Customer Reviews

II

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Kingston Wall's album "II" is often reviewd as their best, and it is not a bit of a surprise why. The album moves smoothly from middle-east influental psych rock jamming to beautiful acoustic ballads (such as "Istwan", the second track). The opening track of the album "We Cannot Move", is probably one of the most well known tracks from this group as it has been voted as the best Finnish rock song of the 90's and the track has also been remixed by Texas Faggott on KW's "Freakout Remixes". If this is compared to the other two Kingston Wall albums, I'd say that this is the most jamming and free-flowing album of all the three. Not to mention that it is also the most acoustic one, and to all Led Zeppelin lovers; you can even hear that good 'old nasty violin bow in the background. Kingston Wall probably always wanted to be on their own and create something unique rather than do what the audience expected. the seventh song of the album prooves that point; it is a cover version of Donna Summers old classic disco hit "I Feel Love" and also one of those Kingston Wall tracks you can still hear on Finnish radio every now and then. There's also a couple of visiting players on this album: Ufo Mustonen (violins in track 2) and Sakari Kukko, the famous sax/flute player from Piirpauke(probably better known to the rock people abroad through his astonishing sax and flute playing on Amorphis' albums "Tuonela" and "Am Universum") plays the saxophone in track 8, "Shine On Me". Well, I think that is all I have to say about this Finnish rock masterpiece. Load up your pipes and step on to the flying carpet. It's a ride you're not going to forget.

I was trying to think of how to describe Kingston Wall and how it isn't an task. Their sound is both unique and yet very familiar. It sounds like a lot of recordings in my classic rock collection. But at the same time, it has a sound that is unique and really stands out from the rest of what I have. They kind of sound like a psychadelic Led Zeppelin at times, if Jimi Hendrix was the guitarist. Or in the case of We Cannot Move they sound very much like Janes Addiction from the Ritual de lo Habitual era. Not only is the musical style similar, so is the vocal style.

Songs like Could It Be So? feature some fantastic drumming showing these guys had some chops too. And It's All Happening is a fantastically beautiful slow psychadelic blues instrumental ballad, the kind you'd wish David Gilmour would have played on his solo records. Love Tonight is another high octane rocker with great of wah-wah induced guitar leads. Shine on Me is another amazing and gut-wrenching blues number augmented very well with saxophone. You is another great psychadelic song that jams out a bit at 10min to give the band some room to extend themselves. The song is propelled by more great blues guitar playing along with some Indian influences mixed in to give the song a real unique texture.

It's sad that guitarist Petri Walli is no longer with us. His tragic death at such a young age shows that the music scene lost a fatanstic talent, a guitarist with skill that was only exceeded by the passion with which he played. All the Kingston Wall wall discs are great, but the second disc is the best of the three. If you're a fan of Hendrix, Zeppelin, Floyd, or even Janes Addiction; I'd recommend tracking down a copy of this album. I'll admit it is hard to find, but if you look hard enough you can pick it up for under $18 USD. You'll be glad you did.

Their first CD is great, but might be considered still a little raw. Their third CD is great, but maybe a little "over-produced", and IMHO lost a little of the good songwriting of the earlier two CDs. This CD, their second, is perfect! This is Kingstin Wall as they should sound like. Powerful, great in every detail, arab harmonies - 1001 Nights, exploring every instrument - creating a unbelievable density of sound, melodies and lyrics, just perfect.

I must have heard a zillion variations on the telltale middle eastern E-F-E progression that anchors all ten glorious minutes of "You", but its a testament to the unbelievable tightness of Kingston Wall that this ensemble left me with the kind of head rush like I had never even heard of a guitar before. If that's not it, then its gotta be the headbanging Donna Summer cover "I Feel Love". This dementia is courtesy of guitfiddle svengali Petri Walli, here anchored by unbelievably tight bass & kit work work by Jukka Jylli and by Sami Kuoppamäki respectively, and peppered with tasty, David Sanborn-like soprano sax by Sakkari Kukko (on "Shine On Me"). The songs themselves are otherworldy acid-drenched jam guitar workouts, tempered with ringing acousticy Zeppelin drama and doe-eyed innocent hippie lyrics - but is played with such incredible energy that it comes off as much tighter and less meandering than it ever should. Indulge a bit of disingenuous praise and meaningless platitudes for just a second - but coming from someone who's played for close to 15 years, and tasted every rock shred variation there is, I have to say the late guitarist/violinist/vocalist Petri Walli is flat out one of the best rock guitarists I have EVER heard. He simply flays listeners alive with orgasmic, every-note-counts solos, unbelievably liquid chord progressions and ridiculously well-constructed, near-perfect song vehicles for his godlike ability. Walli's reedy voice and epic psych tendencies definitely reminds me of Steve Hillage, but he's much closer to a Robin Trower in execution. This band is quite influential on many of their hard rock/metal Scandinavian contemporaries. (If anything's a testament to this band's power, almost singlehandedly turning the warlike, Odin-worshipping Nordic doom grunters Amorphis into incense-burning hippies through pure jam power should provide assurance to even the most foolhardy skeptic.) Any fan of psychadelic rock like Ozric Tentacles, Porcupine Tree, or more venerable 70's institutions like Cream has GOT to have at this in their collection. Heck, buy a few more copies for your groove-starved musician friends and spread the love. It's a damn shame Walli wasnt able to find the strength to combat his inner demons, but at least we have this note-perfect masterpiece to admire after that cold hard fact - seeds of shred for future cosmic farmers to plant and flower for a hungry new generation starving for a little bit of inspiral sunshine.