INTESTINAL FORTITUDE

Heavy Zappa sound on a couple of the songs especially on the humorous romp that is the first song "Um Tut Strut". The music on the album is a mix bag from avant-garde, progressive rock, jazz, expirimental and electronica though it is somewhat accessible. The lyrics can be goofy to serious. Mostly featured is the lead guitar work of Tony Hall and he is very good and plays much like Zappa. The best songs on the album (IMO) are the first 3. "No Raven Tonight" has the most cohesive progressive rock feel with tempo changes and has the best drumming of the album. "Perseids" is a very well played song as is a departure from the rest of the album in the sense that it is the only mellow song. Mellow does not mean boring however as this is one of the most beautiful songs with nice acoustic guitar playing and dreamlike keys. The song is 14 minutes long and never dull. The last 3 songs are a mixed bag and I didn't really get into them as much as the first 3, however parts of the songs are very good especially in "Black Day / White Light" which has some nice progressive drumming, guitar and bass work. The last song, "Pioneers Over C", which is a cover of a Van Der Graaf Generator song, is not my style. The song has no melody or rhythm to it. it's just instruments playing by themselves never really going anywhere. I am not a big fan of VDGG so maybe if you like them, this song will be a highlight. Overall, a good album but just not catchy enough for me mostly on the second half of the album. Best songs: 1. "UM-TUT-SUT" - takes some getting used to due to the humorous start of the song musically but is a great Zappa-like song with the last 5 minutes being very impressive with great guitar work. (8:57) 2. "No Raven Tonight" (9:00) 3. "Perseids" (14:12)