SAFETY IN NUMBERS - 21ST CENTURY REDUX

Crack The Sky

Heavy Prog

4.13 | 16 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

This is quite an interesting cd, since it's essentially a re-recording of a classic album, except with new guitar parts, a nice remix, and John Palumbo's much grittier vocals added onto the mix.

I've often compared JP's vocals to Peter Gabriel's (even mentioned it to him once in an online chat), and this is definitely apparent on this recording. What makes this cd essential is not that they've rewritten history - but that they've provided an alternate, and quite superior, recording of one of the greatest albums in progressive rock.

This album is not without flaws. I much prefer the original lyrics to "Lighten Up", than to JP's rewrite. However, the vocals are much stronger, and give the album a "dark flow" that the original album lacked. I often felt that the original Safety In Numbers was the poppiest and most light sounding of all their records; that is erased here, where you hear an album that is extremely progressive, and at the same time, very heavy and gritty and rocky sounding.

The 3 additional tracks are also really essential. Atlantic City and Jungle Man Lonely were re-recorded and made much stronger than the original demos recorded in '79, found on the cd "Rare". While I do prefer the solo JP version of "The Crying Father" that appeared on his debut cd (Innocent Bystander, which is also an essential buy, for anybody looking for a great album), this version is also very, very good. A "band version" of a song that worked well as a solo piece.

Basically, this is an essential buy. If you've never heard of Crack The Sky...well, maybe you should get something else first, like their debut self titled, Animal Notes, White Music, or the new cd Machine. However, if you're a devoted Crack The Sky fan (like me!), this is an absolute and essential buy.

ShipOfFools | 5/5 | 2011-4-11

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