Customer Reviews

Outbound

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Don't get me wrong, I like this album, on the whole. That's why I gave it 4 stars. But where is Vic? Heck, where's Bela? They are so far submerged under layers & layers of sound, you can barely pick them out. Guests outnumber Flecktones on something like 11 of 16 tracks. Bela only plays banjo on 10. Victor is almost impossible to find in the mix. Still, Scratch & Sniff is great funk; Hoedown is a wild ride; Zona Mona is a fine tune; & A Moment So Clear is an incredible mix of sounds & textures. But this band has become Jeff Coffin, Roy Wooten aka FutureMan aka Royel, and guests, including Bela Fleck, Victor Wooten, & many more. I'm looking forward to seeing them live again, where I hope Bela & Vic don't get swallowed up in the mix. Bela has always been the least egotistical, most generous of frontmen, but as a longtime fan (2o years), I am having a hard time getting used to the overproduced wall of sound.

I can't believe the musical diversity and variety in this album - I just can't believe it. Every single song is something new and different. From a cover of an Aaron Copland song, Hoe Down (which is amazing), to what sounds like a fairly normal pop song on first listen...until you discover that it's in 7/8 time, and you marvel at how they made it sound good (Aimum), to a song that alternates a funk riff in 4/4, played on a sax through a wah-wah pedal, with a beautiful banjo melody in 17/16, or I suppose 8.5/8 (Scratch & Sniff), to a showcase of Jeff's ability to play two saxes at once (Earth Jam), and on down the list, this album is a completely exceptional musical experience, through and through.

I must say, though, that with all the variety on the album, the best is Moment So Close. I can't understand why, but it has me hooked. There are five separate and distinct musical themes in the song, most of them in different keys, yet somehow it all holds together. I particularly love the round section, where the guest vocalists and guest horn players along with FutureMan and Jeff all play/sing variations on the same melodies, slightly altered, in a round form. It is so rich and interesting.

I really just don't understand how this stuff is possible. The Flecktones are incredible - music simply cannot get any better than these guys.

One of the great things about the early Flecktones albums was the lack of over dubs, they just consisted of 4 guys getting together and playing. This album is anything but that. Even though it is exciting to hear the depth that these added musicians add, the album to me seems over produced. Plus, this album continues in the same style of their previous record, with more vocals and more of a smooth-jazz type style. This is not to say that the album doesn't have many fine spots. Hoedown is a fantastic piece, full of energy, twists, and unexpected turns. A Moment So Close is a complex pop arrangement, with many different sections and styles that you can't help but feel intrigued by them when you listen to it. However, some of the tracks are somewhat predictable (a word I thouht I would never use when describing this group), such as Zona Mona and Something She Said. All in all, a good album if you like a very solidly produced album with lots of guests, but if you like the more organic sound of the earlier incarnations of the Flecktones, I would stick with those albums instead.

Somehow, although this reviewer has yet to understand it, the Flecktones still remain mostly unknown. In my circle of friends, there are everyday bands and musician's bands (the ones that really appeal to those in the know). Bela & Co. definitely fall into the latter, which may explain their lack of MAJOR notoriety.

Outbound should be the album to break them big. Much like Santana's Supernatural, the Flecktones called in their friends (although they called on the talent in all cases and not just the name) to join them in making this album. The end result is something well worth your hard-earned money and time: an excellent record. In fact, with amazing interpretations of Aaron Copeland (Hoedown), jazz-rap fusion (A Moment So Close), and the (dare I say it?) Grateful Dead-like Earth Jam, the question still remains. How can a band this good, with so much talent, not be more well known?

The answer is simple: Banjo music reminds people of Deliverance and poor Ned Beatty. The trick is to wear suspenders and go see the Flecktones live. Be sure to take your copy of Outbound and see if you can grab an autograph from the band you SHOULD know!

The 'Tones have done it again! Created a completely different album from any of the others. You never get a chance to say, it's just the same old thing with this band. They are so tight and talented that they can blow you away in every musical style! I do wish that Bela was just a bit more of a show off, though. He tends to hang back and blend in, and that's too bad for his biggest fans. You have never heard anyone mold the sound of a banjo in so many ways! Jeff Coffin has become an amazing musician while working with Bela, Victor, and Roy, but he could learn to blend in a bit, himself. Bela is the most talented writer I have ever enjoyed, too! The time signatures and diversity of sound he incorporates is unfathomable! I've seen him live with the Flecktones several times, as well as with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and with Edgar Meyer and Mike Marshall on their Uncommon Ritual tour. My God! Every concert is breathtaking! And Bela is consistently wonderful. If you have never heard Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, you won't believe the diversity on even this one album! But don't stop here. Go back and get them all. Each one has it's own texture and they all stand the test of time! Then go check out Bela's solo work, too. Totally amazing! And DEFINITELY see them in person! You will be a fan for life! And they even sign autographs after the show, real down-to-Earth folks.

Many jazz/jam bands have such great performances on the road that their album productions, usually second in importance, sound second in performance as well. Outbound expertly skips this like Billy Breathes does for Phish. For old fans, this is a disappointment because it does sacrifice the extreme and fantastic talent of Vic Wooten's bass fumblings or Bela Fleck's plucking mastery on banjo, but this album gives enough effort from those guys while pushing up expectations on Futureman's drumitar and new Flecktone Jeff Coffin's brass, and not pushing overboard into a talent contest. To add to this album's credit, the 2000 Grammy it recieved for "Best Contemporary Jazz" (A Bela quote from a Princeton concert: "Well, I didn't know we were contemporary jazz...") is only deserved.

