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Jump - On Impulse CD (album) cover

ON IMPULSE

Jump

Neo-Prog


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SouthSideoftheSky
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Symphonic Team
3 stars "I don't want to be a millionaire, I only sing these ditties to impress"

On Impulse continues pretty much where the previous Matthew left off. This means subtly eclectic, melodic Rock; occasionally groovy, occasionally poppy, occasionally bluesy, a bit heavy (but never straying near Metal). The Folk influences that were largely absent from Matthew are back with a vengeance on the superb Bethesda, the unrivaled highlight of this album. John Dexter Jones hands in a fantastic vocal performance on this piece (that can be streamed from this very site). This excellent track is however not very representative of the album as a whole. The rest of the tracks are all enjoyable, and several are really good, but with some exceptions it is not really what I would have wanted from Jump. This is still high quality, professional music, but I am less fond of the direction that the band were taking on Matthew and the present album than that of earlier albums like ...All The King's Men and Living In A Promised Land. Anyone coming to this album expecting a typical British Neo-Prog sound will be surprised to find very little of that here. On Impulse is actually more Crossover Prog than Neo-Prog, but for the most part it is not even all that progressive to be honest. The most proggy tracks are probably Like A Drum and the closer Cruel To Be Kind, the latter of which features a nice but brief piano solo.

Like Matthew, On Impulse is, perhaps even more so, a good album and a worthy addition. But neither of these two albums constitute the best place to begin with Jump.

Report this review (#960217)
Posted Thursday, May 16, 2013 | Review Permalink
kev rowland
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Honorary Reviewer
3 stars What can be said about Jump that hasn't been already? Surely there can be few discerning rock lovers out there who haven't seen this band on one of their many treks around the country, and hopefully I will again have the chance to catch up with them when they headline the Friday night at Whitchurch on the 2nd August. This is their eighth album, in which time they have had only one change of line-up, and even new boy Andy Faulkner has been with them for over three years. While they often find themselves placed in with the prog crowd, in reality the band have musically little in common with the many bands basing their whole career on the collected works of Genesis or Pink Floyd. This is a rock band, first and foremost, and while the foundations are a strong rhythm section with some added keyboards, the band are driven by the twin guitars of Steve Hayes and Pete Davies. They have complimentary styles and can play harmonies, riffs, or add gentle touches and musical lines to give songs depth and presence. Talking of presence, at the front of all of this is the towering figure of one John Dexter Jones who not only provides a fair set of pipes but strides the stage and the music like a Welshman on a mission.

'On Impulse' takes a little while to get going, and while I enjoyed the first few songs I felt that the edge wasn't quite there, but "Bethesda" marked a turning point. The delicacy of the music belies the power and emotion of the words and the band have come alive. "Right Winger" is strong on slide guitar, while "Thom's New Clothes" is a lesson in building to a crescendo and sounds like classic Horslips. Having started to crank it up, the highlight of the album is next in "Like A Drum". The guitars are powerful, and the emotion and passion are physical beasts, just waiting to be unleashed as they are on the bridge. This must be awesome live.

To follow that up is a delicate number, just basically John and an acoustic guitar, while "Doctor Spin" again shows the band rocking along. Overall it may not be a truly great album, but it does contain some truly great songs and I am sure that with more plays I will appreciate the whole even more. Available from Cyclops or contact the band at www.jumprock.co.uk.

Originally appeared in Feedback #69, Aug 02

Report this review (#978032)
Posted Friday, June 14, 2013 | Review Permalink

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