Customer Reviews

Prog

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These guys have a way with covers. But their own material is great, too. I don't agree with the Amazon reviewer that sees some of their covers as jokes that are funny once but not the second or third time. Music which functions only as a joke often falls flat, but the covers on this album are much more (if they are jokes at all) - I think they take themselves seriously as music, even if they do have fun with the tunes in the process. Anyway, art is in the eye of the beholder - one man's masterpiece is another man's headscratcher. If you like contemporary jazz, particularly jazz piano trios, and you like your music challenging yet communicative and highly listenable, get this. If you have an affection for the originals, it will only add to your enjoyment. There's a variety of approaches here, and they all work just fine.

I'm not going to make proclamations like, "The Bad Plus is the future of jazz music," or anything like that. However, concerning their "covers," as you reviewers enjoy calling them so much, might I point out that there is a long-standing tradition in jazz to play tunes you like that you (or anyone else on the recording session for that matter) did not write yourself. And what do we now call those tunes? Standards. But the process by which a song becomes a standard is not that of a committee sitting in a room, deciding what goes in the Real Book and what doesn't. It's a process by which artists play tunes they enjoy playing, and after numerous artists have put their voice to a tune, maybe it becomes a standard. I see what the Bad Plus does with their interpretations of more contemporary rock songs as a continuation of that same tradition. The Bad Plus play tunes they enjoy, as far as I can tell, and they kill each and every one of them. Even if they play it faithfully to the original, they still kill it and give it their own Bad Plus stamp. Would you ever confuse the Rush version of Tom Sawyer with the Bad Plus Version? I doubt it.

It is somewhat regrettable that there aren't more original compositions by the band on this record, since they're all great composers with their own individual voices. But, might I also remind you, that the jazz player composes in the moment, even if they didn't write the song itself.

The Bad Plus is a great presence on the musical scene today, especially in the Jazz idiom. They bring joy, exuberance, and incredible musicality to everything they do. You don't judge their music. It judges you.

I can't quite shake the feeling, after listening to this alien music for the past week or so, that I've been duped. And though I think Prog is somewhat of a recovery after Give and (esp.) Suspicious Activity, I can't bring myself to totally sign on.

I have thoughts like these as I listen: Wow, Dave King brings something to his kit that few jazz drummers ever have (although I could do with a little less bombast and heavy-handiness). Or, Ethan Iverson's displaying some awesome chops (although he still strikes me as awfully mannered). Or, Reid Anderson actually has some pretty attractive songs on this disc (although the band unnecessarily beats "Physical Cities" to a bloody pulp).

Bottom line--I can't convince myself that these boys aren't stuck in unwitting self-parody. That is, attitude trumps substance. To be expected, I suppose, when a band comes with this much hype--and apparently believes it.

Nevertheless, I'm pretty much bowled over by the covers (unlike some of the other reviewers), especially the laconic tumescence of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "This Guy's in Love with You." "Tom Sawyer" strikes me as funny, and "Life on Mars" as appropriately weird.

Actually, in a lot of ways, this is a pretty killer disc, although, it must be said, the vibe pretty quickly wears thin. Consequently, I find myself not picking it to listen to for the pure pleasure it gives, but to access its quirkiness. Which, unfortunately, tends to relegate it to novelty status.

That said, it's quite an attractive novelty. Somewhere between 3 and 5 stars.

Overall, I would rate this as the Bad Plus's best album. With the excpetion of suspicious activity it has the best songwriting and it has the best adapations of cover songs of all bad plus albumns. The covers are are good choices and the adaptations are brilliant. Physical cities and Giant are interstesting new songs. Suspicious activity introduced more new songs, and in that way is better than Prog, but Prog is solid from start to finish and the overall consistency makes it Bad Plus's best albumn yet.

As a rock fan - and a prog rock fan in particular - I was intrigued by the concept of this CD so I picked it up. And I must say that I love it! I've always dabbled a little bit in jazz, but this recording fuses the two genres in a way that I find appealing and even fascinating. Unlike some of the reviewers, I love the "Tom Sawyer" cover; it is anchored enough in the original and then takes off with its own ideas and the awe-inspiring musicianship of the group. Having enjoyed this CD I'm going to get the others too. In the end, I think jazz aficionados can take comfort from the fact that this CD will expose some to jazz who otherwise wouldn't have given it a shot.

