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I have a love/hate relationship with this band. When their
music clicks, there is an unbelievable bond. Other times the
chemistry just isn’t there. For example, when I saw them play
live, I was greatly disappointed.***
To tell you the truth, their studio releases raised my
expectations and set the bar too high. Later, I felt guilty
about the bout of hasty disparagement. My critical view was
unduly eschewed because the solo artist was just beginning
to try his full band out.***
Going back in time, Bruce Soord, the original lonesome
member, had me starry-eyed and thinking of the future with
Variations on a Dream. Little did I know; patience and maneuvers
were required to ready his music for the concert hall.***
He promptly expanded his music with several of his college
buddies: John Sykes (bass), Wayne Higgins (guitars), Matt
O’ Leary (keyboards), and Keith Harrison (drums). In a last-minute
move, he was boxed and shipped and on stage before the seasons
even changed. Since then, the fruit burglar has already seen
an adjustment to the shopping list as Steve Kitch (co-producer
of 10 Stories Down) has taken over for O’ Leary.***
While the band evolves, one has to imagine they are rehearsed,
ready and revving, for the next time they take on the live
environment.***
With Tightly Unwound, the band has achieved much studio
enhancement. Soord’s project is apparently more effective
with the larger team. By having more cooks in the kitchen,
they can now produce epicurean anthems whereas before it was
akin to the sparsest delicatessens.***
They don’t sound completely different from past efforts
– as there is only a slight deviation from Variations on a
Dream - but they incorporate elements from Marillion and the
BoDeans.***
Overall, the album is organic in the sense that songs
are separate organs breathing as one in homeostasis. It’s
kind of like Blackfield’s sophomore release circulating amongst
Jeff Buckley’s Grace.***
The epics, “Different World” and “So Much to Lose”, show
patience and maturity. That lingering couplet benefits from
Soord’s renewed circle of friends. The nuances his acquaintances
introduce into the mix is funkiness with hip-hop flair. As
a side note, the second, longer song brings Porcupine Tree’s
“Arriving Somewhere But Not Here” to mind.***
Bountiful treasures burgeon in the shorter ditties as
well. For pieces that are trite and pithy, “My Debt to You”
and “And So Say All Of You”, demonstrate a big, bold step
in the right direction -- because it provides better nutritional
value for those with melodic deficiencies and progressively
ravenous needs.***
Also, if you’re curious about the title, the cover art
portrays something that’s cozily disentangled. Either that
or it’s a Rorschach test, a metal alloy, a crystal lattice,
a crop circle, a snowflake, a Rhombohedra, a rust bucket,
a fractal, or a Nautilus Shell Spiral. Okay, somebody has
certainly overanalyzed the abstract pattern which shellacs
the album’s cardboard sheath. Quite possibly, Soord put zero
thought into it. Nonetheless, it’s appropriate even if it’s
a coincidence.***
Contrary to the colloidal ink blot staining the exterior,
the music inside defines their most thought-out effort to
date.**
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