CLOSER TO IT! (AS OBLIVION EXPRESS)

1. "Whenever You're Ready" (6:20) Lennos Laington's conga play leads the way to open this song (and album) while drummer Godfrey MacLean and bassist Barry Dean slowly join in before Brian's Hammond leaps into the spotlight. At the end of the second minute Brian jumps into the fray with his voice--which is mixed oddly into the background-- behind all of the other instruments! As always, Brian has a very nice voice, but it's his dynamic organ play that raises smiles and eyebrows. The rest of the band is so nicely tight! Experimental echoed-keyboard "hits" occupy the sixth minute and lead the band to its fadeout conclusion. (9/10) 2. "Happiness Is Just Around The Bend" (6:31) Fender Rhodes and Moog weirdities front this laid back Latinized groove song while Brian continues singing from the next room over. (8.875/10)

3. "Light On The Path" (4:56) starts out sounding as if I were actually listening to Santana's Caravanserai, but then Brian's Hammond defines it and then I'm relegated to thinking it's music from the cutting room floor of Caravanserai : almost deserving of having been included in that amazing album. The lead guitar work of Jack Mills is awesome: very much in the Carlos, Neal Schon, Doug Rodriguez style and sound. I really like this song despite the fact that it's just a vamp set up for instrumental solos. Nice original composition by the collective. (9/10)

4. "Compared To What" (7:53) opening with a cool, relaxed groove from guitar, bass, drums, and congas that is enhanced by Brian's bluesy Hammond, this 1935 penned Eugene McDaniels classic receives a nice blues-rock update. Brian doesn't start adding vocals (sounding like Grand Funk Railroad's Don Brewer) until the 3:00 mark, noodling and jiving along on his organ in the meantime. Godfrey MacLean, Barry Dean, and Lennox Laington do a most excellent job holding down the rhythm section while Jack Mills' guitar is a bit lame as a soloist. And a real ending (no fadeout)! (13.375/15)

5. "Inner City Blues" (4:31) from the very start this sounds like it's going to be a tightly similar rendition of the Marvin Gaye song, but then Brian's doubled-up vocal "Da-das" and organ enter to give it a very different angle. Brian's performances are very good--as are those of the entire rhythm section (especially Jack Mills' interesting rhythm guitar play)--but it's so hard to stand up to a song that is already a classic, "perfect." (8.875/10)

6. "Voices Of Other Times" (5:56) an Auger-Dean composition that works really well as a follow-up to the Marvin Gaye song: flows straight from "Inner City Blues" the way that Marvin's (and Carlos') songs all flow so seamlessly throughout the two classic LPs that Brian is drawing so much inspiration from. I actually like this song quite a bit: It's melodic, it grooves, it's funky, the instrumental performances are flawless, the lyrics are engaging, even Jack Mills' Carlos Santana-imitative guitar solo works. (9.125/10)

Total Time: 36:15

As my esteemed prog reviewer emeritus Rollie Anderson (Chicapah) writes, Mr. Auger was obviously very inspired by hearing Santana's ground-breaking Caravanserai release near the end of the previous year. His new band hires and results from their March 1973 recording sessions confirm this emphatically!

Though I can't help but agree with Brian's vocals often standing out as the "weak link" it's not because he has a bad voice or sings out of tune (I actually quite like Brian's voice), it's mostly cuz he's taken on singing on covers of classic tunes that often have a very distinctive, iconic vocal. What really means is that Brian has some rather big cajones! And he never butchers a song, just makes it his own (when perhaps it never really needed that).

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of Caravanserai- and What's Going On-like Jazz-Rock Fusion. An eminently enjoyable listen!

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