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Umphrey's McGee - Anchor Drops CD (album) cover

ANCHOR DROPS

Umphrey's McGee

 

Crossover Prog

4.10 | 90 ratings

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Gatot
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars "Anchor Drops" is my first experience with UMPHREY'S MCGEE; a band that I had never heard before and thanks to the internet revolution we are experiencing now, this band has been reviewed in many sites on the net. They deserve it because they play excellent music with their own identity. I'm truly impressed with the music quality and musicianship of this album; the music is neatly arranged and the musicianship of the musicians involved are really excellent. I thought that it's the name of the musician / artist but in fact Umphrey's McGee is the name of a band from America. What's so unique about Umphrey's McGee's music is that it combines many styles which have been available in the market: jazz, rock, pop, country, funk, R&B, and even power metal - blend them together in a cohesive way as Umphrey's McGee's music. The band admits that their music is heavily influenced by The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and also they share a love for the music of Yes, Gabriel-era Genesis, King Crimson, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis, and Jaco Pastorius. Influence from Frank Zappa and Phish music also obvious here in this album. Enjoying this album at the very first time reminds me to a unique marriage between jazz/rock fusion with funk as well as classic rock style. The vocal quality is very similar to Audioslave lead singer.

The album opener "Plunger" (5:59) blast the music off with a fast tempo rhythm section combining drum, bass, guitar (dominant) and keyboard. The guitar style sometime reminds me to Trey Anastasio (Phish) but in some short segments I find a kind of Yngwie Malmsteen guitar-playing. The rocking vocalist sounds really similar with Audioslave' vocalist combined with Supertramp vocal quality. There are many tempo changes demonstrated here whereby in some changes the band add transition pieces using acoustic guitar fills in relatively fast tempo. "Anchor Drops "(4:48) and "In the Kitchen" (3:58) are very similar in composition. All of them were composed neatly and the songs were energetic in style. Sometime I can sense the kind of jazzy pop music like the music performed by The Leon Haines band in the eighties (remember the band who played "Another Clown" sometime in eighties?) Yes, it was quite popular jazzy-pop-r&b kind of music which was common at that time).

"Bullhead City" (4:32) is truly a country pop music that provides a temporary switch into another style of music. I have to admit that this track reminds me to Kenny Rogers and Doly Parton collaborative work as it features female voice as well. Even though this track does not really favor me but the acoustic guitar work is truly stunning. What's truly a wonderful composition music is track 5: "Miss Tinkle's Overture" (5:37) - an instrumental track that features excellent combination of speedy guitar work, dynamic drumming, keyboard and bass guitar. It's I think one of the best tracks in this album.

For those of you who really want to venture into various kinds of progressive music, this album is one of the best under jazz/rock fusion category. The virtuosity of guitar player Jake Cinninger and wonderful composition are the important attraction points of this album. Those who love The Flower Kings will also love this album even though the music is not exactly the same. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

AS THIS IS THE ONLY ALBUM I HAVE ON UMPHREY'S MCGEE AND THIS IS THE FIRST REVIEW IN THIS SITE, I INVITE YOU TO PUT YOUR VIEWS HERE. OTHER SITES HAVE FEATURED THIS EXCELLENT BAND.

Gatot | 4/5 |

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