HOTSPELL

Hotspell i believe to be a solid album with great songs and with some excellent playing but they were not the same band anymore. I was disapointed when i first bought this album, but grew to really like it because even though they didn't follow the same path as before, they still showed their class on this album.

I would say they remind me of Doobie Brothers when Michael McDonald was in the band, because Andy Cowan sounded almost exactly the same as a vocalist. (Same voice and vocal mannerisms i feel). Not necessarily a bad thing but it altered the band style enormously when he sang lead vocal. With this album i suppose they removed themselves from being anything close to jazz/rock, and definitely prog. (If they ever were?)

I would recommend it as a very good album by a great band. Unfortunately, you will probably never find a copy to judge for yourself. As an independant release by the band, (incidently engineered by former bass member Duncan McGuire) it would have to be considered extremely rare today!

Ayers Rock were an excellent jazz rock/fusion band, simply one of the best to come out of the Australia/New Zealand area. Their second album Beyond is all the evidence one needs to validate the above statement.

Now when I first got Hot Spell I was, like the previous commenter RobyB, very excited to give this baby a spin. There was a let down on the first listen, but the album really does grow on you.

In my opinion this album's problem is that it sounds too much like early Santana at times. Its not necessarily a bad thing, theres just no comparison to their first two albums.

Overall, its a great album with a lot more Santana influences and any Ayers Rock fans will still find it enjoyable. 3 Stars.

-AP

I haven't found myself a proper copy of this album yet, but someone has uploaded all bar one track on to Youtube (albeit in the wrong order), so I'm basing these comments on that).

There's been a fairly major change in personnel by the time of this album, although three members of the classic line- up are still there, and some of the replacements have strong Aussie prog credentials (Steve Hogg from Bakery, Andy Cowan whose keyboards provided the proggiest element in Madder Lake). With this album, they still have very strong jazz-rock leanings, but in the context of songwriting with a more commercial soft-rock edge - somewhat like Steely Dan. That's not completely a break with their past, since some of the songs on Beyond arguably pointed in that direction, but there's not so much of the harder-edged rock element that was present in their earliest work. The arrangements are all very sophisticated, and it's all well-played - I certainly can't say I hate it - but the prog-focused listener won't find a lot to interest them there.

I've given it three stars, though there'd be an argument for reducing that to two. If it ever comes out on CD, I'll buy it, or if I ever see an affordably-priced vinyl copy; but it's not an album I'd want to spend big bucks on.