TEMPEST

After Ian Carr (Neucleus)'s Belladonna, guitar prodigy Allan Holdsworth finds himself lured off by Belladonna producer and Colosseum founder and drummer (and former John Mayall Bluesbreaker), Jon Hiseman to try out the power rock trio format ( . . . as a quartet).

1. "Gorgon" (5:44) here the quartet tries out the style and sounds of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Though the song opens with 90 seconds of beautiful acoustic guitar chords being picked while Paul's heavily-effected voice give the music a very proggy psychedelic sound, once they establish the Experience sound they do a pretty good job! Paul Williams' lead vocal is actually quite like Jimi's and the music is solid with, of course, some great bluesy rock guitar work from Allan. Did I mention how great these guys blend as vocal harmonists? (9.25/10)

2. "Foyers Of Fun" (3:41) CREAM, RARE EARTH, with a little GRAND FUNK RAILROAD in the mix and some stellar rock lead (and rhythm) guitar work. This band is made up of four very top notch musicians who can pull off very high quality "reproductions" of other band's styles while still instilling their own talents, skills, and creativity to make them sound even better than the originators. (9/10)

3. "Dark House" (5:02) the first "weak" song on the album falls short not due to poor performances or sound but for the sake of being long and overly-drawn-out with no real relief or high points. (8.75/10)

4. "Brothers" (3:37) a little funk in this melodic rocker. Great drumming, rhythm guitar work and group vocals with Paul's Richie Havens-like lead. The problem is that the gospel-blues-like stops and slow downs are a bit disruptive to the overall flow and power of the music. Great little guitar solo in third minute. Not a particularly great or memorable song, but that musicianship! (8.875/10)

5. "Up And On" (4:19) Paul's David Clayton Thomas voice sings over a pretty standard rock anthem. Great performances from all--especially Jon Hiseman (who is quickly climbing in my esteem of all-time great prog/rock/J-RF drummers). Again, this is not necessarily anything to write home about, but the musicianship is amazing--earning it extra points. (8.875/10)

6. "Grey And Black" (2:29) sounds like STYX before Styx had really evolved into the Styx sound that Styx has become known for. (4.375/5)

7. "Strangeher" (4:07) blues/blues-rock on the level with and in the style of ZZ TOP. Impressive but not my cup of tea. (8.667/10)

8. "Upon Tomorrow" (6:41) Allan plays the violin! And he plays it well! The accompanying jazz-rock music is awesome if a little rudimentary. Luckily they have Jon Hiseman to fill in all the spaces with plenty of drumming awesomeness. (Plus, a track of Allan's rhythm guitar and a joinder in the third minute of Allan on lead guitar in place of the violin). The rockin' vocal second half of the song is okay with Paul's Richie Havens-like vocal performance being a highlight more than the music and other band members' performances. (8.875/10)

Total Time: 35:00

There is no doubt that these guys could easily have made a career at this power rock format: they are so talented and so good at making every minute of their songs full of clever and skilled creativity.

B+/4.5 stars; an album displaying some truly astonishing musical skills! I have to admit that this album would most certainly have earned higher marks had the music been more in the styles that I prefer.

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