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THANKS FOR FLYING WITH US

Mats-Morgan (Band)

Jazz Rock/Fusion


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Mats-Morgan (Band) Thanks For Flying With Us album cover
3.88 | 22 ratings | 2 reviews | 14% 5 stars

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Studio Album, released in 2005

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Sinus (4:56)
2. Thanks For Flying With Us (3:34)
3. Adat Dropouts I Love You (3:00)
4. Not Us (2:34)
5. JF's Tati-Car (4:09)
6. La Baratte (5:51)
7. Softma (3:32)
8. Wounded Bird (4:35)
9. Proppeller Hast (3:53)
10. Allan In The Rain (4:03)
11. Wenjie (3:12)
12. Please Remain Seated (3:20)
13. Coco (3:14)
14. Live Neef (7:52)
15. Alive In Enskede (8:02)
16. Ivan (7:28)

Total Time: 74:17

Line-up / Musicians

- Mats Öberg / keyboards, harmonica, vocals
- Morgan Ågren / drums, keyboards, programming
- Jimmy Ågren / guitar, bass
- Robert Elovsson / keyboards, clarinet, voice
- Tommy Tordsson / bass

Releases information

First Mats Morgan album (now calling themselves more fully The Mats Morgan Band) to be released outside Sweden on an international label, Cuneiform Record (Cat No. RUNE 215)

Thanks to dick heath for the addition
and to ProgLucky for the last updates
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MATS-MORGAN (BAND) Thanks For Flying With Us ratings distribution


3.88
(22 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(14%)
14%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(55%)
55%
Good, but non-essential (18%)
18%
Collectors/fans only (14%)
14%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

MATS-MORGAN (BAND) Thanks For Flying With Us reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Dick Heath
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Jazz-Rock Specialist
4 stars In a year that virtually every one of Cuneiform Records releases was a gem - demonstrating the label's commitment to releasing the most interesting and often the most challenging of modern music - Thanks For Flying With Us became my album release of 2005. Cuneiform's press release suggested this album is for fans of Frank Zappa (absolutely) and Canterbury sound (I'm less certain here). This album is my first exposure to Mats Morgan, and very soon they had superceded my previous favorite pair of keyboard and drum players also from Sweden, the Johansson brothers

My first impression was that the Mats Morgan Band was a very tight band of excellent musicians, and in particular the leaders, the excellent keyboard player Mats Oberg (btw the CD insert shows Mats sitting in thepilot's seat of an aeroplane.....with his white stick next to him*: yes, they like their dark humour), and Morgan Agren a fantastic drummer (check out his DVD), and not forgetting a very tight guitarist in Morgan's brother Jimmy. Musically the record is in the territory of Zappa, (Mats & Morgan's hero) andI am thinking this a 21st century take on 'Jazz From Hell', with a greater sense offun and lightness. Such an impression continues with the second the fifth replay and recently the 25th replay. Jazz, rock, fusion, even a little electronica - in other words, typical Cuneiform music: music most difficult to categorise. And I have mention these guys have a habit of cut'n'pasting short voice tracks some way into tunes, brief stories to surprise you in an otherwise instrumental. The one that makes me laugh out loud, is Not Us (track 4): a commercial pilot is talking to his passengers as they fly over the Grand Canyon ......... I won't spoilt it, buy the CD since the punchline is a delight.

A lovely album, bubbling and overflowing like a bottle of champagne. An album too, for those who dislike the obvious.

And now I've discovered some of their earlier albums, (with the exception of the Live album, jazz fusion mixed with RIO) this is perhaps their most mature and consistent record. However, one minor omission, Mats' sometime Stevie Wonder-like vocals are missing.

*Which reminds me of a rumour circulating that when the movie Aeroplane 2 was being planned, that Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder had been approach to play the pilots.......

Review by Rune2000
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Thanks For Flying With Us is so far the latest studio album from the creative duo known simply as Mats/Morgan. Since most of their albums are difficult to come by I prefer to stack myself up with cash every time I attend one of their live performances just in case there will be a merch stand. This album was one of those pleasant acquisitions and once again the band delivered an uncompromising set of tracks.

The music here is slightly more serious in its tone compared to what I've heard on their previous records which probably has to do with the fact that it's basically an all instrumental with the exception for the occasional vocal choirs and background narration on Not Us. It's also a much more Jazz Rock/Fusion-oriented release although there are quite a few exceptions to that as well. The last part of the album consists of some improv-sounding live material which should probably be considered a bonus since the concluding studio track Please Remain Seated ends with a 30 seconds silent pause.

I consider Thanks For Flying With Us inferior to the fun and quirky Trends And Other Diseases but I guess that most fans would acknowledge this direction as a sign of maturity. I also have some issues with the live tracks at the end of the album since their improvisational nature doesn't fit the overall sound of this record. At the same time it can be considered understandable since this was the first Mats/Morgan album released on a wider scale by an international label so they probably wanted to let the new fans see the different aspects of the band's repertoire. This is especially clear since the live material features a live version of Coco which is a well recognized Mats Öberg composition from the album The Music Or The Money

I'd say that Thanks For Flying With Us is an overall success in terms of creativity and delivery since the issues I mentioned can be considered trivial and unimportant in comparison to all the positive things about Mats/Morgan's uncompromising music. The loose concept of a simulated airplane flight gives the album just the right tone and flavor to blend the tracks together into a comprehensive collage of work.

Another great release by this aspiring band that I definitely can recommend to people on the lookout for new exciting music!

***** star songs: Sinus (4:56) La Baratte (5:50) Softma (3:31) Proppeller Hast (3:52)

**** star songs: Thanks For Flying With Us (3:34) Not Us (2:33) JF's Tati-Car (4:09) Wounded Bird (4:35) Allan In The Rain (4:03) Wenjie (3:11) Please Remain Seated (3:45) Coco (3:13) Live Neef (7:52) Ivan (7:28)

*** star songs: Adat Dropouts I Love You (3:00) Alive In Enskede (8:02)

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