 Steve Lukather
 and Friends - SantaMental
 Review by Gary Hill

While this album technically is probably not progressive rock, it is (mostly) fusion. I’ve always felt the boundaries between those two styles were quite elusive, so I’m including the disc here. The truth is that most prog-heads will probably enjoy this disc. One other note here – this was actually released last year, but my promo didn’t come until the December issue was up. So, I have saved it all this time to feature it here. It was worth the wait. While you won’t get the traditional treatments of Christmas classics with this one, Lukather has brought a new approach and flavor to the material we all know and love. There are really few weak points here, and even then they are only so weak. If you want something different for your holiday musical palate, this comes highly recommended. In addition to the guests listed separately in each track review, Jeff Babco and Gregg Bissonette are on every cut but the closer, which is all Lukather. John Pierce is also on nearly every track, although it might be a little hard to figure that out - as his name seems to change a bit on every credit (or at least the section in quotes does). Lenny Castro is another regular appearing on roughly half of the songs here.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2006 Volume 6 at lulu.com/strangesound.
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