THE GREY GORILLA TEA-BOW

With an artist as prolific as Sébastien Gramond, his objective often seems to be to simply get the music out, without worrying about the finer aspects of album structure. 'The Grey Gorilla Tea-Bow' is yet another example of how Sébastien Gramond can make some great tunes, but rarely fine-tunes the album into something cohesive and tight. Another diverse album with sounds ranging from flamenco classical guitar to blues and hard rock, Gramond never settles on one music style for too long, and 'The Grey Gorilla Tea-Bow' sees this to a mixed result.

Gramond's album here is mostly comprised of harder rocking numbers with a jazzy tinge. 'Falling Rats' gets a good Led Zeppelin vibe going, and the twelve minute closer 'Right Between The Legs Of Your Daughter' alternates between rocking riffs and more laid back jazz breakdowns. These are usually fairly well done, with the riffs here being of an above average quality in relation to the rest of Gramond's work. The musicianship is quite good here, although Gramond's vocals (which have considerably improved over the years) is weak here more often than not. often trying to sing outside his range.

The real strength of 'The Grey Gorilla Tea-Bow' however is something I have rarely heard in Gramond's work before this; classical guitar. Whether it is 'Holiday In Spain' or the short 'As Long As The Good Times We Spent Together', Gramond does this particular style very well, with a great professional sense that is scarcely in the harder-rocking material.

A good album, but indeed it does lack a great deal of cohesion to it that may have otherwise helped the album out alot.