COSMIC MESSENGER

This album is a great album. Don't get me wrong. Many people say it is his best. I tend to disagree, however only so slightly. I don't beleive this is as good as his previous album, Enigmatic Ocean. But there are PLENTY of gems here.

The title track and opener is very good, but when I had first listened to it, It was so unlike previous Ponty that I had heard I rarely listened to it again. It's just not my style, at least in this musical genre of fusion.

The next song the Art of Happiness, is awesome, and hearkens back to Ponty's chorus solo chorus solo chorus that he set the tone for in his previous 4 albums with Atlantic, as well as before that. Great song, great playing by all.

The next two tracks bore me so I rarely listen to them. However, Puppet's Dance is wonderful, upbeat, and complex. I love the complex time signatures it employs. The track following that, Fake Paradise, I believe is the most underrated song in Ponty's entire career. It's BEAUTIFUL. The use of constant 7th chords, round out the entire song, the sequences, the modulations... it's amazing. It's ethereal jazz. Which brings up ethereal mood, another amazing track, and one of JLP's most popular. the electric piano's dark yet lifting opening riff sets the tone for the entire song. It's awesome. Then last but certainly not least, Egocentric Molecules is the pinnacle of JLP's music, and is one of the best he's ever done.

Barring the two songs I really don't like, this album is full of amazingness.