E

One of my favourite jazz rock fusion albums of the 90's - but then Jonas Hellborg features on several of my favourites - and the music here is nowadays more likely to be labelled metal fusion. As such the Hammond-lead trio may be heard as a precursor to Niacin, whilst heralding the resurgence of Hammond jazz in the mid 90's This too should be seen as one of 3 or 4 albums Jonas and the Johansson brothers worked from the late 80's to early 90's experimenting and pushing the boundaries of jazz rock, especially toward the Johansson's favoured metal. In particular, the same line-up plus vocalist Gary Cooper (an 80's regular with Hellborg) should heard and compared as the one-off band the Shining Path, on (what I hear as) the companion album 'No Other World'.

The first three tracks of 'e' (in probability named after the recreational drug) especially are fast and heavy, and as suggested by David going for the speed rhythmic aspects with this fusion more than the melody. But as such this is music I can listen to time after time - it also makes for wide awake music while driving. I wonder too, how much the complex bass patterns Hellborg thunders out were absorbed by Jens Johnasson and similar can be heard subsequently coming from his bass pedals (e.g. on 'Heavy Machinery' or 'Fission')? Having mentioned the first three tracks (BTW is that recording of a dog or some electronic trickery at the end of Dog-Bar-B-Q), the whole of album is a pleasure. I don't feel there is a duff track on the record

My inclination with having and continually playing this album for well over decade, believing it marked the 90's resurgence re-popularising Hammond jazz and fusion, a precursor for the likes of Niacin, I give this 4.5 - NOTE: Hellborg's original mix of 'Octave of the Holy Innocents' is a 5 star and my jazz fusion album of the 90's.