VOLUME ONE

So yeah, with Belew, Mel Collins and Ian Wallace one would not be wrong for expecting something, Crimson esque. The music has a light Jazz touch while maintaining a rock sound and the guitar does indeed remind one of Crimson. One thing I'd like to say is the singer has a pretty generic sounding voice, no unique tone which really hurt the music for me as he could be any modern Rock bands singer.

Make It All Up opens with audience sounds then the song kicks in, solid vocals spit out fast in an 80s manner. Towards the songs end there is a guitar solo reminding me of Chuck Berry kinda 50s rock.

Somethings going on opens with flute then some staccato piano chords which are followed by a brief sax part, then vocals. This number is somewhat Jazzier then the previous track and sounds sort of like King Crimsons Jazz renditions of Donovan in the sixties. While not very long there is nice development on this one, some lovely Saxophone lead closing this track out.

Spectrum opens with staccato vocals then singing similar to the previous track. It alternates between the vocals once more then guitar lead. Different, more spoken wordsy vocals come in now, then the earlier guitar part returns. It fades out as a synth pad comes in. Then the songs kicks into third gear as a guitar solo emerges. It ends and one is greeted with what might be a thumb piano? The vocals of the songs earlier moments return then fade out to guitar screeching.

Master opens with pretty piano, drums and bass with nice singing. Saxophone comes in to spice up the vocals at times alongside vocal harmonies. A couple minutes of ambience follow then the song returns for the closer.

Going starts off like the previous track but in like of vocals is an interesting keyboard sound in the lower register. Vocals replace it in time, maintaining the lounge vibe.

Santa Maria opens with screechy guitar chords and vocals. This song has a refrain "Santa Ma~Ria~" that it repeats a lot, sort of psychedelic due to the vocals echo fx. You get similar instrumentals to the other tracks, similar to them despite being a bit longer. It ends with a slight eastern flavour for some reason.

Silent Life is like Going but replace the Jazz with Alt Rock.

The Valley Of Below is two seconds shorter then the longest song, Santa Maria. It uses more prominent echo vocals in its opening along side a fuzzy synth pad. There is also tribal drumming quietly plodding underneath. The ambient pad takes over for a while then crunchy guitar comes for when the earlier song parts return. Then more ambient but this time there are chimes of some kind playing background music. The song returns again, this time it's last.

Better Be Right closes the album with gentle piano and singing. Later you get some fast keyboard action, bit of flute, solid.

Overall this would be a great listen for folks who appreciate most of King Crimsons eras since the music here definitely captures the sound of it all, 60s-00s. Plenty of instrumental workouts, competent singing and concise songs. For me the quality level is just not high enough for a higher rating, still it's good.

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