THE GREAT LEAP

A varied and not entirely cohesive album, "The Great Leap" seems like a necessary step along the road to graduation to full-fledged progressive artist for Phideaux, and a farewell to his less evolved past.

On first listen I felt it was altogether too loud at any volume, but this seems to have had more to do with the relative ruckus raised here when compared to "Doomsday Afternoon", not to mention that the opener "Wake Up" is decibel rich glam meets new wave rocker, betraying the man's heritage but with some style and aplomb. By contrast, "Rainboy" sports heavy rhythm guitars and leads with little distinction. The plod rock of Pink Floyd is too close at hand too often, like on "Abducted", which later picks up the pace but still without interest. "I was Thinking" opts more for the spacier aspects and mantra like chorus which make it far more intriguing. But "Tannis Root" sounds absurdly like Thompson Twins. Too many tracks plumb the depths of banality.

One of the higher energy numbers that works well is "One Star". And Phideaux sounds best when playing up the Al Stewart meets Donovan's universal soldier, as in "You and Me against a World of Pain" with its orchestral touches that sound like a dress rehearsal for "Doomsday Afternoon", and especially the lush magnificent closer aptly titled "Last".

No great leap, this Phideaux effort is more like a small step that barely hints at what was to come, and is only half interesting in its own right. 2.5 stars rounded down.