Customer Reviews

Desert Phase

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

 

 

Noticed there were no reviews of this on Amazon, so...first of all, I like this band's last two albums a lot ("And So It Goes" and "Elixir", with ASIG having a slight edge) and don't get me wrong, this is reasonably good music. Like their previous work, it blends shades of various world music into a more or less rock format, much of it instrumental. However, these songs don't have quite the originality of their previous efforts. Some of the tunes go on a bit long and become somewhat plodding, as if they didn't have quite enough material for a full length and were just padding it out a bit. Which may be exactly what happened, considering many recording studios' penchant for rushing bands to get out new material "while the iron is hot", so to speak. ("We call it riding the gravy train...") It's pleasant enough if you like the genre, but just doesn't have the creative spark that ASIG had. Work longer next time guys, I can wait.

I'm amazed to hear another reviewer describe this album as containing filler. Every track sounds pretty high quality to me. I won't try to compare it with their other albums, but it is definitely a solid release, so if you are even remotely fond of their past releases, I would strongly recommend this album.

I'm still getting into it, so I'll have to come back with a more detailed review. It's at least four stars in my book though, and maybe it will become five with a few more listens.