LOST IN LINE

This fourth Mutiny in Jonestown album is the one where they transform from a mostly short song rock with a little prog thrown in approach to a primarily longer song prog band with a little rock thrown in. The first half of the album (or side 1 of the cassette tape in it's original form at the time of release in 1990) is a continued progression of their previous albums move to more complex and longer songs while still maintaining the shorter rock song approach. The album opens with, 'Gone to Seed' a quirky rock song about missing Elvis (who coincidentally died on my 17th birthday). We then move to a couple musically and lyrically interesting pieces. The best of the two is 'The Gardeners Song' with lyrical excerpts from the Lewis Carroll poem, 'The Mad Gardeners Song'. Sandwiched between the verses is some of the best guitar solo work from the band so far. The next piece, 'Buttslam Saddam' is the only song in the entire Mutiny in Jonestown discography to be recorded in someone else's studio. While the song is an interesting take lyrically about the history and reign of Saddam Hussein (written and recorded during the start of the 1990 gulf war), the overall sound quality of the song is poor compared to the other tracks. The title came from a sign I saw hanging in front of a bar I passed driving through Oregon to visit a friend. The first half of the album (or side 1 of the original cassette) ends with a couple rockers in 'Hey!' and 'Too Blue'.

The last half of the album is where Mutiny in Jonestown completes the transformation to prog band. A primary catalyst in this transformation was the release of the revolutionary Yamaha SY22 synthesizer. The synth employed something called "vector synthesis" which allowed it's overall voice to develop and move between 4 different sounds. This capability enabled the most otherworldly, yet functional soundscapes I'd ever heard and were perfect for the prog sound I had in my head but previously had no way to express. The most noteworthy track is the nearly 11 minute long HP Lovecraft inspired, 'At the Mountains of Madness'. A song that tells the story one of Lovecraft's best know tales lyrically and sets that story to a prog musical background. Setting Lovecraft stories and poetry to music became an important and much used device as Mutiny in Jonestown moved through the years. In fact, the next album, 'The False Hollow Phantom's of Beauty' is one of their albums exclusively made up of Lovecraft inspired prog. The album then comes to "Refugee", a lyrically ambiguous piece with some nice musical shifts and changes. The album finishes with, "Rabbit Sings the..." which ends with a wonderful musical progression supporting a repeating guitar melody which fades out not unlike the way Steve Hackett ends the Spectral Morning's album. While I think this is the best Mutiny in Jonestown album so far, it is a transitional piece moving from rock/smart pop to prog so I gave it a 3 star rating.

1990's 'Lost in Line' is the earliest complete Mutiny in Jonestown album available on BandCamp.