SITUATION DANGEROUS

Driven by the enthusiasm for a great first recording, Bozzio, Levin and Stevens rejoined forces for a second venture, an occasion that allowed them to dispose with more time for rehearsing, writing and arranging what would be the new material. Sure, as a result, there is a slight loss of freshness, but the band manages to maintain their sense of spontaneous creativity along with the acquisition of a more solid approach to the composing process. The major sense of order and accomplishment in the articulation of melodies, riffs and mood shifts does not make this trio less powerful or less incendiary; creativity is still the same qualitatively and increased quantitatively. The inflammatory opener 'Dangerous' provides a very Zeppelin-esque motif, with a pertinent Crimsonian twist in the interlude and the ending up to the fade-out. What a tremendously neurotic entry, indeed! 'Endless' goes to far more ethereal places: the way in which the electric cello and the lead guitar are intertwined during the first minutes is quite evoking - later on, the jazz-rock thing turns to a more intense level, with an excellent Bozzio displaying his exquisite skill in order to sustain the overall sound, not overplaying nor falling into the repetitive vibe. This is arguably one of the most notable BLS compositions ever. 'Crash', as the title may suggest, is very visceral, a fiery storm full of metal- oriented thunder and lightning. 'Spiral' brings that Flamenco stuff that Stevens loves so much: a very relaxing piece, in which the dreamy airs of introspection are properly matched by the serene beauty of the main motif. 'Melt' is also quite relaxing, but this time in a jazz-fusion timber; as it happens in the softer parts of 'Endless', the cadence is the thing: BLS master the art of subtlety as proficiently as the art of showing off in the more aggressive pieces of their repertoire. The mood gets slower bur denser for the first part of 'Tragic'; then, a second section pushes the track to a more intense level, with Arabic motifs solidly sustained by the rhythm section in a neckbreaking amalgam, until the initial slow part is reprised for the closure. This tracks comprises some of the best Stevens' guitar solos I've ever known so far. 'Tziganne' spices things up, bringing a sense of easy-going joy: built on a Flamenco rumba, and very much inspired by worldwide-acknowledge Flamenco-fusion pioneer Paco de Lucía, 'Tziganne' includes a robust dialogue between Stevens and guest Marcus Nanol, as well as an amazing timbale solo by Bozzio. A fiesta always comes in pretty handy after a time of overwhelming intensity. Finally, 'Lost' brings fusion stuff marinated with funky condiments - something similar to the ethnic stuff of Gordian Knot or in Levin's own solo albums. Depending of the first thing that comes to my mind, I answer "Black Light Syndrome" or "Situation Dangerous" to the question "What's your favourite BLS album?", but I normally tend to prefer the latter, since it captures much of the debut's fire and adds a bigger deal of musical intelligence. 4.5 stars!

Disappointing effort from these three, mostly an assortment of gonzo metal with commercial leanings and all the charm of a drunk college freshman. A few good things in the synth-assisted 'Dangerous', the semi-prog 'Melt', and 'Lost' with clean electronix and Eastern scales. Repetitive, familiar, and not really worth the small amount of salvageable moments.

The situation is.hmm.is very dangerous

The album kicks off with these few words and continues with an adventurous driving guitar riff that throws you abruptly into what is going to follow. The second attempt by the trio Bozzio_Levin_Stevens seems to be a more 'mature' one. What I mean by this is that the pieces of music actually sound more solid, with 'proper' structure, and not just a result of jamming. This latter normally happens when skilled musicians like these combine and reveal all their inner desires through projects that usually end up in 'pointless' show offs. However, this, ladies and gentlemen, is not the case in this particular album.

Eight beautiful pieces of music, well thought, well processed and well presented. The album is balancing between jazz rock/fusion, some flamenco, and heavier hard-rocking (even metal) guitar tunes. I was particularly impressed by the ideas of Steve Stevens, while guitars represent the majority in the sound of the album. The opening riff is a great example of the level of musicianship throughout the record. Energetic hard-rocking riffs build upon the ultimate fusion rhythm section of Bozzio and Levin, and the first three tracks follow this motif with great success, with Endless being the longest one and more experimental.

Flamenco has always been Stevens' favourite and he makes sure that the listeners will enjoy it in its entirety through Spiral and Tziganne. These two are, not coincidently, the highlights of the album. Personally, it has been quite a time since I was introduced to such enchanting pieces of acoustic/classical guitars, and from my limited knowledge, the sound is highly influenced by John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola. The rest three tracks are based in a more melodic fusion rock background with some exciting and unexpected breaks by Bozzio, while Levin, with his 'filling' chords, provides a safe keystone for the other two to improvise and show their talent.

This is one of the few really great instrumental albums that I am familiar with. Tiny flaws on this one.almost a masterpiece and, without doubt, recommended to fans of fusion, prog-rock and metal.

If I had to summarize Situation Dangerous with one word then it would be enjoyable!

