ERPLAND / JURASSIC SHIFT

The hook that lead me to by the Erpland/Jurassic Shift double CD was one prog reviewer's comparison to Return to Forever. While I do enjoy the music, I'm not sure I would categorize these guys as prog so much as jazz fusion. The absence of lyrics is an obvious reason, but the song structures and tremendous amount of improv/soloing over the steady grooves coming form the rhythm sections lead me to compare them to something between groups like 1980s Pat Metheny Group, Jean-Luc Ponty, Steve Tibbets, and Passport and New Age artists like Gobi or Shastro. Actually, Ozrics sound like my old garage band, The Lobotomy Brothers. We'd get together every once in a while for a weekend, keep the tape recorder on "record" the whole time, and then, later, press of tapes, DATs, and CDs from all the best sections. Gads of free-form jamming and great fun---just as I suspect these guys have. But, are they really prog? Sorry guys, but I think not. (And I'm willing to bet that they're not even trying to be.) They're a jam band! Still, keep on jamming! The albums themselves are actually full of very good, very engaging, and memorable songs. A few even qualify for the "ear worm" category in that they are tough to get out of your brain once you've heard them. To be specific, "Eternal Wheel" and "Tidal Convergence" from Erpland and "Sunhair" and "Jurassic Shift" from Jurassic Shift--all four 10/10 songs.