HIGH CLASS IN BORROWED SHOES

Welcome to the planet which is Max Webster! The zaniness really strarts here. Everything they tried to accomplish on their first self titled album meets the consistency/quality factor. Not a bummer in the lot. Every track makes a statement. It's worth mentioning that Max Webster is a band unto themselves, not unlike the Planet Gong. If you enjoy quality '70s rock, you can't go wrong with _High Class In Borrowed Shoes_. Who else would self-depricate themselves like this on an album cover like Max Webster? Maybe Procol Harum, but Max Webster is clearly a band for the converted. Side One is the spacy side, _Diamonds Diamonds_, _Gravity_, Words To Words_...lyrically bizarre thanks to the fifth unofficial member, lyricist - Pye Dubois(the same guy that wrote the lyrics to Rush's _Tom Sawyer_). Side 2 starts off with _America's Veins_, a heavy rocker with lyrical content observing the American dream in the '70s from the other side of the Canada/USA border. Then there's _Oh War!_, a must for every prog.rock fan worth their salt. Probably the most difinitive use of a keyboard since ELP's _Lucky Man_, yet you've never heard it on the radio. Just when you thought Keith Emerson, Mike Ratledge(of Soft Machine) or Dave Stewart(of National Health/Hatfield & The North) could come up with the most persuasive keyboard sounds, in comes Terry Watckinson to kick the door down. It hits you like a brick wall much like the guitar solo from Robert Fripp on Brian Eno's _Distributed Being_(from Eno's Nerve Net_ 1992) for those familiar with such a track. It's as though someone tapped Terry Watckinson on the shoulder and yelled: SOLO! Yep, the keyboard solo comes right out of nowhere. A real delight. Disclaimer: the f-bomb is dropped only once in this song. _On The Road_ is the definitive Max Webster ballad and _Rain Child_ has a 4/4 time drum intro that could only sound _progressive_ from the snare and kick drum of one Gary McCracken. _In Context The Moon_ concludes the album but begins the Moon-trilogy of the following album, then concludes on the album _A Million Vacations_ with the instrumental SUN VOICES/MOON VOICES. This is the beginning of three 5 star albums in a row from the Max Machine. This is where the curious prog.rock fan should begin.