UK

A monolithic classic of late 70s jazz-prog. Fresh off the success of the first two Bruford albums, Bill Bruford and fusion guitar master Allen Holdsworth hooked up with John Wetton, who at this time was still playing like he was trying to murder you with his bass, and Zappa/Roxy Music alumn Eddie Jobson. Each of these players had a track record and a legacy within the movement, but this is no self satisfied jam session. Rather it is a lean and mean synthesis of fusion influences via Holdsworth's sustain drenched fretboard gymnastics and Jobson's slick cutting edge synthesizer work. Under this is the Wetton/Bruford rhythm section moving as one and acting like the three years since King Crimson's collapse had not happened. Bruford especially has improved as a player in this hiatus, blurring the line between timeclock precision and jazzy looseness, cultivated in his brief stays with Gong and National Health. The compositions are as tight as they come, with Holdsworth making the most of his short solos and shining in his supporting role. The opening suite of "In the Dead of Night/By the Light of Day/Presto Vivace/Reprise" shows the range and versitility of the lineup's sound, from aerodynamic jazzy prog to more oceanic, spacey sounds, to manic complexity. "Presto Vivace" especially is a dizzying display of Jobson's compositional skill matched with the bands jaw dropping chops. "Thirty Years" is a strong track with an incredible instrumental midsection in which Holdsworth's smooth guitar sounds and Jobson's metallic synths blend together and blur the line between keyboard and guitar playing. The group's sound comes together best on the album's final two tracks "Nevermore" and "Mental Medication." Here, rich jazz chords and prog rock song structures meet to great melodic success. Less than 6 months later, the band would collapse over arguments on direction precipitated by Holdsworth's unwillingness to regurgitate the solos he played for the album sessions the same way every night. He and Bruford would leave for jazzier pastures while the rest of the band soldiered on towards a more mainstream rock direction. But the 45 minutes this lineup left us are some of the most potent mixes of jazz and rock from anyone outside of Canterbury.