MIKE KENEALLY & BEER FOR DOLPHINS: SLUGGO !

Spectacular Guitar + Fun + Humor = Sluggo!

Sluggo! is Mike Keneally's third studio album, playing with the band Beer for Dolphins, and it rocks! Although I don't own everything by Mike Keneally yet, this is one of my favorites and an overall excellent album with no real major downfalls. A little background on Mike Keneally, he is most noted for playing as the stunt guitarist for Frank Zappa, a big influence on his music, before pursuing a solo career.

Like the rest of Keneally's discography, Sluggo! is full of virtuoso guitar playing mixed together with a lot of humor, whimsicalness, hooks, and pure fun. Actually, I prefer Keneally's humor to Zappa's, since it isn't quite as offensive and childish, and once in a while it actually makes me laugh out loud, which is rare in music for me. It's more likely just put a big smile on my face, which is also a great thing. This album is very upbeat, guaranteed to pick you up and keep you hooked for the rest of the day. Honestly, every time I hear the song "Potato," I can't get it out of my head for days. Most of this album is catchy, but not in an accessible-catchy sense, more of a funny-song-with-hooks-yet-is-still- unique sense. The rest of the musicians here are talented, although this is not as evident as Keneally's talent, which is also shown here on the piano! I don't really consider Sluggo! to be avant prog, although it has weirder moments sometimes, it's not nearly as abstract as virtually all other avant prog I've heard.

4 stars, an "Excellent addition to any prog music collection." Most open-minded progressive rock fans can find something to like here, especially ones familiar with Zappa. Admittedly, I'm no Zappa fanboy in the slightest, but I love Keneally's work regardless. Also great for technical guitarists and fans of virtuoso music who would like to try something a little bit more laid back and fun than the ultra-serious, melodramatic playing of some popular technical guitar wizards of the modern day.

Mike Keneally's third album is a step down from his first two albums. The music is still remarkable, and often reminiscent of the great Frank Zappa, but what is missing is that feeling of inspired insanity that permeated Hat and Boil That Dust Speck. That doesn't make it a bad album. It is still a Mike Keneally album, and therefore full of astounding music.

The first part of the album starts out schizophrenically, alternating between inventive guitar driven rock, Potato (a very funny song), Why Am I Your Guy? and Frozen Beef (Come With Me, and more off-the-wall Zappa-like songs, the great I, Drum Running, Am Clapboard Bound and Looking For Nina. The album then settles into a smoother set of songs, the quirky but fun Tranquillado, a strangely compelling Chatfield Manor (sort of giving directions to Keneally's friend's house, all the way to the best song on the album, the gloriously RIO Egg Zooming.

Strangely enough, the worst song on the album (but not really terrible, just out of place) is the final track, the title piece, Sluggo, a honky tonk piano solo. If you think ELP's honky tonk didn't fit their albums, you ain't heard nothin' yet.

3.5 stars. I do prefer this slightly to "Boil That Dust Speck" from 3 years earlier. Still it's a long album like that one at over 73 minutes with 16 tracks, and a lot of hits and misses. He dedicates this record to Kevin Gilbert and John Coltrane. The music connects more to what Gilbert was doing, you know all that humour and commercial sounding music. Mike's got five different drummers involved along with Bryan Beller on bass. One of the drummers is Mike Mangini and it's interesting that Mangini, Beller and Keneally would all be on that first MULLMUZZLER album fronted by James LaBrie about three years after this one. That was a two star album in my world but not as bad as that FRAMESHIFT debut that LaBrie was involved with.

There are two tracks here that standout for me including Frozen Beef(Come With Me)" that has vocals and is a little heavier than the rest. The bass is great here. The other is the instrumental called "Egg Zooming" that has a Zappa vibe and is jazzy. Like "Boil That Dust Speck" this does not end well with those last four songs.

This is an entertaining release though as most of Mike's are, but also a mixed bag, as most of Mike's are.