimmy Herring from Derek Trucks' "Out of the Madness" CD...and was able to trace him back to this unbelievable group! INCREDIBLE!

I'm not your typical funk fan, I listen to prog, but guys, check this one out. Awesome playing, serious groove, hard to take this one out of your player. This ROCKS from start to finish. Without question this'll be one of my top picks of the year. Too bad this seems to be just a side project. Killer...

I think this is the best ARU material ever. The engineering and production are top notch and the playing goes without saying. The drummer on this CD is not as flashy as Jeff Sipe, but is very smooth and flowing. Nothing is lost.The music runs the spectrum from, Prog-Rock ---Fusion-- Funk, and maybe a touch of Pop.... just a touch, and some cool southern rock/jazz,in between. I compare this with some of the best Galactic, Mahavishnu,Allman Bros. out there, maybe better!

I got this CD yesterday and played it once. I then put it on repeat for the whole day. It's that good. Very funky, great songs and songwriting. Excellent musicians. This would go in my desert island 10.

Every Song is a pearl and so different- unbelievable. I mean i like moe, gov't mule, godstreetwine, agents of good roots, phish, wsp, jupiter coyote and so on- but this record bites! Top musicians, top songwriting my heart what else do you need more?
Buy it

This latest effort from the "post-Bruce Hampton"-ARU is a magnificent effort by a greatly overlooked band that managed to produce some of the greatest and most inspiring musicians of their generation. Jimmy Herring (The Dead, Phil And Friends), Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers), Kofi Burbridge (Derek Trucks Band), along with vocalist Paul Henson and drummer Sean O'Rourke just kill from the opening track throughout. Great songs, great performances. Highlights? All of 'em!! Guests include Derek Trucks and legendary percussionist, Count M'Butu. This is an AWESOME cd

For those of us who were fortunate enough to see Col. Bruce and the first incarnation of this group (The Colonel, Jimmy Herring, Oteil from Egypt, Apt. Q258 (Jeff Sipe), and Matt Mundy), this is initially pretty tepid stuff. It lacks the wonder, the cross-genre mastery/insanity, and the verve of the ARU live record and Mirrors of Embarrassment (not to mention the live shows). But the truth is, this is a different group. It's like comparing apples to oranges. The fact is, there is some really brilliant playing and many of the arrangements are way more sophisticated than you would ever find in the "jam rock" category in which this group was lumped, largely because of its fans, who, you often thought, didn't really "get" the musical genius of what was going on. I will say that Sean O'Rourke, while certainly a solid drummer, is simply "solid," and not altogether ASTOUNDING, as Jeff was (and has been, as recently as 2007, when a version of the original group played a few shows (I was lucky enough to see one of them at the Fox in Boulder!). The final cut on this record, Usaidtheredbefish, really betrays his limitations (this is the kind of tune that Jeff would just DESTROY). And Paul Henson, while he can certainly carry a tune better than the Colonel ever did (although you could argue that NOT keeping a tune was actually his "aesthetic"), is absolutely devoid of any melodic concept. Note that he repeats what is essentially one melody line throughout the entire record. Nonetheless, the opening cut is beautifully arranged and has some blistering guitar work from Jimmy, and "Nice" has some tasty Rhodes work from Oteil's brother Kofi, followed by more of the same from Herring. Overall, three stars because of some annoying drum work and the tiring, repetitive melodies, which are elegantly saved by some mind-boggling guitar work and arrangements. Incidentally, Oteil - who in my opinion is the true genius in this group, and the only electric bass player to have actually evolved the instrument since Jaco - gives only a sliver of what he's capable on this record (on "Ride"). Listen to Mirrors of Embarrassment and the various live shows that are scattered around on the internet for a TRUE taste of what these boys can (could) do.

Cd picks up right where "In a Perfect World," left off. The players have obviously improved due to their touring with other bands. They're a little more tasteful than the "check out how great I am," players they were like 10 years ago. They seem to just be going for it and having fun. Scary, scary groove and technique. If I had to pick a complaint it would be that the singer's voice should be mixed up 2-3 dB, it was perfect on "Perfect World." That guy has a serious voice.

This is one of the best bands ever. It always sucks when good music is out of print.

It's easy to understand why most people have never heard of these guys. Our pop culture world has no place for bands that don't fit an easy to define niche. This album features songs that range from hard funk to hard rock to progressive, jazz influenced jams. Consequently, this is a band that will appeal to those with wide ranging tastes but won't ever fit into the insipid mass market media that threatens to drown out any truly creative voices.

I found ARU much like a previous reviewer noted; by back tracking Jimmy Herring. Though I started with the Phil Lesh and Friends album "There and Back Again" that featured Jimmy and Warren Haynes (Gov't Mule, Allman Bros)on guitar. This is a set of well produced, well written and well played songs. I hope this won't be the only effort put out by this particular group of musicians.