ANOMALY

First Lenny's solo album after 6 years , successful world tour with Return To Forever, great last years work with Stanley Clarke,Hiromi and Chick Corea.

Album's opener "Drum Boogie" is excellent groove composition with heavy keyboards, guitar/bass interplays. Return to form? "We Know" are filled with almost metal guitar, rich bass - but what a strange pop-rock melody is coming from this song! Somewhere in the middle of the composition my ears

were seriously worried: is it jazz fusion or just pop-rock instrumental? Third song, "Forever", gave me answer - soul/r'n'b song with female vocals and nice pop arrangements, so Lenny White didn't returned to his 70-s sound, he just recorded retrospective album, listener friendly album for everyone.

From that moment I really started to miss my interest. Rock-like soloing guitars ( even David Gilmour in a list of guests there) are used for adding some rock edge to pop-songs. "Dark Moon" is more jazzy, but nice standard soft-jazz piece again (ok, with David Gilmour on guitar and Victor Bailey on up-right bass).

Joe Henderson's "Gazelle", composition from 70-s, returning us back to keyboards-led fusion, almost in RTF vein." If U Dare" with distorted guitar sound, is again fusion, but more like "late 70-s", rounded enough to sound more comfortable.

"I wanted to have a rocking track that had strings like Led Zeppelin's 'Kashmir,'" says White on next composition, "Election Day". Bombastic and over-orchestrated, it sounds more as parody on LZ for me. OK,I can read in comments that this composition "pays tribute to the historic election of President Barack Obama". Let leave it alone!

"Coming Down" is melancholic ballade, led by distorted guitar, and sweet enough to be used in TV serial for housewives. "Catlett Out of the Bag" opens with not very enthusiastic drumming solo, but then develops to vintage funky organ led composition with Danny Walsh sax solo (in 70-s funky style)."Water Changes Everything" is African scented song with choir of vocalists in soul tradition. "Anthem" is quite faceless jazz-rock instrumental.

The last album's song, "The Wait Has Lifted the Weight", with Lenny's spoken words on the Obama Presidency and bombastic orchestral musical piece after, is possibly the least attractive composition on all album.

So - album's opener was greatest song and I was mistaken by it? Hah, I found - this composition was written by Lenny somewhere in mid 70-s, that is the reason.

Album for all possible tastes, including political.

My evaluation - 2,5, rounded to 3.