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Nucleus - Elastic Rock CD (album) cover

ELASTIC ROCK

Nucleus

 

Jazz Rock/Fusion

3.97 | 171 ratings

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Sinusoid
Prog Reviewer
3 stars More elastic than rock.

I like jazz and I like Nucleus, but ELASTIC ROCK doesn't do it for me. It basically comes down to me being more of a rock person than a jazz one, and Side A is where the album really gets lost on me. Most are pristine jazz tracks, but between ''1916'' and ''Crude Blues'' there's this empty hole of smoothness that isn't bad but dulls the album too much. It's solid instrumentally, particularly the guitar department, but it won't make an impact if my heart can't get behind the music.

That is until ''Crude Blues''; it kicks off a string of tracks that either have memorable themes or veer in the rock direction. Of major note for prog fans are the longer tracks, ''Torrid Zone'' and ''Earth Mother''; essentially, they have the same foundation but separated by ''Stonescape'', both sounding like IN A SILENT WAY was playing (not enough to be a ripoff). You've probably figured this out already, but I enjoy the second half moreso than the first. ''Battle of Boogaloo'' is a big reason for this, the most perfectly executed track on the album. The rather fragmented guitar riff with the serene horns over the top is spellbinding.

ELASTIC ROCK is one of those records that's great to have if you're a jazz fan; if you want more rock or fusion in your jazz, head for Nucleus's second album first.

Sinusoid | 3/5 |

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