Customer Reviews

What If

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked up this album circa 1980, after seeing the band on TV's "Midnight Special." I'd been listening a lot to Jean-Luc Ponty albums like "Cosmic Messenger" and "Egocentric Molecules", on which the songs had fantastic, intricate opening and closing sections, but in the middle were long solos while the band vamped on two chords. The Dixie Dregs, who like Ponty were inspired by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, took Ponty's approach to the next level. While a Dreg soloed, the rest of the band was always doing something interesting to keep the listener's attention. The result was the best answer America has ever been able to produce to Britain's prog-rock bands like Yes or ELP: five virtuoso musicians, playing instrumental-only rock music with great melodies, intricate arrangements, and catchy solos, in a variety of styles that somehow all worked together. Led by Steve Morse, who for my money is the best guitarist on the planet.

"What If" has better production and more consistent songwriting than the first Dixie Dregs album, "Freefall". The cuts, mostly written by Morse, include straight-ahead rock ("Take It Off the Top"), progressive rock ("Odyssey"), ballads ("What If" and "Night Meets Light"), bluegrass ("Gina Lola Breakdown"), and even a baroque piece for classical guitar and violin ("Little Kids"--a passer-by once asked me if it was Vivaldi). The best cuts are "Take It Off the Top", the funky "Ice Cakes", and "Night Meets Light", but even the weakest track would be a highlight on many a lesser band's album. "Night Meets Light" is a stunner, a long, gorgeous tune with a lot of time-signature changes that aren't immediately apparent (there's a lot of 5/8). The Dregs' signature sound is electric guitar and violin playing in unison to create a wailing sound. Allen Sloan's violin work is especially stunning, able to both match Morse's breakneck speed and give a impossibly lush, romantic sound to solos on "Odyssey" and "Night Meets Light".

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

If you ever found yourself shipwrecked with only one Dreg's album, this is the one you'd want. Of all their albums, this one probably best epitomizes the true range and scope of this great band. Steve Morse's compositions and performance bring together all the elements of his eclectic styles. This band could have been anything it wanted to be; progressive rock, jazz fusion, country, baroque, classical. It chose to be all and does so magnificently on this album. The musicianship from all fronts is unlike anything ever assembled. As a musician, I'm always taken aback by rockers such as "Take It Off The Top" and "Ice Cakes". "Travel Tunes" is a fun track that's hard to sit still on. "Odyssey" is the classic Dreg's song; seering guitar by Morse, incredible strings (Allen Sloan), incomprehensible keyboards (Mark Parrish) and flawless rhythm (Andy West, bass and Rod Morgenstein, drums). Since this line-up of performers was their first and last time together, it has always left me wondering....What If?.....

In the late '70's, I went to see someone else, and the Dixie Dregs happened to be the opening band. All I knew about them was they were on Capricorn, the "southern rock" label. And when they came onstage, as I expected they looked "southern rock"--but then they started to play some of the most challenging and original music I had ever heard. I was transfixed, certain I was an early witness to an emerging musical genius. Most of the material was from this album, just released. I bought it the next day. "What If?" was an instant classic, and a defining work. The sound and style are strikingly original. The compositions are brilliant, spanning an incredible range of styles, with stops at rock, blue grass, classical, and jazz. The players are each instrumental geniuses, so technically adept they run the danger of being too facile. The music is mercurial, a blend of tight ensemble playing, well focused solos, and lightning fast interchanges between the performers. The Dixie Dregs demonstrated on "What If?" they were fully equal to the original Mahavishnu Orchestra or the Chick Corea/Stanley Clarke/Al DiMeola version of Return To Forever. And a lot of fun to listen to.

I got into Dixie Dregs quite by accident while playing in a band which never got past the pubs and clubs circuit. Our drummer played Take it off the Top, which had long featured as backing track to a music show on the BBC. Having started off by saying 'hey I know this,' by the time I'd heard a couple more tracks I just asked incredulously - 'who the hell are these guys?' Given the answer, I remarked: 'Never heard of them.' To the great majority of you out there who haven't heard of them either, let's just say this is quite sublime music - a voyage through three centuries of the art from Baroque classic to heavy rock and beyond. It may sound quirky, but my Haydn-loving father remains ecstatic about Night Meets Light more than ten years on. The rest is almost as good. Buy it - and buy the rest of the Dregs catalogue.

