IDMEN

A final straw that explains to me why InsideOut went under - I caved in and ordered it through Amazon. My local record shop has not had much luck getting any "special" orders for InsideOut acts. King's X's latest was a big blow. Especially as I had sampled it through P2P, and then placed an order for it, all excited about supporting a favourite band of mine, despite the "free" option that was readily available in the web's wild west frontier economics. Repeated requests failed to get anything from InsideOut's distributor.

SO I overcame my reluctance and ordered Idmen through a web store ... after all, I truly want to support my favourite bands.

I even bought this album despite the fact that Frank's Music (,my local record shop), had several albums that I am still waiting to be able to fit into my music buying budget -Steve Earle, the Matadors, les Colocs, a few Saga releases.

So let me get to the point. This release is Susar part II. Or, to put it another way, if Metallica's Reload was essentially the leftovers from Load, then these are the leftovers from Susar.

They are not bad, they are not a torture to listen to. But to me, the album as a whole, and each of the songs are but pale imitations, almost clones of Susar's great compositions. And frankly, all I want to do is ditch this disc full of dung and put Susar on. Actually, the taste left in my mouth , o.k., ears, makes me put on Octahedron.

At this point in time, when I listen to the new Mars Volta, even when I play a narrow styled band like AC/DC and their latest - Black Ice - I wonder how could Indukti go so dry in the inspiration department so quick.

This disappointment with the group's music, added to my inability to buy a group's music through a label that went under for lack of "support", add up to a major negative reaction to the whole prog scene's belief in the sanctity of the physical product.

I have just paid $8.88 for a download of the new Voivod album -Infini. This is through the Sonic Unyon store . I have shelled out over $50 for various Marillion downloads over the past year. My point - the hoops I had to jump through & the price I had to pay for Indukti's Idmen just amplified the eventual let down that I felt when I finally got the piece of crap.

I wish that this review could have been more about the music. But then, if one wishes to take the time, there is a strong message between the lines here. About the music featured herein, but also about reaching fans, and about new realities that "progressive" music would do well to catch up with.

I.E. , If you loved Susar, you might like this one. But then, you might be better advised to spend your hard earned money elsewhere. That is my advice, eh.