JEFF

I'm not convinced the music of Jeff Beck has a place on a web site devoted to Progressive Rock, but then again this is a musician who has never been content to rest on his laurels. And isn't that a part of what Prog is supposed to be about?

Judging by his scores here at Prog Archives, Beck has certainly been pushing the envelope with his latest change of pace. Classic Rock purists (and doctrinaire Progheads) might cringe, but this current musical detour could be his most rewarding yet, embracing (with a vengeance) all the energy of the emerging 21st century in a sequel of sorts to his electronica-laced 2001 mini album "You Had It Coming".

He can still play the role of the blue-collar grease monkey, explicitly in the song of the same name, and as a tongue-in-cheek lampoon in "Hot Rod Honeymoon" . And that lyrical guitar style is more fluent than ever, soloing gracefully over "JB's Blues", and (with spiky percussive accents) in the hip-hop pastiche "Pay Me No Mind".

But elsewhere the album shows his affection for the same post-modern cyberpunk pulses championed by (among other trendsetters) KING CRIMSON's virtual drummer Pat Mastelotto. You can hear it in the staccato cut-and-paste rhythms of "Line Dancing With Monkeys", and also in the lush orchestral veneer of the climactic "Bulgaria"/"Why Lord Oh Why" medley closing the album.

Rated strictly as Progressive Rock I can understand how the album might ruffle the feathers of diehard Prog aficionados, perhaps deserving no more than two stars (for fans only). But on the merits of the music itself, and ignoring the sometimes wacky sub-genres of the Prog Rock hierarchy (Eclectic Prog, Crossover Prog, Heavy Prog, you name it) this is simply another sharp effort from a guitarist always somewhere close to the cutting edge.