KEEPING UP

This second album by the obscure Jonesy is a veritable mellotron strings fest, augmented with real brass. Although comparisons to early King Crimson have some validity, I would place them somewhere between KC and the proto prog group Spring in their orientation.

At times Jonesy gets a little out there into the world of improv, such as on "Critique (With Exceptions)", but they can also get very song oriented as in the lovely "Sunset and Evening Star", and set moods deftly, as in "Preview". All these facets are best combined on the album closer "Children", which features mellotron played at a relatively fast clip, rocking vocal sections very reminiscent of the aforementioned Spring, pastoral winds, and an impressive buildup with various degrees of experimentation.

If you are totally into beautiful mellotron, this is pretty highly recommended, as long as you realize that Jonesy was at their best when simply keeping up with what was fashionable 3 or 4 years earlier. 3.5 stars, rounded down for that reason.