WALL STREET VOODOO

Well, I think it should be obvious after the previous reviews that this is NOT a typical Roine Stolt project. It can't really be called "prog", in the sense that most here would think of it (though there are quite a few bands on this site that I don't consider prog....but someone else obviously does). What you get here are basically blues rock songs, with a couple Beatlesque almost pop songs, and a track or two that border on prog (or is it just that they have mellotron in them? :)

If you like Roines guitar playing, and can enjoy 70's style blues/classic rock, then you should get this album. If you want to hear another Stolt patented prog release, then get the Live Circus Brimstone CD (excellent, by the way).

For me, the selling point of this album is all the great to excellent guitar solos. The vocals seem not quite up to par for Roine, and I usually enjoy his singing. The lyrics, while well written, sometimes seem sort of forced over top of the more basic rock structures. Neal Morse puts in some good performances however, singing the (not surprisingly given his singing style) more pop sounding songs. The rest of the band (whoever they really are) is competent and provide an excellent backing for Stolt's solos.

I probably would have preferred an instrumental album of this nature (or even just an instrumental or two to break up the vocal numbers), but the more I listen to it the more I enjoy it. It is not something I put on to get a prog fix, but the guitar solos are great to listen to and among Roine's best.

Personally, I'd say this is a 4 star album. But because of the nature of this site, I can only give it 3 stars. But if you like 70's blues rock and want to hear some great Roine Stolt lead guitar work, this is well worth having.