SIDE ONE

This is Adrian Belew's first solo album since 1996's Op Zop Too Wah.The album is a little over 33 minutes long and features Danny Carey(Tool)on drums and Les Claypool(Primus) on bass for the first 3 tracks and not surprisingly they are the best tracks on the album.This is the first of three planned solo albums,the next being Side 2 and Side 3.Says Belew of this album,"There are 3 different attitudes that I've recently discovered in my writing,and this album is a representation of the first one.Side One deals with the concept of the " power trio" and writing in that headspace.As the guitar player in that equation,you're only as good as you're rhythm section,and I can't imagine a better rhythm section in a power trio than Danny Carey and Les Claypool".And I very much agree.The songs with the Belew,Carey,Claypool line-up fuses propulsive percussion with an array of rubbery bass patterns and variegated guitar grooves.The rest of songs feature mainly Belew on all instruments and he combines various electronic-based treatments with wily guitar licks,generally executed atop booming rhythmic patterns.A very good solo effort,my only complaint was the length,33 minutes is too short after such a long wait.4 stars