Granted that I never heard Black Light Syndrome and, at the time, knew very little about Steve Stevens and Terry Bozzio I let the music speak for it self. You know what? Situation Dangerous definitely didn't disappoint in that department! The energy rush that I've got while listening to the intro track Dangerous for the first time just can't be described in words. Still to this day I consider this track to be a true masterpiece of progressive rock music. There is just so much great material jammed into that one composition. Starting with the energetic intro which transforms into delicate interplay between the participants and finishing it all off with one great outro. I would roughly describe the composition as a weird mix between Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song and King Crimson's Red.

The rest of the album contains a great deal of amazing jamming and soloing but the compositions aren't always as memorable as the mesmerizing album opener. Most of the time I don't mind that and just zoom in my attention on the great interaction between the artists involved here. I find that Tony Levin and Terry Bozzio are the ones who keep this album interesting for me from start to finish because the guitar jamming does get a bit tiresome halfway through.

Tziganne is a Spanish influenced tune that I, in most cases, could have done without but the members, once again, manage to outshine the source material with their intricate and skillful playing. This almost makes me believe that they could turn any type of music into a spectacular extravaganza!

Overall it's a great instrumental jam-album to chill out to especially if you are fond of the members of this supergroup power trio. So what if the compositions aren't that memorable, just enjoy the layers upon layers of this skillful performance.

***** star songs: Dangerous (6:38)

**** star songs: Endless (10:09) Crash (5:08) Spiral (4:36) Melt (3:37) Tragic (6:58) Tziganne (4:26) Lost (6:24)

This second album from star power trio is a mixed bag. Opener "Dangerous" is such a weak below any critics heavy rock composition, that if you will survive it till the end, all rest album will be a real pleasure for you.

Possibly there is no reason to discuss, is it fusion or not. At least it is instrumental rock with jazz fusion, heavy rock and some progressive sound elements for sure. And the problem is not heaviness itself, but that heaviness is almost main ingredient. Plenty of metallic guitar ( ok, there are some slow guitar pieces and even flamenco as well), energetic drumming in hard rock tradition, some stereotype heavy rock sounds. All these components destroy some positive elements, presented on this recordings.

Interesting, that during listening it looks every next moment or next song will be something not such straightforward heavy rock, but it never happens. The main alternative to that bombing on your head is numerous pop-rock instrumental pieces. It's pity, that last important musicians in all sound is Tony Levin, generally just supporting guitar/drums attacks or mellow , but very stereotype slower pieces with rhythmic vibration.

Happily musicians all are competent, so common sound as minimum is professional. I can hardly imagine jazz fusion lover enjoying with this album, but instrumental heavy pop-rock lovers for sure will find many pleasant moments there.

Around 2,5.

I was a fan of Steve Stevens' guitar work back in the eighties and I think it was around 2005 when I saw him listed in this band with Levin and Bozzio and i'm thinking "Is that the same guy ?". Yes it is and he's even more talented than I thought he was. What a trio though. These guys can rip it up with power or play these beautiful intricate melodies and everything in between. This album is their second release.

"Dangerous" has this heavy duty intro that is quite powerful. It settles after 2 minutes with what sounds like guitar synth. Kicks back in befiore 3 1/2 minutes before settling one more time to end it. "Endless" is laid back to start. Sounds like bowed bass to follow then the guitar takes over. Bass starts to lead as intricate guitar and drums also join in. It picks up before 7 minutes and some nice heavy guitar follows. "Crash" is a dynamite track as Levin and Bozzio provide the thunder and Stevens the lightning. Okay that was lame.

"Spiral" features acoutic guitar,bass and drums. Gorgeous stuff. Some Chapman Stick here too. "Melt" is a relaxing song with some underlying power. "Tragic" is such a great sounding track. Very powerful and so uplifting at the same time. It kicks in after 2 minutes as Bozzio puts on a show. The bass and drums lead after 4 minutes then the guitar joins in. It settles back after 6 minutes. "Tziganne" features some additional Flamenco guitar from guest Marcus Nand. This song is a tribute to Spanish fly. Okay I made that up but it is Spanish. "Lost" gets fuller a minute in then more powerful 3 1/2 minutes in. Ripping guitar follows. Incredible tune.

A solid 4 stars. I really enjoy this album.

Second album of this trio formed by well known musicins worldwide in mid '90s, Bozzio known from Zappa and Uk fame, Levin from King Crimosn, Peter Gabriel, etc and Stevens being meber of Billy Idol band in early '80's they got together to form simply Bozzio Levin Stevens. Situation dangerous released in 2000 is the type of album for me to be descripe as love it or hate it, I'm more inclined to love it but not very much but I sure don't hate it, after all is not so dangerous as many pretend to be. I had the album since it was released, listened couple of times and puted back on the shelf. It was not groundbreaking for me then, is not now, something is missing in the overall sound. Some great pieces like opening track , Dangerous, ecellent drumming and in Crash with top notch guitar, but the rest fail to impress me big time. Is not enough to handle the instruments very well, must be some solid song writting, something that is not so spectacular here, to me is to much mellow parts Endless and Spiral are totaly pointless pieces to my ears, where the viruosity take over the songwritting. The ending track Lost is another worthy one. Overall even the musicianship is great the arrangements lacks in something catchy , something to make me listning this album again. 3 stars is best I can give.