Customer Reviews

Temporal Analogues of Paradise

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

 

 

Well actually, it IS like ONE other album - this is the remastered Bardo Records version of the original 1996 Day Eight Records cd with Mao Tse-tung's picture hanging behind the three group members. Anyway, here you have three virtuosos so confident in their ability and vision that they have the canasters to put out a cd with just two long (32-minutes and 27-minutes) improvised jams done in a live setting. And it all works beautifully. The album art is stark, the booklet notes are practically nonexistent, yet the title is this precocious and cerebral "Temporal Analogues of Paradise" which focuses the listener's attention on the MUSIC, and nothing else. For good reason. Drummer Jeff Sipe (aka Apt. Q-258) has an eclectic background, with influences from Carl Palmer to the great jazz masters, and he's magnificent in this type of setting. Bass player Jonas Hellborg (arguably the most famous of the trio) has a great arsenal of styles and sounds, venturing from soft melodic to bop to growling fury - he's quite a talent. Together, they form a solid and knowing rhythm section that's not shy about taking their turns in the soloing spotlight. After those two, one might be tempted to slight Shawn Lane as just "icing on the cake". But the former Black Oak Arkansas guitar wunderkind from Memphis takes what is already GREAT to...well, EXCEPTIONAL. I'd love to have a video of him playing, as he tended to sound like two (or even three!) guitarists at once in places. He could fly as fast as a neo-classical metal shredder, or alternately add beautiful background colors to the other soloists. For many of us, it was the unique sound and talent of the late Shawn Lane that originally drew us to this cd. Tastefully done all around, this is phenomenal improvised jazz/rock fusion of the very highest order.

I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:
Music quality = 9/10; Performance = 10/10; Production = 9/10; CD length = 9/10.
Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 9.3 ("5 stars")

I bought 'Icon' several months ago and i have mixed feeling about it, Shawn Lane doesn't play enough on this album and i'm a little bored by the indian voices, the vocals take an important place on 'Icon' and i personally prefer to listen to the playing of the trio than some vocals - but i guess it is a matter of taste; on this album however, Shawn Lane plays an extraordinary (but very sad) guitar solo on 'Mirror'; that being said, i prefer to listen to by far 'Temporal Analogue of Paradise', the music is more joyous (there is a sad feeling going on throughout 'Icon'), the melodies are complex and hence, support repeated listenings where you always discover new interesting musical ideas; the album introduction also benefits from one of the most galvanizing guitar solo i have ever heard from a fusion record, turning thereafter into sweet melodic lines; the rhythm section is solid and the two tracks swings between experimental abstraction and melodic themes.

Hellborg needs no introduction. This is the man that actually plays Herbie Hancock solos(!) on the bass. But one can say that it is not his perfect techique that makes the point, merely it is his total control of the sound. That's his conception of virtuosity. On the other hand there's Shawn Lane. Unpredictable as usual, the fact that impresses me more is his dedication to the group. Yes, he really plays for the whole. The two tracks are harmonically very simple built upon 4th intervals. A magical gift for all the music lovers.