1984

"1984" is the debut full-length studio album by UK, progressive rock/jazz-rock fusion artist High Hopper. The album was released in 1973 through CBS Records. It was recorded at Advision Studios, London during the months of July and August, 1972. At this point Hopper was still a member of Soft Machine, but he exited the group shortly after the release of "1984". The title of the album is inspired by George Orwell's novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (no other conceptual connection as far as I can hear).

The original album features six tracks and a total playing time of 42:39 minutes. A few tracks feature only Hopper playing over experimental tape loops (predominantly bass and saxophone) but some tracks feature session musicians and are jazz-rock fusion pieces ("Minipax I", "Minitrue", and "Miniplenty"). The jazz-rock fusion tracks are decent enough and fans of Soft Machine´s contemporary jazz-rock fusion releases will probably enjoy that part of the album. But then there´s the avant-garde/experimental part of the album, which is a more challenging and difficult listen. Especially 14:39 minutes long album opener "Minipax" which is an odd avant-garde composition, which sounds like it´s one long improvisational piece. It´s a pretty redundant piece of musis which goes nowhere.

"1984" is a well produced release, featuring an organic and detailed sounding production job, which perfectly suits the material. So "1984" is a quality release in most departments, but Hopper should have left some of the most experimental ideas off the album, and it would have been more consistent and ultimately also stronger. A 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.