METAL FATIGUE

This is a great album and one with very few weaknessess. I am probably in a minority here for being especially attached to Panic Station a song that fuses incredibly inspired guitar and base soloing with a melodic line that just builds and builds. Synth pop it is not by any means. The song is much too subtle and complex to be given a pop label, althought the vocal style does tend that way a bit. The final song on the album, In the Mystery doesn't rank up there with Panic Station, but it also builds very powerfully and is totally unlike any pop song you ever heard. So I think the problem with these two cuts for many though is the vocal style which seems out of place on a fusion album. I am reminded a bit of later Mahavishnu Orchestra albums (Visions of an Emerald Beyond) that featured similar vocals. A bit surprising and not totally appropraite to the genre, perhaps, but I think they reflect some risk taking and desire to experiment which shouldn't be discouraged. And I do find myself needing a break now and then from John's and Allan's frenetic playing, as wonderous as it always is.