VARIATIONS ON A DREAM (AS ART ROCK CIRCUS)

I am as much a fan of strange time signatures and music moving in strange directions as the next proghead, but with this album it seems that I am somewhat missing the point. This just doesn't feel like a full-blown release to me, as if there isn't something not fully formed. Part of that has to be down to the production, the quality of which seems to vary greatly throughout the album, as well as the music itself. There are passages, and indeed songs, where this is truly striking. There is a great deal going on, and it all makes musical sense. Who needs vocals when the music is as complex and dynamic as this? But, there are other times when it just doesn't seem to gel, and to my ears 'Variation 7' would have sounded even better without the bass, as the drums and vibraphone do enough to more than carry it through.

Overall, it is an album that to me contains a lot of promise, with Zappa and ELP being just two of the many influences on display, and the use of disharmony and repeated melodic structures are mostly well done, but overall this is an album that I just couldn't warm to. It isn't right to give this a 2, but also it doesn't really justify a 3, 2.5 would be the right measure in this instance.