STILL LIFE WITH EGGPLANT

Another year, another Motorpsycho album. Still Life With Eggplant is considered a "leftover" album, consisting of songs written for Heavy Metal Fruit and The Death Defying Unicorn, but not making either of those albums for various reasons. So don't expect a unifying concept on this album.

The album starts off with a blast in the 10 minute "Hell, Part 1-3". Starting off with a slow tempo to introduce the main theme, it soon speeds up and becomes a heavy psychedelic rocker. Great guitarsolo midways, but after 7 minutes it just slows down completely for a quiet outro totally out of sync with the remainder of the song. Still a great song, though.

"August" is a cover of the Love track from the 1969 album "Four Sail". The original was a very cool freakout, and this version isn't all that different, although it is tighter and with new millennium production values. Textbook cover, but a nice homage to the songwriting of the late Arthur Lee.

Then we mellow out a bit with "Barleycorn (Let It Come/Let It Be)". Acoustic guitars are prevalent on this one, and shows a slight pastoral vibe alà Trespass/Nursery Cryme. Gentle vocals brings Crosby/Stills/Nash to mind, and the song has a nice psychedelic aura.

"Ratcatcher" is by far the longest track on here (17 mins). It's also the one where Reine Fiske makes his presence best felt, having a guitar showoff with Hans Magnus Ryan. 15 minutes of this track is basically improv, and very much reminds of The Grateful Dead's style of jamming, albeit in a high energy musical setting. It is probably the biggest track of controversy on the album; not every one will have this one to their liking. I do like it, even if I find it slightly overlong (the last 3 minutes feel sorta forced) Still impressive, though.

The album finishes on a slightly more conventional note with "The Afterglow". A ballad with some lovely playing (especially the mellotron and the slide guitar is gold) and somewhat nostalgic lyrics. Add to it a heartfelt vocal delivery from Bent Sæther and more nice acoustic guitar-playing, and you have a natural conclusion to this album.

The 5 stars disappeared because of a couple overlong songs. But a solid 4 star rating for this release. And another solid album from this Norwegian cult band.