PINUP GURU

THE TRUE HEIR TO RICK WAKEMAN? TOMAS BODIN PULLS OUT ALL THE STOPS.

I'm not sure if PINUP GURU can be considered an, erm, truly mature work of art. Tomas Bodin certainly enjoys plenty of bombast: he opens this album with an over-the-top fake church-organ outburst, and he has scattered a lot of pompous ah-ah-ah-ing (on mellotron, of course) through many of his compositions. The second track, "What's Going On", sets the tone for the rest of the album: race-with-the-devil solos on moog and hammond organ are interspersed with pseudo-symphonic interludes (usually rather melancholic in nature) until the piece finally degenerates into a 1970s B-movie soundtrack.

But many of Bodin's virtuoso solos are so exciting, many of his melancholic movie-style motifs are so memorable, and plainly Bodin is having so much fun that we must conclude this is probably the most entertaining prog keyboardist's solo-album without vocals (and without guitars!) since the 1970s.

Who else would combine a tribute to James Bond movies with wild gospel-style hammond organ (accompanied by what sounds like a fervent prayer meeting) the way Bodin does, in "Harlem Heat"? And who else would pair ethnic (?) dance music (presumably from the Balkans) with ultra-cool Fender Rhodes-dominated fusion, the way Bodin does in "New in the 'Hood"?

This music may not be quite on the same level as THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII or RICK WAKEMAN'S CRIMINAL RECORD but it comes close, and it's helped tremendously by Jonas Reingold's prominent (Squire-like) bass and Zoltan Csörsz machine-gun drumming. I'm surprised PINUP GURU hasn't attracted more attention here. If you enjoy wild proggy keyboards, get a copy while you can.