THE UNDEFINED DESIGN

Wow, I was not expecting this disc to be this good. It gets better with each listen, too. The first thing that caught my attention was the incredible production value, so much room for the music to breath, and breath it does, again... Wow!!! Jeff Hodges produced this gem, as well as being the vocalist, keyboardist and electronic device guy, the samples are awesome and used as the percussionist behind the various drummers. How often have you listened to a band and, though the sleeve sites a percussionist, you can't hear them through the studio mix? Every clack, clang, ching, thwap can be heard. Crystal clear. Eric Sands - Fretless and Fretted Basses, also plays some killer guitar. The fretless work is stellar and puts Sands in the same category as Mick Karn (closest in style) and Tony Levin. You can virtually follow the bass lines throughout each track and never lose it in the mix, Wow!!! Three different drummers take turns at the kit, but play in a similiar enough style as to not take away from the tunes. A real continuity flows through this disc. Violinist David Ragsdale takes a few, oh too short, solos on three tracks. Jeff hodges vocals hint at Geddy Lee in many places, not a copy, mind you, just a similarity. The lyrics have some spiritual leanings, but don't shout at you, subtle and up-lifting. My only complaint is the shortness of the soloing, a few extra minutes of violin-guitar-keyboard trade offs would have elevated this CD's rotation value in my stereo. Fans of harder edged music that borders on Metal will enjoy this, especially Rush and Queensryche fans.