RAISED IN CAPTIVITY

Finally a new album solo by John Wetton, after touring all over the world with Asia, whose artistic path is characterized by his more pop progressive side and by the mainstream style of the recent albums as well; even though, this time talking about his artistic growth, it's often a kind of consolidation, rather than a better step beyond, in comparison to his best solo albums like "Arkangel" and "Battlelines"...nevertheless the best song here, the title track, demonstrates his ability, along with the importance of the special guests, which have been called by John in order to support the fine orchestration of the album and that's an important goal! Instead the songs "Steffi's ring", "Don't misunderstand me" and "The devil and the opera house" (this latter a bit tiring towards the end), are more commercial, but the sense of melody, by replacing the instrumental support which is minimal, can remark the most natural music talent of this "ever-green" rocker of the British scene! Then I like to point out that the collaboration between Anneke van Giersbergen (former "The Gathering") and John- inside "Mighty Rivers"- is an intelligent and captivating duet, evolving into a symphonic breakthrough, which is the second best tune after "Raised in Captivity".

At the end I prefer John in his most natural efforts (think of "Lost For Words", which is perfect and fitted into the style by Bill Sherwood at all, without forgetting "We Stay Together", where the guitar work is very important....) and I can recommend the present album for the most relaxing moments, being supported by R. Fripp, S. Hackett and S. Morse in the best manner, also when it's more radio-friendly and the sessions by E. Jobson seem to be unuseful!!

It's very interesting anyway, perhaps not completely essential as a prog-related album, but nevermind...so make your personal choice as usual!!

A typical JW solo album, but without any Prog. So think AOR and ballads and you'll be near to the mark.

I have all of his solo albums, and I started with 'Arkangel', which I think is really good. but in all honesty, they all sound the same, so the recipe is really worn out.

I don't know what else to say to make up the 100 words, but I can tell you (that) I was disappointed that there didn't seem to be anything new or different from what I've heard before. Equally, I was disappointed that John had decided to neglect his Prog influences.

It might not come as much of a surprise to most people that John Wetton decided once again to stick to his guns, thus making Raised In Captivity another AOR release. The surprising part is how uninspired and unsettlingly bland this collection of songs actually turns out to be!

Released under Frontiers Records (the same label as Asia) only a year after the prog supergroup's second reunion album Omega, there's really nothing that would have suggested to me that Wetton was running out of steam on his steady AOR streak that he began back in 1982. Unfortunately this definitely can be considered to be the final nail in the coffin of his nearly 30 year affiliation with the format.

This bland mess just proves that all the guest spots in the world can't save an album when the songwriting and performances aren't there. Artists like Steve Hackett, Geoff Downes, Robert Fripp, Tony Kaye, Steve Morse, Eddie Jobson and Mick Box have contributed to Raised In Captivity and it's quite unfortunate that none of them manages to stop this train wreck from ultimately happening. On some level, it would have actually felt less painful for me if these guest spots weren't here but there's just no way to avoid the unavoidable by awarding this release anything more than the completionists only rating that it barely reaches up to.

The songs are not quite there, even if some are slightly better than others, the '80s vibe is annoying and the guest spots are pretty much the only reason why completionists might be merely amused by Raised In Captivity. Approach this album at your own risk, you have been warned!

**** star songs: Steffi's Ring (2:36) Don't Misunderstand Me (3:43) Mighty Rivers (5:20)

*** star songs: Raised In Captivity (6:09) Goodbye Elsinore (4:44) We Stay Together (4:26) The Devil And The Opera House (6:51)

** star songs: Lost For Words (4:59) The Last Night Of My Life (5:54) The Human Condition (5:22) New Star Rising (4:33)

I always admire John Wetton whenever he played with others in what so called "band" like he did with King Crimson, UK as well as Asia - even though the latter is not something as my favorite one because the music is not prog basically. But for some reason I doubt his capability to be a solo artist as many of his albums were not measuring up into my standard. Rased in Captivity is actually not good one or at least there is practically neither catchy or progressive track in the album. Yes, there is a huge effort by him through bringing together big names like Steve Mose (Lost For Words), Robert Fripp (Raised in Captivity), Steve Hackett (GoodBlye Elsinore), Tony Kaye, Geoff Downes, Mick Box (New Star Rising), Eddie Jobson, Yes, it's an atrraction point and a credit for his effort for this but unfortunately it does not lift up the overall quality of the music. It's hard to say it is good as there is no one track that really makes me hooked with it - everything just flow flat with practically no soul in it. It's totally different with Asia first album, for example, that has many catchy tracks even though the music is straight forward pop rock style.

Oh ...maybe good point with this album is in every single track we would try our best to indicate where and how the 'featuring' stars take place in the music. For example I am really observing the Hackett playing at the third track. One track that is probably quite catchy is The Human Condition - it has nice guitar solo but the contribution of Tony Kaye is not that really obvious.

This album is for collectors only - those who really want to have the work of Wetton throughout his musical career. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Goodbye John Wetton

For Raised In Captivity, John Wetton teamed up with Billy Sherwood who not only plays guitars and drums but also produced the album and is credited as a co-writer on most of the songs. Now, I am a huge fan of Billy Sherwood and love the stuff he has been doing with Circa and as a solo artist, but on this occasion Sherwood really should have told Wetton that they needed to go back to the drawing board because most of these songs are just not up for it. That the playing and production is top notch does not help much when the material is not strong enough. And adding guest appearances by an impressive gang from some of Wetton's past bands including King Crimson's Robert Fripp, UK's Eddie Jobson, Asia's Geoff Downes, and Uriah Heep's Mick Box, as well as contributions from Steve Hackett, Tony Kaye, and Steve Morse does not help much either.

The songs feel like run of the mill and the lyrics are often banal and trite. The best songs are folky ballads like Goodbye Elsinore and the acoustic Steffi's Ring. When they try to create Rock 'n' Roll on the other hand the results are just embarrassing. And I suppose there is no need to mention that there is nothing progressive about this record.

Raised In Captivity was to be Wetton's final solo album and in the context of his discography it ranks as one of his worst solo albums and a sad end to a great career.