THE STORY OF I

1. "Impact" (3:31) Patrick progs up some jazzy Brazilian rhythms. Interesting and very weird (especially the first time one hears it!) Great percussion performances. (8.875/10)

2. "Warmer Hands" (3:31) flowing over from "Impact," the song quickly morphs into a kind of Latinized "Gates of Delirium" before smoothing out for the group choir to deliver some lyrics in choral style. This section bulges forth some very strong funky coming from the solid rhythm section of Jeff Berllin, Alphonse Mouzon, and Ray Gomez. Surprisingly complex and sohpisticated but lacking the kind of melodies that Anglo-minds can latch onto. (8.875/10)

3. "The Storm" (0:52) announced by the crow-like "achhh!" of several band members as the percussion and keyboard storm cacophony explodes and slowly decays. 4. "Cachaca" (4:07) in the aftermath of the storm the percussionists, keys, and vocal choir come up with a upbeat wordless melody. Then the band is led off into a Chick Corea-like Latin carnival passage by the band leader and, later, full choir, as the very-expanded rhythm section goes into some more serious Latin funk. (8.75/10)

5. "Intermezzo" (2:49) a classical piece with multiple keyboards performing alongside the piano until it switches into acoustic backing for vocalist Vivienne McAuliffe, but then the full electric complement return for the song's post-vocal finish. (8.875/10)

6. "Indoors" (3:44) a very dense, condensed ZAPPA/Todd Rundgren's Utopia-like song race that eventually has presents some more ANNETTE PEACOCK/GAYLE MORAN-like lead vocals (that are buried too deep within the overall mix). A lot of similarities to some of the music Larry Fast's SYNERGY was doing at the same time (as well as NEKTAR's Recycled.) (8.875/10)

7. "Best Years of Our Lives" (3:59) a gentle, somewhat-incongruously placed pop, or stage musical, ballad sung in a delicate, over-saccharined voice coming from John McBurnie. Nicely arranged and composed but ultimately too out of place. (8.666667/10)

8. "Descent" (1:43) the high-speed synth weave that gets Side Two off and running. Finishes sounding a lot like BRAND X's "...and so to F." (4.75/5)

9. "Incantation (Procession)" (1:51) prefaced by the decaying synthesizer of the previous song, the deceptively slow, odd (carnivalian), and yet surprisingly engaging sound weave that is established is suddenly usurped by an all- percussion motif before reasserting itself to then finish the song. (4.75/5)

10. "Dancing Now" (4:38) the percussionists return, piano, drums, bass and choral "Da-da, da-da, das" congeal so that John McBurnie can sing a much more powerful though still a bit hoaky vocal (and lyric) over what is really a very standard rock-pop song. Nice Gothic keyboard melodies in Patrick's solo section (coming from multiple keys!) (8.75/10)

11. "Impressions (The Dream)" (2:49) great Gershwinian classical piano rapture. Another "WTF" song that leaves one wondering how Patrick ever conceived and pulled this album off--as a "concept" album. (9/10)

12. "Like a Child Is Disguise" (4:05) another piano-based pop-rock "stage musical" ballad for John McBurnie and gang to sing over. The "stuck in the middle with you" chorus is perhaps the first real hook I've latched onto but the rest of the John Lennon-performance over an early bluesy Elton John song is just fair. (8.75/10)

13. "Rise and Fall" (5:34) and the melodrama increases! (What melodrama! I cannot for the life of me pick out a story from this album!) By the end of the first minute this song has veered into some rock-dominated Latin funk similar to some of the songs on the opening of Side One--even going back to those YES-like time and chord changes before spilling out into another "Gates of Delirium"-like chaotic jam. Nice performances from so many of the band members (though the soundscape does get rather congested/murky), but then the speed picks up (especially crazy Jeff Berlin and the percussionists) while wordless choir vocals make their reappearance before Patrick launches into an instrumental passage in which he nimbly switches between about a dozen keyboards--repeating many of the melody themes from the rest of the album. (So this IS a Broadway musical!) (8.875/10)

14. "Symphony in the Space" (2:56) In this all-keyboard final song we are once again treated to a Larry Fast- SYNERGY/VANGELIS-like demonstration of the new world of electrically-possible synthetic sound. (8.875/10)

Total Time 46:09

Since the very first time I heard this album back in 1977 I've had an ambivalent like-dislike relationship with this album. It's just so weirdly different than anything I'd ever heard before. Ambitious, I think Patrick has ultimately failed in revealing a musically-coherent work to express his idea for a concept album. And, despite it's occasional funk and dominating Latin percussion work, I would never call this a Jazz-Rock Fusion album.

B/four stars; an interesting if somewhat haphazard-seeming collection of songs strung together to convey, supposedly, a single story arc. Try it out for yourselves; I cannot endorse it from the perspective of something I enjoy very much.

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