GROUP 87

Repeated listens does help with this album but in the end it's still a 3 star album for me. GROUP 87 were a trio who released two studio albums in the eighties this being the self titled debut from 1980. A trio of session musicians including one I know in Mark Isham playing synths, keys and trumpet. Peter Maunu adds guitar, keys and violin while Patrick O'Hearn adds bass and double bass. We get two guests in Peter Wolf on piano and Terry Bozzio on drums. There's a Zappa connection here with Bozzio, O'Hearn and Wolf. Bozzio was asked to join this group but declined although he does play drums throughout as a guest. O'Hearn leaves after this record along with Wolf and Bozzio as guests.

I really believe we have a theme to this album if you look at the album cover and many of the song titles. This is about city living. I spent 9 months almost living in Toronto but came home on weekends but that's my extent of the city life. No thankyou, I like the beach where I live. A great album about city life is MOONGARDEN's "Round Midnight". This isn't as lightweight as it first appears. Some depth at times usually because of Bozzio like on "Sublime Feline" one of the better tracks. By the way the trio shares in the compositions, each writing more than one track. "The Bedouin" is another one where we get heavy but slow beats. Piano and atmosphere too. Some heavier outbursts on the closer but it's hit and miss for me. The synths sound plastic at times. I think that's clapping on "Magnificent Clockwork" a song I'm not big on anyways.

I tried but no reward with this one.