MATTHEW

In 1999 Cyclops released the first official album of Jump, entitled ''The freedom train'', containing two previously unreleased tracks.By the fall of the 90's the band had to fave the departure of original bassist Hugh Gascoyne.He was replaced by newcomer Andy Faulkner.2001 and Jump welcome the millenium with their sixth studio album ''Matthew'', always having the support of the Cyclops label.

While Jump will once more not abandon the simplistic side of songwriting, there seem to be a slightly more mature composing level in this album, which does not sound pale at all, on the contrary ''Matthew'' is a quite energetic and dynamic release.The band draws influences from the music of MARILLION (Clutching-era) and especially JADIS, having a stronly guitar-driven approach, while the keyboards are more in the forefront, though maintaining a supporting role.Still the cliche riffs and solos and the straight rockin' influences hardly make Jump's sound really attractive, moreover groundbreaking.The tracks are short with little diversity and plenty of similarities, the arrangements contain a few to zero adventurous moments and the proggy content is actually very limited.The majority of the album seems centered around the lyrics with no particular surprises to intricate the listener.On the other hand the unmet voice of John Dexter Jones and the extremely careful and clear production are good reasons for someone to notice Jump's presence.

A slight improvement over the fairly dissapointing ''Living in a promised land'', but Jump sound miles away from the trully competitive Neo Prog bands.For anyone enjoying energetic Rock music this one may be a decent listening...2.5 stars.