Situation Dangerous

Bozzio Levin Stevens | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 8, 2000)
• Original Release Date: August 8, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Magna Carta
• ASIN: B00004VW3P
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,739 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Popular Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 8-AUG-2000

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What, it's only three guys doing all this? Naww.., April 25, 2002

By 

spiral_mind (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Situation Dangerous (Audio CD)

Side projects are such a risky venture, aren't they? At first you never know whether they'll be genuine collaborations or mutual wank-fests meant to be sold on name recognition. I'll admit to being a little biased since I approached this album as a huge fan of Bozzio and Levin.. and since all I knew about Steve Stevens was that he'd been Billy Idol's guitarist, I was just hoping he wouldn't be too annoying. I'm not proud to admit that. I am, however, glad to say I was very wrong indeed. Steve is all over the place - heavy here, quiet there, soloing here, adding layers of texture to the recording I probably still haven't heard yet. Terry Bozzio is like a man possessed. I imagine him thrashing madly behind the drum set, jumping from one percussive oddity to the next with the manic grin of a mad scientist at work. Tony Levin (once again) adds a monster low end like no one else, laying a foundation so solid you could walk on it yet sneaking in licks that are nothing short of masterful. I guess he missed the memo that bass players aren't supposed to do that stuff.

Enough. On with the music. It's a little different from their previous album Black Light Syndrome in that it's not all improvised. It's instrumental hard rock that'll appeal to fans of Jeff Beck or Liquid Tension Experiment (which also included Levin - coincidence? I think not.). It manages to twist your mind through wild solos, time changes executed with mathematical precision, and a level of musical variety almost worthy of a Steve Morse album. There's a lot of hard rock, a quiet moody tune or two, just a little jazz and a touch of flamenco. "Spiral" and "Endless" are quiet and atmospheric enough for Brian Eno fans, while prog-heads will just love trying to count the time signatures throughout "Crash." I could almost joke that the title of "Dangerous" refers to the risk of a copyright lawsuit, considering that they practically quote outright from Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" and King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man." Instrumental magic, technical brilliance, hard rock, intelligent prog, call it what you want. If you like music that'll fire up your brain cells and still shred wallpaper, this is worth a good listen or two.. or two dozen. Enjoy.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Sophmore Release, October 31, 2006

By 

Steven Sly (Kalamazoo, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Situation Dangerous (Audio CD)

The 2nd album from these instrumental superstars is even better than their first one in my opinion. The album features more variety with blistering rock and soft acoustic interludes. All 3 musicians shine throughout with Steve Stevens again displaying much more versatility than any of his work with Billy Idol. His flamenco guitar flourishes are a highlight of the softer tracks on the disc. Bozzio is all over the place as well adding various percussion nuances that lesser musicians would never even dream of. Levin, of course is as solid as ever. Overall I think this is a stronger release than the debut. If you love fun instrumental workouts this album is a great one. Let's hope they put something else out one of these days.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quality Through & Through, August 25, 2001

By 

El Kabong - See all my reviews

This review is from: Situation Dangerous (Audio CD)

BLS' first cd, BLACK LIGHT SYNDROME, was so good I actually had great hopes for the then-fledgling Magna Carta label. Although they were thrown together as per the standard MC formula - Supergroups While U Wait - the resulting music was wonderfully organic-sounding, as if these three guys had been waiting all their lives to play in the same band without knowing it. (It helps that none of them have a signature 'day-job' band they're vacationing from - and I consider Papa Bear too much of a Renaissance man to refer to him as 'King Crimson's Tony Levin'.) SITUATION DANGEROUS is the just-released followup, one I wasn't expecting, that's every bit as good as its predecessor. A little different, though: it definitely sounds as if, this time, they had longer than 3 days to whip up something from scratch. A little heavier, too. But what put the debut over the top was the equal contributions of each member in terms of styles, influences, ideas, and, oh yeah, chops, and I'm happy to say that hasn't changed, except that this time they had more time, more resources, and a better feel for one another - do the math for yourself. Bozzio's ferocity puts the majority of today's progmetal double-bass thunder merchants to shame; he's equally masterful when finesse and restraint are called for. Steve Stevens continues to reveal levels of subtlety and taste that go far beyond the big-hair flash he's unfairly identified with, as exemplified by not only his playing but his classy liner-notes tribute to the late great Curtis Mayfield. And Levin? You need me to tell you how fluid, seamless and exciting a player HE is? There's no Stickmeister extant who coaxes more lyrical sounds from that odd-looking doohickey. SITUATION is as satisfying an audio purchase as I've made recently; you could do plenty worse than to grab yourself a copy.