JUMBO

Retaining the comedic elements of the previous album but presenting them somewhat more appetisingly, Jumbo wraps them in a musical direction that moves away from Grobschnitt's more original space rock style towards a heavily Yes-influenced sound - the bass sound in particular regularly comes to resemble Chris Squire's, as on The Excursion of Father Smith. Other classic prog acts also rear their heads - The Clown sounds a lot like Foxtrot-era Genesis, for example - and it's all competently done, but fans of the band may find that they miss the classic Grobschnitt sound (as expressed on the likes of Solar Music). Plus the vocals are still really jarring.