DROP

The history of Gavin Harrison, the drummer of Porcupine Tree, and his collaboration with the interesting extended range bass player "05ric" is an interesting one. Harrison received an invite on Myspace by the latter, and he decided to check out his music, to which he rather enjoyed. Through a number of private messages and emails, the two met up at a Porcupine Tree concert and started talking. One thing led to another and soon the two were sending each other little tidbits of music and themes and melodies, and soon the album "Drop" formed. Combining the forces of both musicians' intense skill, the album turned out to be a great fusion of mechanical experimental rock and jazz, making for a rather eclectic showing. (Quote from my review of 'Circles') The album exposed itself as a fantastic display of the two musicians' inventiveness and their willingness to break down genre walls and creating a spectacular fusion of jazzy riffs, mechanical instrumental precision, and some really nice melodies. Although the music may become redundant after a number of dynamic and inviting tracks, the music still holds as a strong display of these guys' musical message.

A particular feature of this music that I find particularly repelling about this music is the lack of diversity on the album. The music, track by track, is genius, with countless memorable moments throughout the tracks. However, many of the songs can easily seem to blend together into a single song blur. I could easily quote my review of Circles again, with my comments on the mechanical nature of the music being 'obvious, with Harrison's roving precise polyrhythmic drumming complimenting 05ric's robotic bass and guitar lines. Of course the music is not just a time-slot specific template; the two guys are no strangers to improvisation. With countless fills rotating around jazzy and at some times beautifully dissonant guitar solos, the tracks have no shortage of spice to make the music more interesting.' The same holds true for both of this band's albums. Although this continuity between their works is not a bad thing, I believe it would be helpful for the band to compose something more diverse and inviting of a wider fanbase.

Of course this album came before Circles, so I cannot throw down this album's genius unjustly. The music is infectious at times, beautiful at others, sweeping here, rolling there, and a slew of other characteristics to call these songs home. And of course, this was the band's debut, so I must accredit it with being one damn professional and one damn creative debut, despite being a bit redundant. Harrison's usual amazing performance combined with 05Ric's fantastic bass style certainly does make for a superb album!

In final consideration, Drop boils down to a superb display of these two guys' great prowess on their instruments, with Gavin rotating around his kit with grace and agility and 05ric sweeping up and down his bass with ease. Overall, the album, despite being rather unchanging, is a great album, with some really cool atmospheres and chill jazzy soloing to give it a name. Although it may not be the best album out there, I recommend it to anyone who is looking for something different and jazzy to listen to. Notice anything familiar about this conclusion? 3+ stars.

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