KEYED UP

Don Airey is an artist whose name sounds familiar over decades of involvement with dozens of well known names. I dare to suggest that few of us could think of more than 3-5 of those names - yet, we may have heard many notes played by Airey without realizing it.

Perhaps best known as a current member of Deep Purple and a reasonable replacement for the departed Jon Lord, Airey has performed with Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Colosseum II, Wishbone Ash, Cozy Powell, but to name a few. He seems to have been stuck in a 70s Time Warp as his music remains closer to elementary Rock'n'Roll of that era than much to do with Prog-Rock - if anything at all.

This, the latest of his rather scarce solo efforts continues in the same vein, representing a rather dated (i.e.boring) Pop-Rock, R'n'R approach that many Prog lovers would find superficial and irritating. Indeed, I see little reason for releasing material like this anymore, something that would immediately qualify for the bargain bin with a cut out label.

Most surprising is that for a keyboard player and band leader, he has largely relegated himself to play odd fills on the Hammond. More like a team player as opposed to a leading artist. The odd track like "Blue Rondo" was probably included to fill the void and provide some balance, but the end result is a rather forgettable mixed bag of goodies that fails to impress. If this solo effort is an indication of the artist's preferences - as it should be - then I've heard enough.

Airey is quite correctly listed as Prog-Related. In a Prog sense this album wouldn't rate much above 2 stars and is definitely not recommended. Quite a disappointment, indeed.