Outbound is done in a more concentrated manner, very atmospheric sound as you can tell Bela has his producing skills to perfection with each track. An example of this is the beginning of the album. Staying true to banjo-bluegrass basics is the Flecktones' cover Aaron Copland's "Hoedown," even though Bela uses an electric guitar, instead of his customary banjo, for the entire first half of the song. The song winds through beautifully, placing jams for each character of the 'Tones strategically and building to an incredible climax before it leaves you completely satisfied in the end.

"A Moment So Close" is probably going to be the most talked about of tracks if not the awesome "Howdown." The third track includes Futureman's sassy rap with guests Shawn Colvin ("Sunny Came Home" fame) and Jon Anderson (lead singer of Yes) taking over the other vocals. If you can stomach "Communication" from Left of Cool, you won't find much difference in this track. As much as it veers into pop, the excellent production keeps the track from veering into senseless mush, still in the vein of Spyro Gyra or Sticks and Stones.

Great melodies continue to shine on the album as "Zona Mona" takes over. Again, fantastic composition with excellent production as a flux of a string section can be heard in parts. Jeff Coffin gets a lead showcase with this song as the other members subdue their normally sporadic sound to push things along.

The talent contest of the album has to be "The Earth Jam." A fantastic live track, it gets proper studio treatment with subtle echo and hearty groove. In case you were wondering what happened to Vic, he's got plenty of action in his solo, only a fraction of what he does live, but satisfying and mesmerizing all the same.

"Hall of Mirrors" and "Something She Said" has plenty of Colvin's ooh'ing and aah'ing (she appears a lot of this album) and Futureman's always steady rhythm, which may seem minor at first listen, but with careful attention his intricate and detailed beats really carry the songs. A very modern jazz affair.

A snippet of the Flecktone live show is "ovombo summit" where Futureman gets his moment in the spotlight with a solo featuring sampling from African tribal grooves. Filler for the album, maybe, but still a good, quick listen.

To continue with the "title-track-needs-to-be-really-low-tempo" pattern, "Outbound" is a steady fiddler tune, switching between 4/3 and 4/6 beats throughout.

"Scratch & Sniff," "Aimum," "Lover's Leap" and "Shuba Yutra" are cute. Enough said.

To almost bring the album to a close, "That Old Thing," replaying track one to a longer format, is a classic jazz outfit, fitted nicely well with a "Englishman in New York" (Sting) feel, for a very eccentric album.

Old fans still reeling from the Flight of the Cosmic Hippo and Live Art days might not find this album to be all that appealing, but for jazz and pop lovers alike who can stomach Pat Metheny and Madeski Martin and Wood will have no trouble loving this album. I recommend this to all around music lovers as well.

I saw this band in concert this past summer and they played a bunch of stuff off this album. It was really good so I went and bought the CD. After listening to it a few times, I think that it is safe to say that it totally has ups and downs, as most cds. Some of the good tracks are Hoe Down, Earth Jam, Aimum (would be better if there were no vocals and just jams) and Outbound. Its definately a feel good cd. Buy it. you'll enjoy it. Has some great guests on it to, like John Medeski (always a plus) and Paul McCandless. Hope this helps

"Left of Cool", the Flecktones' last release, featured a more versatile style than they had previously shown. It contained far more than the bluegrass/jazz style that had been the hallmark of the Flecktones' early releases. Incorporating pop vocals from Royel (and backup from Dave Matthews and Amy Grant), it gave the Flecktones a more eclectic sound, drawing inspiration from many worldwide sources. Unfortunately, the album failed to 100% meet the musical challenge. Royel's vocals were a bit forced and tended to make me cringe, and the various cuts of the album were more thrown together than forming a cohesive sound. While "Left of Cool" did prove to be a good and interesting album, Flecktones did not quite sound comfortable with their new style. No longer. "Outbound" is a complete triumph in every area where "Left of Cool" sounded tentative. The vocal style, a far cry from the somewhat naïve approach of the previous album, is polished, professional and profound. The integration of disparate styles is succesful as never before. The album's sound has a definite direction and theme while incorporating the pop vocal styles of "A Moment So Close" to the jam band sound of "Earth Jam" to the indian folk feel of "Shuba Yatra." "Outbound" is the Flecktones most revolutionary, most complex, yet most accessible album to date. Old Flecktone fans will doubtless appreciate the evolution of the band into its present stylistic form; for those new to the sound of the Flecktones, this is THE album to get.

Is this album a sell-out? Not quite... but it is easily the "poppiest" sounding Flecktones cd... that's not exactly a bad thing, but when i buy a flecktones CD I expect it to be loaded with fun tunes, and great solos, particularly on bass (victor wooten is incredible), and banjo. The solos are sparse here, and the production is very smooth. There are many guests and the band feeling is kinda lost. That's not to say there aren't some highlights. The opener, "Hoedown" is an incredibly energetic and uplifting rendition of Aaron Copeland's composition. Earth Jam is also strong, and Aimum/A Moment So Close are 2 good pop songs with vocals. However, alot of this CD falls kinda flat and doesn't reach the peaks that previous works such as Live Art do.

The Flecktones were recommended to me as a Bluegrass band. Maybe that description makes sense with reference to earlier albums (which I have not heard), but not _Outbound_.

The Flecktones of _Outbound_ are an art rock supergroup with banjo-driven crunchy overtones. It's too complex and involved and has too few lyrics to be pop, so I guess maybe you'd call it jazz. Really fast, funky jazz-pop with a banjo thrown in for the fun of it.

And it is really fun.