A Simply Masterful Introduction to Instrumental Music. Even if you don't normally listen to bands this diverse; if you like fusion or instrumental guitar rock/jazz-rock you'll like this album (and this band doesn't just feature guitar). also 1 of top 5 Steve Morse albums.

I'm ordering the CD today for a friend and myself.

I pulled out old albums tonight. The studio quality on the album is better then a lot of CDs today. Plus this band is INCREDIBLE!

I saw them live once. The are even better in the flesh. The layers . . unfortunately, a lot of people can't even hear what they are doing. It just sounds like a roar.

It's funny. The bands I remember always had a good engineer in the studio.

I've always loved this album. Very beautiful, well produced and varied. Saw them live about '79 at the College of Charleston, a peak event in my concert going (Also there, I beleive were Papa John Creach and Vassar Clements - an awesome time). Anyway , this one never lets you down.

I discovered The Dixie Dregs by accident in 1978, when I purchased a cut corner LP version of What If at the Rhino Records store in Clairemont, California, for 20 cents! I bought it cause I liked the cover...but when I heard the opening chords of "Take It Off The Top", I knew I'd found something really significant. Since then I've seen the Dregs live perhaps 20 times, and they remain my favorite guitar based instrumental band, ever.

For me, this is their defining album. Ken Scott's production was brilliant, with far more depth than "Freefall" had in terms of production (I love "Freefall" so don't take this the wrong way!). I also believe that this album was a masters class for Steve Morse in terms of production...that is to say, Ken Scott exposed Steve to a level of production he couldn't have known before this. And nowhere does that production stand out more, than on the albums closing number, perhaps the finest neo-classical piece they ever did, "Night Meets Light". That song brings goosebumps to this day.

Simply said, the Dregs were far ahead of their time, and remain so to this day. There have been no other bands that could reach this far and make it all work, in my estimation. I highly recommend this album, and every other album by the Dixie Dregs/Dregs/Steve Morse/Steve Morse Band.

p.s. Years ago, Steve Morse won the Best Overall Guitarist award from Guitar Player magazine five years in a row, and was then removed from eligibility for that award...so he went and took the Best Country Guitarist award the next year!!!

I first heard the Dixie Dregs in 1982 with the Industry Standard album (also 1982). At the time I was really impressed with their virtuoso musicianship and eventually went on to explore other albums including Night of the living Dregs (1979) and the superb live album Bring em' Back Alive (1992). What surprises me is how What If (1978) (nearly) passed me by; it certainly presents the band firing on all cylinders. Better late than never I suppose.

The lineup on What If includes master guitarist Steve Morse (electric guitar, guitar synthesizer, classical guitar), the smoking Andy West (Alembic and fretless basses); Rod Morgenstein (drums and percussion); Mark Parrish (piano, organ, electric piano, and synthesizers), and Allen Sloan (violin). To say these guys are top notch musicians is an understatement. There is some unbelievably complex ensemble work and the breakneck tempos that the band employs are mindblowing. On the other hand, these guys were capable of delicate and sensitive playing as well. In short, these are the hallmarks of excellent musicians.

The eight tracks on this instrumental album range in length from 2:03 to 7:47 and present a mixture of Kansas-influenced progressive rock, Mahavishnu Orchestra-influenced jazz rock fusion, hard rock, classical, and country. In fact, these guys seemed to bridge the gap between bands such as Kansas and Return to Forever/Mahavishnu Orchestra. The styles that dominate the album include the prog and jazz rock played at a neck snapping velocity - the interplay between Morse and Allen is simply unbelievable. At the other end of the musical style spectrum is the wild country hoedown (also played at a breakneck tempo) Gina Lola Breakdown, which is a lot of fun and features virtuoso guitar and violin playing. Although I love the wild playing on the album, my favorite pieces include the slower, mellower tracks such as the title track, Night Meets Light and the impressive classical piece Little Kids, which features a duo comprised of Steve on classical guitar and Allen on violin. There really is a lot to absorb on this album and it is all just fantastic.

Although this version of the album has not been remastered, the sound quality is actually fairly crisp, although there might not be as much bottom end as I would like. There are no liner notes to speak of. Then again, I got this copy for 89 cents so I am not complaining too loudly. For those of you that are interested, a remastered version is available What If.

All in all, this is an excellent album by an exceptionally talented band. What If is very highly recommended along with Night of the Living Dregs.

The cut "TAKE IT OFF THE TOP" is literally on fire. Rock and jazz transfixxed and transfused together into a wild roller coaster. Explosive, I first heard it probably back in 77 or 78 and it still sticks with me to this day!