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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Gideon King & City Blog Upscale Madhouse Review by Gary Hill As with the last album I reviewed from this act, I'm setting this under progressive rock. It's not really a tight fit by any means, but the mix of jazz and rock along with pop music comes close. There are some songs here that have the weirdness of Frank Zappa merged with the smooth pop elements of Steely Dan. All in all, this set it entertaining and quite interesting. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2018 Volume 4. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2018.

Track by Track Review

Going Straight to Hell Percussion leads out here, and this works to something a bit space rock like as the introduction continues. This makes its way out to classy, jazzy sounds. There is a lot of Steely Dan built into this thing. Still, it manages to maintain some of that space music thing. I dig the little bass workout at the end.

Upscale Madhouse There is a dreamy kind of mellow vibe to this tune. It has some definite art rock and jazz in the mix. I really dig the jazz guitar solo on this.

Broken & Beautiful While there is an accessible kind of main song structure to this that lands it more in line with pop and adult contemporary music, this really shines on some of the instrumental exploration. There is some real jazz at play during that part of the cut. I dig the fusion guitar solo movement, too.

Fake it on Facebook I really love the jazz groove on this killer cut. The keyboard solo section is a powerhouse on this thing. It really brings the fusion and even prog rock to beat.

Love you Love you Love you This number is jazzy, mellow and so cool. It's a catchy piece that works particularly well.

Gun to My Head Intricate acoustic guitar work serves as the opening section here. The cut works out from there to a jam that has a lot of soulful sound built into it. This is part rock and part jazz. It's also all cool. There is some smoking hot fusion guitar soloing in this later.

For Your Own Sake A piano led arrangement starts this. The cut works out with some killer jazzy sounds at its heart. I dig the guitar soloing on this number.

So Evolved With a soulful female vocal performance, this has some serious parental advisories on the lyrics. Musically, it's a classy jazz styled mellower piece.

God, I'm So Alone More purely jazzy, this is another cool tune. I can make out some hints of Stevie Wonder on this one in some ways, but Prince in others. This one also earns a parental advisory.

Look Ma No Hands This track is only about a minute long and probably half of that is silence. The rest includes an echoey voice and little bits of guitar.

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