SUBJECT ESQ.

I have a soft spot for Sahara and am in the possession of all three albums. I think they show great progress and have a certain charm in many ways. I may not be able to thruthfully say it is brilliant all the way through, because it isn't. That becomes apparent on this, their debut.

The music on "Subject Esq." is what I would like to call progressive jazz rock. Now, jazz rock or fusion is already a genre in itself so what do I mean? Well, simply that Sahara leans more towards "real" prog than some other jazz rock outfits. That's all. Because they do. Their ambition seems to be, genuinely, to really broaden and deepen jazz rock. It works. Mainly.

The album opens up in great fashion. Really raw and energetic piece of jazz rock, that one. And while all of the tracks show their skills I feel that it sometimes is sort of leading nowhere. Or at least not forward in any true sense of the word. I think that they lose track of what they're doing. Not to the point where it all falls apart in mediocracy but more to the brink of making me as a listener to lose interest.

All in all, this is a good album and it shows the promise of Sahara. There is plenty of life in the desert, as they prove. However, being their debut I guess they really hadn't honed their skills enough to really make that an exceptional imprint on me.

Good enough jazz rock but it does not hold it's own all the way through.