A TAB IN THE OCEAN

A Tab in the Ocean's title-suite is an astonishing trip; many moods and climates are explored in this mythic seventeen minute journey. You become totally absorbed into this song's landscape by the time the heavy and hypnotic 3/4 riff (at about eight minutes in) begins trampling you like a mammoth. Three-part vocal harmonies add a layer of dense daydream atmosphere... and the song continuously evolves in unexpected ways and holds your attention the whole way.

The vocals have are nicely distorted and remind me a lot of Greg Lake from his King Crimson years.

The band's sound is hard to pin down. There is a decidedly Hard Rock edge: heavy guitars are the main instrument throughout, and keyboards (usually organ) are used in the periphery more often than not. There is an element of Krautrock present, as well as pure Psychedelic Rock. This is spacy, trippy music... but not as out-there as, say, Amon Duul II... there is always a melodic essence at the core of each song.

'Desolation Valley' grabs you right away with an amazing guitar riff: anthemic, catchy, and fuzzed-out like 'Spiders From Mars' era Bowie. With a little editing, this song could have been a staple on 70's Rock radio... but it is a little long-winded and contains some light, smoky, jazz-like verse sections which slow the song's momentum. Still, this song is class and the second best on the album.

'Crying in the Dark' is a straight-forward Hard Rock song similar to Deep Purple, with a touch of Uriah Heep. It has a few good hard riffs and spacy hammond organ drones. 'King of Twilight' is similar: built mostly on distorted guitar riffs and classic organ sounds... but this one features awe-inspiring three-part vocal harmonies that really take the song up a notch.

This album is essential for fans of Psychedelic Hard Rock or Krautrock-flavored music. The first half is superior, but there is great music from top to bottom. I can't imagine awarding this any less than 4 stars.