SATURATION POINT

This album was released the same year(1973) as "Canis Lupus" with the same four piece lineup of Daryl Way on violin and keys, John Etheridge on guitar, Dek Messecar on bass and vocals while Ian Mosely is the drummer. I do prefer "Canis Lupus" by a fair margin feeling it was a 4.5 star album while this one "Saturation Point" is a low four stars. I just don't feel the songs are as good plus the vocals which I really liked have been scaled way back and on top of that we get far more soloing from Way and Etheridge and the former dominates here unlike on "Canis Lupus". So if your really into the violin please come by.

My favourite track is the closer "Toy Symphony" as we really get some depth and nasty sounding stuff. Violin is all over this early then the guitar takes over around 1 1/2 minutes but they both lead the way on this track but the violin more so. I really am surprised at the lack of vocals when I felt they contributed so much to "Canis Lupus". "The Ache" is a scorching opener setting the tone and I like that bass at 3 1/2 minutes as it manages to break out of all that's going on. "Two Sisters" has vocals and it's a catchy tune and uptempo. The violin and vocals trade off leading the way.

They slow it down on "Slow Rag" not so surprisingly. Some beautiful moments on this mellow piece and the guitar and violin do take turns leading and we get some nice bass too. We get punchy drums and upfront bass on "Market Overture" as the guitar helps out on this mid paced number. Violin and guitar create a different sounding soundscape over that last minute. The only other track with vocals is "Game Of X" but it's vocal melodies not actual lyrics. Some heaviness on this energetic song too early on and later on as well. Keyboards too. The title track is where Etheridge really shines in my opinion. Keyboards on this one as well.

I like this album a lot but I feel it got spoiled a little bit for me with me starting with "Canis Lupus" instead of the other way around.