UNSETTLED

Dean Watsons 2010 release, Unsettled, is a great instrumental prog album. It sits a lot closer to the rock side of the jazz/rock spectrum, but the jazz influence is undeniably there. So are some very heavy guitars, making surprise appearances from time to time (when they emerge near the beginning of the The Encounter, it's surprising enough to me that I almost imagine Dean, in the studio, being just as surprised the first time he heard the track with them in). From the moment the album starts until the last note, it is an enjoyable ride, especially for a solo debut.

The music moves adeptly between varying themes, often in a single track, often ranging from emotional or moody sections to the harder rocking sections. The track DIP is an excellent example of this, with a jazzy/rock section followed by some mood-setting piano music, followed once more with a different rocking section.

As far as the mood setting aspect of the album goes, I feel the track "Out of the Mist" is one of the better ones, with the slow acoustic build up, although I am sure this is somewhat effected by my appreciation for the acoustic guitar.

One aspect of the music that truly must be noted is that this entire album is played by Dean all by himself - a fact that I find somewhat difficult to believe. It sounds like a band recording, with the instruments all interacting with each other very responsively. Dean demonstrates that he truly is a master of a number of instruments and styles on this album.

Unfortunately, there is one weak point, and that is that some of the tracks don't end in a way that feels cohesive to me. "Out of the Mist", despite being one of my favorite tracks on the album, suffers from this - at the end, after the song has built into a great climax, it simply fades out. A more cohesive ending would have really clinched the track. In the context of all of the great music that is contained on this album, this is just a minor complaint.