ARSENAL

Arsenal are one of those bands who, when they are on they are brilliant, but when they are not they are forgettable. Unfortunately this album, Pulse 3, falls into the latter file. The best way to describe the music on Pulse 3 is perhaps an attempt to sound "New Wave". With that in mind the album is not horrible, but if you are looking for a good example of what Arsenal are capable of, this is definitely not it. There are some interesting moments on this album that sound like the soundtrack to Risky Business, which of course is by Tangerine Dream, so like I said already, it's not all bad.

In 1985 Arsenal return with their third studio effort, the album ''Second wind''.Compared to the previous line-up Kozlov had retained much of the former musicians and expanded his supporting armour with two new keyboardists, Alexander Beliaev and Andrey Vinogradov, as well as pianist Michail Alperin.Needless to mention that Melodyia was again the distributing label.

Arsenal had become masters on mixing ethereal Fusion instrumentals with a bit more fascinating and challenging offerings and the result is an atmosphere rarely seen, where Lounge Jazz textures with melodic saxes and discreet synthesizers are met with dense and intricate moves on guitar and keyboards, which can only be found in progressive groups.Of course the band still shows a strong sense of melody with Kozlov's emotional sax tunes in the forefront, offering themes inspired both by Jazz and Classical Music, and a nice supporting team of keyboards, electric piano and electric guitars backing him up.But the album will often sink into a more complex mood with CAMEL and FOCUS underlines, the guitars become more pronounced, the keyboard work alternates between light electric piano and sharper synthesizers and then come Kozlov's turn for a more emphatic sax performance.And then there is some touch of humour and joy in the process, like on ''Funky-Charleston'' and the overall vintage style of funky and 30's-flavored tunes and the following ''Provincial tango'' with the Latin-spiced touches and the surprising use of an accordion.I am quite surprised by the instrumental diversity of this classic Russian combo, while Jazz seems to be the main source of inspiration, there is so much going one here to simplify the music as Jazz-Fusion.Symphonic keyboards, ethnic tunes and even beats of Electronic Music pop up here and there.

While not flawless or masterful, ''Second wind'' is definitely a winner among Fusion releases of the mid-80's, keeping the spirit of adventurous music up high.Recommended to all fans of jazzy Prog Rock or instrumental Fusion...3.5 stars.

"A Dangerous Game", the leadoff track from Arsenal's 1979 debut, would not sound out of place as an outtake on an Al Kooper-led Blood Sweat and Tears album. In fact, the Blood Sweat and Tears-Chicago-Chase-James William Guercio effect pervades the album. For fans, that's a great thing. "Suite in F Flat Major" and "An Ivory Tower" are long, extended horn led forays into jazzrock that are truly exciting listens. "An Ivory Tower" is a dynamic highlight. The funky keyboard textures that begin the song give way to moody, desolate sections before exploding at the conclusion.

In all, a worthy addition to the jazzrock-fusion canon - the fact they are Russian is an interesting side note.

Three year forward and Alexey Kozlov with his Arsenal group released a second album on Melodyia, entitled ''Created with their own hands''.According to Kozlov the correct title should be ''Created with our own hands'', but it was misprinted on the front cover.No matter its right name, the album was the first of Arsenal to be released in the States as ''...With our own hands'' on East Wind Records.The same title appears in the 2005 CD reissue by Arsenal School of Managers.From his crew from the debut only guitarist Vitali Rozenberg appears in this second effort, but Kozlov has a great warmed up bench of instrumentalists, incuding two drummers, two bassist and even four keyboardists.

The opening ''Mystery'' kicks off with an elegant acoustic crescendo by Victor Zintchuk, having a slight Spanish feel, before tormenting into a frenetic Space/Fusion style with ecstatic keyboards by V. Gorsky and a generally very furious instrumental approach.The following ''Dedication to Mahavishnu'' has some things in common with the beautiful atmospheres created by the pioneers of Jazz/Fusion, musically though it stands closer to the RETURN TO FOREVER school of Fusion, including spacey background synthesizers, complex/funky bass lines, jazzy electric guitar solos and plenty of electric piano exercises.''Light on the Way'' follows more or less the same vein , just being a little bit more tropical, with breezy synthesizers and acoustic guitars and a good sitar solo in the middle.''Suite in F Minor'' shows the strong connections of Kozlov with Classical Music.The ethereal opening piano prelude and the supporting synths meet Kozlov's melodic sax lines to lead the composition in a fresh and melodic Fusion style with symphonic keyboards next to an improvised sax solo.Soon Arsenal will find again their way into a more synth-drenched Fusion style, typical sound of the age, with long, stretched solos and Kozlov's sax always in evidence.

In a questionable move, the CD reissue contains four already released tracks by Arsenal, all contained in the next few regular releases of the band.However all are very good with nice melodic moves, technical synth textures, FOCUS/CAMEL-like jazzy guitars and even some evident Classical inspirations, closer to the style of their debut, and are definitely recommended.

''Created with their own hands'' is a certain twist by Arsenal towards more Fusion realms.The composing level remains very high, though the lack of an evident progressive direction make this less worthy than their very good debut.Still parts of its instrumental madness, especially the first and last track, are amazing and this is a pretty good reason to purchase the album.Warmly recommended.

The Arsenal Jazz Rock Ensemble was an idea of famous Russian sax player Alexey Kozlov.The band started in 1973 in Moscow and soon became very popular in the jazz community,despite they were permitted to perform legal concerts not before 1976.Their eponymous debut was recorded in 1977 in Riga,but not released before 1979 by Melodyia label.

Arsenal weren't just another Jazz Rock band,they incorporated many progressive elements in their compositions and were certainly a daring act.Four tracks and more than forty minutes of good proggy jazz music guarantee a pleasant listening.The opener ''Опасная игра'' is a weird trippy mix of Jazz,Horn Rock and GONG-like free soloing with also some Classical references and good organ.The tremendous follower ''Дерево'' is halfway a CAMEL/GENTLE GIANT blend of melody with supporting dynamic interplays before the symphonic trombones start to battle with Kozlov's sax solos.''Сюита ля бемоль мажор'' is another good track,piano-driven energetic Jazz before Kozlov's sax introduction leads to the classical-inspired vocal-led rest of the song wityh lots of trombones and a steady rhythm section.''Башня из слоновой кости'' has an intense FOCUS-like atmosphere,a nice mix of Jazz and Classical music surrounded by a massive wind instrument attack and with guitarist Vitali Rozenberg performing in the style of Jan Akermann.

Notice that the production is very good and this makes ''Arsenal'' even more attractive as a listening.This is one of the good examples of ex-Soviet proggy Jazz Rock with evident Classical tendencies and deserves some more fame for sure...3.5 stars.