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Lake The Blast of Silence Review by Gary Hill The Blast of Silence represented a new album from Lake, but it wasn’t the same band who had produced all the classic Lake albums. The sound was reasonably the same, but perhaps more jazz-like. The vocals were different, but still not that far removed from the original vocals. All in all it’s a strong disc, but one that lands further into the pop rock vein than the progressive rock territory where some of their material lived. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2011 Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review

Let's Go To China Drums lead off, then bass joins. Pretty soon the rest of the band comes in and we’re off. This is a bouncy rocker that is pretty classic in terms of Lake sounds. Still, it feels a bit different, too. There are a couple killer guitar solos.

Here We Go Again Vocals open this up in a jazz scat kind of arrangement. The band launch out from there in a jazzy kind of jam, but it shifts out to a more straightforward rock sound from there. There’s more of that scat singing at several points later in the piece, too.

The Sun Will Shine There’s a funky texture to this and it feels a lot like something from Toto. A killer retro sounding keyboard solo takes it at the end.

Night On The Town A funky rocking blues type groove leads off here. They work it through a few changes. This is one of the cuts that feels the most like the Lake of old. It’s also one of the proggiest tunes, feeling like a more progressive rock oriented version of Toto. It’s definitely one of the most dynamic numbers on show. It includes another of those awesome guitar solos.

Dancin' With Steve This one is more like old Lake, but there’s also some of that Toto sound to this, too. There are some great keyboard sounds and it’s a tasty track. We get a powerhouse keyboard solo later in the tune that calls to mind both Rod Argent and Keith Emerson. This is another of the more proggy pieces.

Loving You A balladic number, this is pretty and quite tasty. There are some jazzy moments and it’s rather prog-like. It gets rather energized, but never moves far from its roots. It’s quite a cool tune.

Driving With Your Eyes Closed Another that’s a bit more prog-oriented, this is a cool rocker that’s closer to old-school Lake. It turns a lot more progressive rock leaning later and this is one of the strongest tunes on show.

You Know How I Feel This has a lot of jazz and progressive rock in it, but yet it’s a smooth flowing tune that’s quite catchy. It’s another great tune.

Josie Here is a cover tune. Lake’s sound has always seemed not all that distant from the sound of Steely Dan. They turn their attention to the mighty Dan with this cover. It really fits the more jazzy groove of this album. They throw some awesome progressive rock jamming into the cut.

It's Not My Cross To Bear A live piece, this is a full on blues jam. It doesn’t really sound like Lake, but it’s cool.

Say You Will This is a cool fast paced pop rock number that’s more like the Lake we all know and love. There’s a lot of that jazzy Toto type sound and a smoking hot rocking guitar solo.

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