FUTURAMA

Be Bop Deluxe second album Futurama isn´t really a prog rock album it´s rather a continuation of the guitar based rock music that was introduced on their debut Axe Victim. I liked Axe Victim and especially Bill Nelson´s guitar playing. It´s exactly the same with Futurama. The music isn´t that exciting and the vocals are below average but that guitar playing is worth a lot of attention.

The songs are generally not very proggy being mostly guitar driven rock but there are a few songs where prog tendencies are hinted at. Sound Track and Swan Song are the most prominent examples of that. Both songs employ keyboards to back the songs up and it gives a symphonic effect that are not present on most of the other songs.

The musicians are very good and definitely above average and especially guitarist Bill Nelson is a real talented musician. Just too bad he tries to sing too, because quite frankly it sounds very weak. The guitar playing is world class though. He plays a lot of different styles throughout the album and he has that special touch that makes the really great musicians stand out. His playing sometimes reminds me of a polished Jimmy Hendrix.

The production is very good and of course with a lot of emphazis on the guitar.

This is a good album and especially for guitar freaks there are plenty to listen to. Personally I think the album is missing a real good singer and therefore I´ll rate it 3 stars and not 4 which it could have been had Be Bop Deluxe had a better singer. It´s much better than the debut though, so if your curious about Be Bop Deluxe start with this one.