MY SOLID GROUND

Tracks from 5 to 11 were made only by Rendel in 2001. They are a bit of a mixed bunch that remind a bit of King Crimson's ProjeKct albums, at the moments jaming good and then going into ambient waters with weird sounds. Lots of electronic experimentation as well, with Rendel using distorted vocals that would make some industrial bands jealous. Robert Fripp's solo albums also might give you a bit of an idea of what this sounds like as would maybe under a bit of stretch late 80's Crimson, in terms of sound that is, I don't think they are as good. Also, don't expect the long "Mystery Metal Thing" to be the new "Dirty Yellow Mist".

Overall, Rendell's solo part of the album isn't my cup of tea and It's not something I will get back to any time soon but the SWF sessions are good though, nothing mind blowing great, but if you liked the first album then you will like these as well as they are more of the same and they won't disappoint. And you will probably want to hear what Rendell can do solo, just out of curiosity.

One of the main problems with this release is that they lean too heavily on their influences, with riffs and grooves that are not just inspired but actually stolen from other bands (easy to spot Deep Purple in 'Dirty Yellow Mist' and Sabbath in 'That's You'). Where the borrowing isn't too obvious the band struggles to come up with good licks of their own. An exception would be 'The Executioner' which has a cool experimental vocal and nice epic mellotrons. The 25 minute long 'Flash' could have saved this album but everything is sloppy about it, the composition is poor, the jamming parts are cliche, the playing is flat and uninspired, the vocals are sub-standard and hardly in tune at times, the melodies are boring, and so on.

At its best moments this album sounds similar to what Eloy would deliver with their albums 'Inside' and 'Floating'. Only, Eloy did it 10 times better then this weak and forgettable heavy rock album. And the best bits are borrowed from other bands. Close to being a 1 star.

"Dirty Yellow Mist" is a dark psychedelic Krautrock monster. It opens ominously before organ comes in with a steady but slow drum beat.Some brief spoken words 2 minutes in. The sound is dreamy. Guitar a minute later as a heavy guitar sound comes and goes. Spacey sounds 6 1/2 minutes in are joined by more spoken words, then a female vocal melody 8 minutes in. The heavy riff stops 9 minutes in as piano and bass take over. It's still spacey. More female vocal melodies. The heavy guitar sounds are back before 11 minutes as haunting female vocal melodies continue. A classic Krautrock trip. "Flash Part IV" has a HAWKWIND flavour to it. The vocal style and guitar riffs bring that band to mind. The guitar is great.

"That's You" is more uptempo as vocals shout out the words. Nice guitar solo early. "The Executioner" features mumbled vocals that are contrasted with the outburts of guitar and organ. The low end guitar after a minute reminds me of Iommi. "Melancholie" is an instrumental that opens with piano and light drums. Strummed guitar joins in as sound builds. I like it. "Handful Of Grass" is led by vocals and guitar throughout. It's ok. "Devonshire Street W 1" is pretty good. I like the vocals better on this one. The tempo changes back and forth. Guitar before 2 minutes is raw. "X" is uptempo to open with a guitar solo before a minute. It calms down and this contrast continues. Nothing special.

If not for the first track this would be a 3 star record for me.There is enough here though to recommend it to both Krautrock and Heavy-Prog fans alike.

Now, the other strong track that highlight's that's only on the CD version of this - a 24 minute hard rock/space rock structure that is just like Yellow Dirt in it's authenticity and wonderful Kraut Rock feel.

If this is the kind of thing you long for, get this CD!!!