Customer Reviews

Thonk

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

 

 

This is by far my favorite Michael Manring album. These songs hit hard, orbit distant planets, travel through frigid environments...every one takes me to a different place. I have played this CD so much that my stereo doesn't even need the disk anymore, it has it memorized! *laugh*
If you don't have this disk you are -really- missing out on something very special.

THis album is truly amazing! If you thought the extremes of bass could not be pushed much further than you must hear this album. What makes this release so diffrent from many bass virtuousos is that manring is all about the melody. Manring writes some truly beautiful progressions and no songs include overdubs.This cd also includes guests such as Steve Morse(dixie dregs,deep purple,kansas) and Tim Alexander(primus).

I recently popped this into my cd player after not listening to it for a few years - this disc is a MUST HAVE. Truely brilliant - the ending half of You Offer Only Parabolas still gives me goose bumps.

Thanks Mike!

This is a great album; sounds very fresh upon each listen. In a time where Fusion was essentially dead, Michael Manring and co. (Tim Alexander of Primus, Steve Morse, and Alex Sklonik) create THE fusion album of the past decade. Manring showcases his stellar ability and creativity on the Bass guitar, particularly on the Hyperbass solo of "Monkey Businessman".

Stellar ensemble. Stellar album.

This CD changed my perspective on the bass guitar and music in general. I bought this CD in January 1995 when I was 17 years old and it is still my favorite CD to this day. Michael Manring is a genius, and a very nice guy...I got to finally meet him when he came to Asheville NC in the Summer of 2004 and he signed my copy of Thonk!! :) Anyway, if you are a bass guitarist, it should be mandatory that you own this CD!

As a huge fan of Michael Manring's recent progressive music -- with the likes of Attention Deficit (with former Primus drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander and shred-metal guitarist Alex Skolnik), McGill-Manring-Stevens, Sadhappy, and even Henry Kaiser's "Yo! Miles" -- I was very excited to discover Thonk, the bassist's initial foray into the world of progressive rock/jazz/whatever. With Attention Deficit's Alexander and Skolnik on board, as well as Dixie Dregs' guitar phenomenon Steve Morse, I was really looking forward to some non-stop progressive power improv ... and the first track delivers just that! ... and the second track, okay, could be a little more progressive and a little less lite-jazz ... and the third track, well, actually sounds just a bit on this side of Windham Hill, as do most of the solo bass pieces -- which actually make up about half this disc.

All in all, a dissapointment, especially considering the great lengths (and expense) you may have to go to acquire this out-of-print disc. Three or four of the tracks are blazingly brilliant, three or four are too close to the mellow jazz of the Yellowjackets or formulatic rock/jazz of Dixie Dregs, and three or four are just unabashedly Windham Hill dreck. It sounds like Manring knew where he wanted to go -- gutsy, ballsy, edgy improv -- but was unconfortable completely abandoning the familiar and friendly Windham Hill sound (note: this disc is published on a Windham Hill subsidary label).

So save this purchase until you have completed your collection of Attention Deficit and McGill-Manring-Stevens ... and even the Manring-era Sadhappy and Yo! Miles.