SCENARIO

On this album Al and long-time collaborator Jan Hammer display their awkward mastery of the new computer-technologies that had come available in the 1980s including drum machines and synth guitars, but more specifically, the Fairlight CMI.

1. "Mata Hari" (6:07) I like the slow build and nice, intricate weave of sophisticated programming with Al and Jan's multiple tracks of guitars and keys on this one. Al duelling with himself is a bit much, but the slightly-Mediterranean sounds and melodies are interesting. A top three song. (8.875/10)

2. "African Night" (4:52) a beautiful creation of something that takes one to tropical places one usually only dreams of. I picture myself looking out over the mesmerizingly shifting colors of the Sahara Desert as I lounge on a reclining chair on a hotel roof top in Marrakesh as the sun is setting behind me, luxuriating in my fruity cocktail. Yes, it's sappy, but Al's begun to master the art of pleasing the listener, not just impressing them. My favorite song on the album. (9.5/10)

3. "Island Dreamer" (4:07) neither an interesting sound palette nor the presence of Phil Collins can save this rather monotonous song from its 80s tedium. (8.7/10)

4. "Scenario" (4:00) Jan plays piano in a pleasant if subtle duet with Al's acoustic guitar(s). This song is an example of how the virtuosity on display in this album's music is oft-times woefully hidden in subtlety and nuance. (8.75/10)

5. "Sequencer" (4:08) Al going full-techno with this "Theme from Miami Vice"-like song. The sounds coming from the drum machines are the worst (as is the metronomic 4/4 snare beat) while those emanating from the guitar synth and Fairlight CMI are pretty decent. The guitar-less first half of the third minute is the most interesting, but Al's partially- muted guitar solo that follows is pretty awesome. (8.875/10)

6. "Cachaca" (5:36) Jan and Al trying to conjure up some kind of techno-funk!? Multiple guitar tracks sometimes feel at odds with each other--as if Al was experimenting with many sounds and styles (and melody lines) filling several tracks and at the end decided to keep them all in the final mix. Almost Allan Holdsworth-like in both its unusual creativity but also the meandering, lost feeling it ends up conveying. Like Allan, maybe Al was so into his own world that he ended up creating music for a different planet? The weird thing is that I actually like it! (8.875/10)

7. "Hypnotic Conviction" (3:52) more techno-rhythm tracks (some surprisingly simple considering the two men behind their creation) over which Jan and Al try fabricating something interesting. There are some nice sounds here but way more cheesy ones playing even cheesier riffs resulting in a rather epic fail. (8.5/10)

8. "Calliope" (4:20) Tony Levin and Bill Bruford's contributions here lift this nicely hypnotic song to a different level. A top three song--and not just for the presence of the Dynamic Duo, but they definitely help. (9/10)

9. "Scoundrel" (3:46) opens with some ominously rock guitar riffing before the country-western drum track joins in. Things settle a little differently for the second motif as Jan's contributions get a chance to show, but then we switch back to the guitar-driven C&W motif, alternating back and forth until the two-minute mark when Jan is given space for one of his old trademark Moog solos--which turns out to be the glove-drop for an on-going duel between he and Al, both trading classic solos back and forth until the song fades out. Good old-fashioned jazz-rock fusion (despite the C&W bent). (8.875/10)

Total Time: 40:48

Al (and Jan) are still on it though they haven't quite figured out how to express instrumental skill and virtuosity on the drum machines and Fairlight CMI sequencing. Sometimes the excellence is buried in the mixes--too subtle for their own good--at other times it's buried in the schlocky sound choices. Still, this is another fairly good album from two of J- R Fusion's masters.

B/four stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially if you can forgive the technological excesses that were the 1980s.