HERE BE MONSTERS

1. "Sleepwalking" (0:57) little piano étude.

2. "Lacuna/Sunrise" (9:46) gentle, gorgeous HAROLD BUDD-like guitar chords coming from two guitars. Bass and drums join in, maintaining the cool, calm demeanor opened with--even when expanded with more guitars (electric, distorted and soloing) and broader spectrum drum play. In the second go round Bent and Hans join in with some nice, gentle vocals. Nicely melodic in a NEIL YOUNG kind of way. The chorus section sounds and feels more like something from THE EAGLES, but the return to the wonderful main motif is immensely comforting. At 5:25 there is a slight scale back into a kind of perpetual STEELY DAN bridge within which a very STEPHEN STILLS-like guitar volunteers quite a wonderful, melodic and sensitive solo--which, in the eighth minute, turns more aggessive--more HENDRIX/ROBBY KRIEGER-like. In the ninth minute we return to the vocal chorus motif for an extended EAGLES-like finish. A mostly beautiful, brilliant song from three of 21st Century rock's premier songsters. Probably my favorite song on the album. (18.75/20)

3. "Running With Scissors" (5:39) strummed 12-string guitars with electric guitar sneakily worked into the mix. Cymbal play slowly turns into full drumming in the second minute. The unusually long instrumental song has a distinctive JESSE COLIN YOUNG/YOUNGBLOODS feel to its sound palette. (8.66667/10)

4. "I. M. S." (7:05) opens with what feels like more piano étude, but then CSN&Y electric guitars, bass and drums begin to join in at the one-minute mark. Very, very CSN&Y-like with some definitely Neil Young-bordering-on-Stephen Stills electric guitar soloing. At 2:20 group harmony/choral vocals enter as the song flies along, soloing guitar cutting back in while the singers are still singing. He's on fire--and his guitar is not very treated: mostly just electrified guitar. The vocals sound very much as if they could have come off of the Death Defying Unicorn album. Around 4:35 the rock portion of the weave cuts out leaving the foundational piano chord progression to entertain us--until the electric guitar joins in for a bit. At 5:52 the full band kicks right back in, jamming with full spectrum sound as if nothing had interrupted their groove. Pretty cool--until the chaotic quick finish. (13.25/15)

5. "Spin, Spin, Spin" (4:07) electric guitar, strummed acoustic guitar, and harmony vocals again remind the listener of the great folk-infused psychedelic blues-rock of the late 1960s--and not just CSN&Y or THE BYRDS but many other lesser known and obscure bands. I love the eclectic feel of this. So many bands come to mind! And what a great, rock solid rhythm track from the bass, drums, keys, and rhythm guitars: everyone is in perfect synchronization! Another favorite. (9.333333/10)

6. "Sleepwalking" (0:56) more piano étude.

7. "Big Black Dog" (17:42) Quite contemplative, dreamy opening four minutes is followed by a quite typical MOTORPSYCHO up-ramp. Then the vocals re-enter in the band's group "screamed" chorus/harmony style. The chord progression here is so much like THE CARS "Moving in Stereo" (which I'm sure is no intention of Bent & company). Two heavily-treated squrealing electric guitars duel until 11:30 when things drop down to an ominous calm within the storm. This motif then slowly builds with percussion and squrealing synth-guitar returning to lead the way to a rather unsatisfactory crescendo around 11:40 followed by an immediate return to the "Moving in Stereo" motif for some Mellotron display. Things stop at 15:45 for a return to the opening gentle guitar weave motif and some beautiful, gentle, harmonized vocals. (31/35)

Total Time: 46:12

B+/4.5 stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially if you love jamming to those long, soothing psychedelic grooves.

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