WORLD DIARY

I only own Tony Levin's first two solo albums (his second made me fear laying out money for any of his others), and this one, by far, is the better of the two. The songwriting is very good, but don't expect any blazing bass solos, just tasteful, and sometimes complex, bottom notes.

The guy had played with Yes (as ABWH), Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Peter Gabriel and more. But he chose to play a combination of lightish fusion (don't confuse it with the easy listening of his second album) and world music. And mostly it works.

Standout tracks are Etude In The Key Of Guildford, a song made even better on the Bruford Levin Upper Extremities CD, and Espresso and the Bed of Nails, a song that builds to a frantic pace by the end.

The album does loes some steam by the last two tracks, but that shouldn't make you pass it by.