The Bad Plus has a very distinctive sound. They take a melody and decompose it right down to its essence, then build it back up into their own interpretation, whether it be a "cover" or an original. This album is a great example of that.

In much of their past music they would let the sound devolve almost to chaos before meeting up again. For a lot of people, that was a real turn off. If you were one of those people, you may enjoy this album more than the previous ones. There is a much stronger focus on melody and interplay in Prog.

For me personally, I can listen to Prog on repeat non stop and never get tired of it. In particular I love the way Giant builds and sways and the way Life On Mars keeps you waiting for nearly the whole song before playing the chorus, creating an awesome moment of arrival. But every song on this album has something unique to offer.

If you're into groove oriented music that teases you with melody, you'll love this album. But if you prefer more straight up pop or swing The Bad Plus may be too out there for you. That said, a surprising number of my friends have really gotten into them, so I'd recommend giving Prog a listen!

This CD could be labeled and dismissed by some jazz purists who are very narrow-minded as poppish jazz. The truth, is that this cd, along with the other bad plus cd's, cross different styles of music. This group has an original style. I get too bored when another jazz musician comes out with a copycat run-of-the mill standard jazz album(I'd rather listen to a crazy experimental jazz album that's way out there). The bad plus does not do this and neither do they stamp all over the cover's original. The group expand these cover's usuing their very talented jazz fundamentals to create a very cool-sounding cd. This CD is a fine model on how to combine pop with jazz. The poppish part brings that cool and hip feel to it, while the jazz part brings the cool notes and experimental side to it(on some of the songs, even covers there will be phrases of soloing that are very experimental like). I even hear a significant amount of classical mixed in with the soloing. Although I wouldn't say this CD is one of my most favorite CD's ever, (few CD's fall into that category),I think it's a very cool CD to listen to and I highly recommend it.

Prog is much better than their recent live CD (Blunt Object). On Prog, they explore contemporary pop/rock standards like Tears For Fears' Everybody Wants To Rule The World, David Bowie's Life On Mars and Rush's Tom Sawyer along with their tight orginals Physical Cities, Mint, Giant, Thriftstore Jewelry, The World Is The Same and 1980 World Champion.

This is a must have for anyone interested in contemporary jazz (not smooth) that wants something challenging and, ultimately, rewarding to listen to.

[DW]

This album is a lot of fun, and the musicians are incredible. Freakishily good players. Everytime you listen, you should hear something new. I definitely have to say I am more pleased with this disc that their previous album, Suspicious Activity, which had some fun music, but overall felt kind of flat to me.

Listening to Physical Cities about 20 times is worth getting the album alone. The several covers on the disc are great. Dave King really goes for it on Tom Sawyer, managing to play 95.2% of Neil Peart's original solo fill's on his 4-piece kit. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is great too, just layed back with some really nice atmosphere and sounds.

Give, These are the Vistas, Suspicious Activity, Live in Tokyo, Motel... They're all great. You are not going to like every single tune they play, deconstruct, or have their way with, but I always want to listen again and again and try to hear more of each piece.

I think some people feel that every tune this group does should be some earth-shattering super-tune, and that is just not the case. But, you will hear something interesting and genuine each time you listen to one of their tracks...or at least you should.

I recommend this album to anyone who has bought TBP's albums before. They're still going at it hard!!

I wasn't always a fan of the Bad Plus. Then I saw them on Conan O'Brien and liked what I saw on the show, so I decided to get some of their records. Well they're growing on me. (I was digging their Blondie cover the other day)

It's very clear that the band's signature is taking pop/rock tunes, or just songs that haven't really been done by other jazz artists, and twisting them around in a rather humurous way. Maybe it would get old, but this group certainly plays well enough to keep it interesting.

Not being much of a rock fan myself, I don't really know many of the tunes on this album that were radio hits except for Rush's Tom Sawyer and Burt Bacharach's This Guy's In Love With You; made famous by Herb Alpert.

Maybe it is time for a new twist, and although there are far more ridiculous songs to cover, maybe they need something else. However, this album is enjoyable enough for repeated listenings.