WHAT WE MUST

I saw that this one doesn't have any 5 star review yet, so I decided to do something about it. This is such a glorious splendid album that has been special to me from day one (it was pretty new when I bought it about 20 years ago), and is still among my favourites. It can be thought of as a mix of post rock and the Frank Zappa albums I like most, Hot Rats and Grand Wazoo. It's almost fully instrumental and features a really big sound with brass, woodwind, loud drums and percussion, but never dominating the guitars and keyboards too much. Marimba and Glockenspiel play a good role, too. There are sensitive moments, too, you get stronger contrasts than on your average post rock album, but it is all very organic. It may not have the quirky spontaneity of Zappa's legendary band, but arrangements and melodies are absolutely gorgeous. This album is very much its own beast with a focus on melodies that is rarely found in post rock and (somewhat) jazzy instrumental music, and I just love the musicality with which they develop their material. This may be my favourite way to use a brass section, very subtle in many places but full power when it matters. They also manage to deliver great crescendos in much shorter time periods than most post rock bands. My impression is that every second of this is well thought through and balanced. I still love to marvel at how they develop these pieces 20 years later (I totally disagree with the one who wrote it sounds dated). Perfect powerful mood music. I saw them live touring this, and it was spectacular. Their later albums are good, but for me this is Jaga Jazzist's masterpiece.

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to Lewian
• Report this review (#3196882)
• Buy JAGA JAZZIST music online with PA partners
• Show all JAGA JAZZIST MP3/Stream
• Go to JAGA JAZZIST page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to What We Must page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for JAGA JAZZIST related discussions