KINGSTON WALL 2

This I believe is the most appreciated of the three studio albums by this band. "We Cannot Move" opens the album with marching rhythm and Turkish chants, and the composition has good melodies and verses. This tune sums up quite well their musical style in my opinion: Hard rock with Islam sounding melodies. "Istwan" has an euphoric melody, and I believe this track is also presented as an audio stream sample on this site. A good constructed song, like many other of the bands songs, so though this is clearly psychedelic music, improvisation was more present on their concerts than on their studio recordings. This track leads directly to "Could It Be So?", which is a dreamy hazy song, with fine solos and melodic twists (sadly I just don't believe that answer to Petri's question could be "Yes"). Interesting wall of sound makes room for "And It's All Happening", a slow and melancholic instrumental tune, holding a wonderful guitar solo in it. This tune turns nicely as "Love Tonight", first driven by bongos and acoustic guitar, which turn to crunchy fuzz guitar. Again a good, thoughtful composition served rarely from a psychedelic dish. These four songs make a wonderful one piece of music, only it's sad that the entity fades out in a bit imagination less manner. "Two Of a Kind" starts with acoustic guitars, which introduce a peculiar rhythm driving this song, which has also long passages for guitar solos. This also fades behind some programmed loops and Petri's whisperings, not a very pleasant solution. "I Feel Love" is then a quite primitive song, having a straight basic beat. Perhaps this song inspired someone to make an album of dance remixes of the band's music? This track also fades out unprofessionally. "Shine On Me" has a fine guitar intro sounding very much like JIMI HENDRIX, and there's also a tasty sax from a guest musician, who'll contribute also on their following album. The tune is quite simple, and there's lots of solos here. Following "You" is the longest of all tracks reaching ten minutes, and it begins with some Spanish sounding notes from an acoustic guitar and bongos. Soon electric guitar jumps on another key, and the composition progresses to a slow blues after some tasty maneuvers. Some very fine acoustic licks are to be heard here, also the jamming evolves to a very good jazzy chaos. "Palékastro" ends the album with a firm and tight grasp, being a fast instrumental rocker with interesting rhythm arrangements, and a very uniteresting fade out.

I had a change to hear the 1998 re-mastered CD version of this album, and it has a mini bonus CD with three bonus tracks. The first two tracks are from a single "We Cannot Move". "Between The Trees" is a quite basic hard rock track without many psychedelic or progressive elements, still being a catchy tune. "She's So Fine" is a JIMI HENDRIX cover, actually being a Noel Redding composition. Nothing special in my opinion, but a good 60's oriented pop rock song. Over eleven minutes long "Can't Get Thru'" is a live recording done same year as the album was released. The sound quality isn't very good, but the performance is great, being a very fast wah wah driven song with lots of room for jamming. Petri had a nice echo on his vocal when singing this! I believe that the song is actually a medley, later the song has sequences that I'm sure I have heard on other albums of this band. Also sadly another extremely irritating fadeout ends this concert recording. Unless you are a very die hard fan of this band, I wouldn't spend much money on upgrading from an older original CD pressing to this version.

I would also like to mention that bassist JUKKA JYLLI really shines on this record, there are lots of small spaces left for him to fill in the compositions, and he really uses these opportunities in a fine manner. This is a good but not still exceptional album in my opinion. There are still some very great moments in it, so give it a listen if you can.

I love this band!This one isn't as spacey and psychedelic as the next one "Tri-logy" ,as that one had synths on it and this one doesn't.But man,talk about guitar driven rock with a psychedelic edge!The production is great too,as you can hear the fantastic bass playing clearly throughout this record.As a matter of fact this three piece band are just amazing players period. "We cannot move" is a melodic song with some wonderful guitar melodies throughout."Istwan" is an instrumental that reminds me of LED ZEPPELIN at times,and features some guest violin playing and some tasteful guitar melodies.This blends into the next song "Could It Be So?",again the guitar playing of Petri is the best part of the song.This has a real a pychedelic feel to it. "And It's All Happening" is an instrumental and one of my favourite songs on the album.Everything is slowed right down and is atmospheric.The guitar playing is so beautiful,he had such a gift.The melody picks up before 3 minutes."Love Tonight" opens with percussion and vocals and we get a full sound 2 minutes in.The sound is heavy and we are treated to some great solos after 4 minutes, and the rest of the song is simply awesome!"Two Of A Kind" is another killer track.It gets better as it goes,with some blistering guitar half way through."I Feel Love" features bass and drums that create an uptempo rhythm as vocals soar overtop.This is like a dance song played by a hard rock band!A real hypnotic beat to this one."Shine On Me" has a bluesy feel to it at times although the bass playing reminded me of RUSH.There is some atmospheric guitar and some nice sax melodies in this slow but powerful tune.The guitar is too beautiful for words!"You" is the longest track,and another favourite.Tempo shifts,vocal melodies and some amazing bass playing in this one.The melody around 6 minutes in rocks and is the best part of the album for me."Palekastro" is an instrumental that hits you in the face right away with a heavy blow.The guitar playing is mind boggling man, and the drumming is world class! Well i may have felt that "Tri-logy" was not quite a masterpiece,but this one definetly is a masterpiece of progressive music!

Hey Phish and Moe fans! Now THIS is my idea of a jam band!

Another tip of the cap to Sinkadotentree for leading this horse to water (And I drank this time!) The legend that is guitarist Petri Walli doesn't take much effort to appreciate.

Sometimes it's just hard to find the adjectives to do something justice. Kingston is pure fiery rock and roll joy, a burning power trio that is a little bit Dungen, a little Dazed and Confused, a little Hendrix, a little jam band, a little Frusciante, a little pysch flavored magic mushroom music. Or maybe just real rock and roll played with spiritual intensity.

There's no point in a track by track. With the exception of 1 or 2 fairly conventional rock songs (which are still good) every other song is pure jam-rock nirvana. Blissful, soaring, epic lead guitar playing by a true master of the instrument, solid bass that you can actually hear, and monster drum playing. Lather-rinse-repeat. Occasionally some nice acoustic, violin, or sax add icing to the cake. Exceptionally intuitive playing will leave you breathless. Especially "Shine On Me" and "You" which actually make me feel young again if you catch my drift. How many songs do that to you? "Shine On Me" literally makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up, especially when Walli sings "see my future see a dead man." Terribly haunting stuff that stands up with the great epic rock songs. The drumming on here is also unbelievably good, Sami just rolls and pummels with killer instincts.

Petri's singing voice is somewhat limited but this album isn't about the vocals. I'll make this as simple as possible. If you are a fan of Zeppelin, Hendrix, Dungen, Cream, Rush, or any combination thereof, you need to hear Kingston Wall 2. You need to hear it soon. Sadly, Petri took his own life at a young age denying the world of a truly special, gifted songwriter and guitarist. A damn shame. But this is not mopey, depressing music. This music is alive with passion!

A solid 4 stars for me although I completely understand those who gave it 5. I was very close. Essential for guitar rock fans and a clear candidate for one of the top albums of the 90s.