PRECIPICE

Steve Unruh is, to be sure, a refreshing whirlwind of energy, virtuosity, and sonic excellence, whether he is operating with his own material or his numerous contributions to and/or collaborations with other prog artists. His fearless mastery of dozens of instruments alone is worthy of avid attention and respect, but his skill in the engineering and production room is, to me, equally astonishing; his presence has, in my humble opinion, vastly improved the performance levels as well as sound quality in every project with which he has been involved.

Precipice is listed as Steve's ninth solo release (since 1997! I always think of him as a "young newcomer"!) There are, without doubt, some monster songs and performances here but, as before, I find Steve's personal song structure a bit of an acquired taste (especially his voice)--one that I have not yet mastered (totally acquired). As with many prog artists, I marvel at his instrumental prowesses as well as his compositional choices (in terms of both instrumental palette and directionally), yet, at the end of the day, find myself never quite fully connecting to his music. I truly appreciate his contributions to Prog World--especially the way he champions the acoustic side of rock instrumentation but also in his dedicated commitment to manual mastery of the instruments he chooses. (Did I mention that Steve plays all instruments and engineered and produced this album all on his own?)

1. "Luxury Denial" (10:38) a totally unique, pop-folkie JTULL-esque set of songs melded and packaged into a nice 11-minute epic. (18/20)

2. "Uncharted Waters" (4:18) opens with a sad kind of minor chord pop feel with electric guitar and keyboard chords while Steve sings. The flute playing is great. (8.5/10)

3. "Send the Sunshine" (5:41) pure retro-JTULL for fast-movin' flute-driven first 2:30, then things slow down to a more old-time folk feel (Contra dance, anyone?) as the strings (violin, bass, take turns at the front and center for a couple minutes. When the music returns to full speed in the fifth minute, the violin keeps the lead while a full complement of folk-rock instruments bob and weave in support. (8.75/10)

4. "Reckoning" (9:00) opens gently, spaciously, with part-Will Ackerman, mostly-Spanish feel as acoustic guitars dominate until the light Spanish tapestry fills and settles into a supporting role for Steve to sing over. Things darken and deepen in a Porcupine Tree way in the third minute. As the song gets progressively heavier (matched by Steve's aggressive delivery of angry lyrics), I'm really liking this; that fourth minute was awesome. The fifth minute ends with a solo Spanish guitar, which is then joined by Steve's GENTLE GIANT/IAN ANDERSON-like singing in the sixth. At 6:30 an instrumental section begins imply though ominously before slowly building into a full band exposition with trilling flute, electric guitar, and violin trading solos. (18/20)

5. "Suspension" (2:09) kalimba and African percussion supporting flute solo. Nice African-feeling melody! (4.5/5)

6. "Constellation" (5:39) strummed acoustic guitar with Steve singing. Joined at the one minute mark by trip hoppy drum program and sitar. Interesting instrumental choices! At the two minute mark another shift takes us into some gut-wrenchingly beautiful music: chords, harmonics, melodies, it's all orgasmically gorgeous! But then it reverts back to acoustic guitar--this time picked in arpeggiated chords--with support from bass. At the end of the fifth minute multiple wind instruments enter. It sounds so ANTHONY PHILLIPS-ish! Then children's voices enter to signal the beginning of the song's deconstruction and finish. Beautiful! (9.5/10)

7. "Precipice" (9:42) opens sounding as if Porcupine Tree and KBB had teamed up around 2002. Great chorus with "silly life" lyric! The amped up passion in Steve's voice starting at the end of the third minute is so powerful and moving! There's a lot of familiar sound and feel here to the music of much under-appreciated GUY MANNING. Actually makes me want to cue up some of Guy's solo albums. Nice TONY PATTERSON-like vocal layering in the seventh minute--after which the soundscape broadens out with mandolin and lots of guitars in support of an instrumental section. UNITOPIA-sounding section as the vocals pick back up in the ninth minute. Glad to hear the return of that awesome chorus one more time before the song builds into its finale. Excellent! (18.5/20)

Total Time 47:07

I find it interesting that Steve had just completed a significant collaboration with UNITOPIA founder MARK TRUECK on this year's UNIVERSAL PROGRESSIVE FRATERNITY release, Planetary Overload, Part 1 - Loss--and album that I am very familiar and fond of--because there were many times, both sonically and lyrically, in which I found myself thinking I was back in that UPF album--even vocally!

A-/five stars; a minor-masterpiece of progressive rock music coming from the folk-rock angle.