MÅLTID

Samla Mammas Manna's second release, "Måltid", is a very fine output and a major improvement over their debut. It's definitely a grower for some people but it's incredibly rewarding nevertheless. The production could have been better (it's a bit thin and raw) and steadier but the entertaining, creative and convincingly original songs makes up for it. Like all other Samla albums "Måltid" shows it's styles well, including Jazz-Rock, RIO and Folk among others, and they manage to mix and balance them out without problems at all together with a nice touch of the eclectic and nearly flawless instrumentation of these crazy Swedes. Keyboardist Lars Hollmer in particular is a standout here with his entertaining yet serious playing on the tangents. The rest of the band does an impressive performance throughout the rest of the album, notably guitarist Coste Apetrea's floating but sharp guitar playing and Hasse Bruniusson's hectic but controlled drumming. The album have lot's of diversity and humoristic playfulness and is very addictive when you first get "into" it. The vocal parts are high-pitched and downright silly throughout most of the album and adds a very joyful mood to the music, although it might not appeal to everyone. There's rarely any actual lyrics on the album. The best track here is obviously the opener, "Dundrets Fröjder", a 10 minute masterful track combining everything that makes this band so great; jazzy textures with a good dose of wacky humor and great variation within minutes. It's quite possibly the most representative track from the band and an amazing achievement overall.

There's very few weak moments on this album, the last track "Værelseds Tilbud" is the only one I don't enjoy as much as I did with the other songs. Overall, I would say that this is an important addition to your prog-collection if you like either Jazz-Rock/Fusion or RIO (or both for that matter). SMM's "Måltid" is a entertaining and adventurous release that every open-minded person should try. Me personally think it could have been slightly better, especially the production, but I would still highly recommend it. 4.5/5. Not as good as "Familjesprickor", but up to pair with "Klossa Knapitatet".