ELECTRIC SAVAGE

Intrigued by my exposure to and listening/review process of the band's debut album, Strange New Flesh, I had to jump straight into this album--especially when I saw that this album was dedicated to instrumental music. (As talented as Mike Starrs is/was, I felt with each song that he contributed to that as soon as his voice entered the song it became something totally different than what it was before or without him.)

This album was recorded over six days during a Christmas 1976 holiday break between touring dates.

1. "Put It This Way" (4:54) new conclusions: guitarist Gary Moore is definitely a rock guitarist; keyboard player Don Airey is definitely a prog wannabe, and; drummer Jon Hiseman is definitely one of the finest Jazz-Rock Fusion drummers/artists of his day. This song, however, feels just like one of Jan Hammer's pointless going-nowhere-fast songs: impressive musicianship but accomplishing little to no imprinting into my brain's pleasure centers or memory banks. (8.75/10)

2. "All Skin and Bone" (3:49) very catchy and groovin' with lots of cool drum and synthesizer inputs with Gary Moore's "distant" guitar note inputs. A very cool, earworm of a song--one that I will love to come back to again and again over the course of the rest of my lifetime despite the fact that it sounds more like an exercize or practice étude. (10/10)

3. "Rivers" (5:48) a little bluesy Procol Harum-like soft rock ballad (performed before a small live audience). Awesome Eef Albers/Robert Fripp-like guitar solos in third and fourth minutes (two different tracks). If the song were rated on its guitar work alone it would earn higher marks but Gary's vocal performance (and sound engineering of such) comes up a little short. (8.875/10)

4. "The Scorch" (6:02) opens like something from a Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider (Kraftwerk) album that turns into something more akin to Patrick Moraz's Story of I, Larry Fast's SYNERGY, or even some of STYX's or Keith Emerson's work about this time. Gary Moore's counterpoint guitar play is much like the twin guitar work Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson were doing in Thin Lizzy. This is one of the few songs that I've heard in which drummer Jon Hiseman feels out of his element. Gary's switch to Jan Akkerman-sounding electric guitar for the final minute is cool. Again, I get the feeling that this song is more of a polished jam, not really a fully-developed song composition. (8.875/10)

5. "Lament" (4:38) a song that feels like a slowed down Christmas version of a classic four-chord 1960s bubblegum pop hit like The Kinks "You Really Got Me." Cringeworthy jam and filler. (8.375/10)

6. "Desperado" (5:58) a more exciting, professional construct that still presents itself as something that was rushed along and, therefore, never fully developed or polished despite its sophisticated riffs and elements: another hodge- podge of ideas all smooshed together but never really smoothed over (especially in the transitions but also in the nuances within). (8.6667/10)

7. "Am I" (4:15) built around a very simple spacious melody, the soft jazzy bass and drum play give this a kind of Narada Michael Walden level of sincerity and interest, the gentle Smooth Jazz foundation offers Gary Moore some choice opportunities to display his propitious talent and skill. Not bad for a Smooth Jazz tune: definitely putting it's four minutes to good use. (8.875/10)

8. "Intergalactic Strut" (6:00) another song that feels thrown together but not polished. The musicianship is impressive (despite a rather sub-par performance from drummer Jon Hiseman) but the end result just feels like pressed high- speed Third Wave Jazz-Rock Fusion. There's a CAMEL-esque section in the middle of the song before the band returns to the high speed RTF/Mahavishnu motif it started with. Not a bad song. If only the band and its engineers and production team had had the time to put more into the end product (other than the excellent album art work). (8.875/10)

Total Time 41:24

I have to say that the second half of this album's material feels quite pressed and unpolished--especially in the performances and contributions coming from the rhythm section. I'd never before heard "poor" drumming performances from Jon Hiseman until hearing this album and bassist Jon Mole is certainly not up to the level of predecessor Neil Murray or the other musicians on the album. Also, keyboard player Don Airey playing feels just a little more forced and rote than his creative layering of the previous album. Though this album presents a much more cohesive Jazz-Rock Fusion front--especially as opposed to the previous album's multiple personality exhibit.

B+/4.5 stars; a more-focused album than their previous release--this time sounding like a more cohesive Jazz-Rock Fusion exhibition--whose overall song quality falls short due to a lack of effort applied to the finishing aspects of each song.

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