Dreadnaught - "Musica en Flagrante"
(Big Balloon Music 2004, BBM1101)
Dreadnaught - "Musica en Flagrante"
(Big Balloon Music 2004, BBM1101)
Uploaded to Aural Innovations: July 2004
By reading up on the gumpf of the bio, I learn that Dreadnaught are the darling boys of prog rock and that they are worthy of a listen... So as I sit down, with headphones strapped firmly onto my ears, I prepared myself to give you a documented account of that experience, and hopefully give you another side of the coin.
I was cast through emotions and hauled along by the almost jazz aspects and by the musicianship on these 19 tracks. I inwardly seem to groove to the intermission music, and become laid back by the tang of that groove. It is a moving music, and it is on similar grounds to that of certain Zappa manic tracks, and as one reviewer puts it, ‘Zappa at Willie Nelsons BBQ Sound check’, and I can say that this is a good term to use.
It is stop/start music and it jumps different ships every other minute, and it is for this reason that folks love/hate prog styled stuff. I, however, am not a big fan of prog, but I can say that I am not naïve of its gems, and I can see where Dreadnaught are coming from, and I like it. The music glides and flows, it jives and it grooves, and it dashes over its 19 songs frantically with some very nice riffs and structures.
As far as musicians, we have Bob Lord: electric bass, keys and programming, Justin Walton: keys, guitar, sax, piano and rhodes, Tim Haney: Drums, Andy Harpnel: Violin, Duncan watt: keys, and Ed Jurdi: harmonica. And together they make this CD a trip through phases of distinct flavor, and one that any prog fan should own.
I find that the whole CD brings a concept like feel, and it has distinct similarities to the likes of King Crimson and Zappa, and the organ and bass work is quite stunning. That is not to say that the other musicians are not worthy of mention because they are, and it is together that Dreadnaught create sometimes manic, sometimes laid back grooves that ride you over to the land of the Jazz Café/Madhouse to great effect.
As I am not a real prog fan I can only say that if I was I would be a big fan of Dreadnaught, and if any of you are on the lookout for new stuff in this field then I strongly suggest getting hold of this CD because as far as prog goes I liked it, and felt that passion and energy were the main attributes as well as the workmanship of the production and the recording. So on the whole Dreadnaught are worthy of a listen, and that goes to non prog fans also, because there is a lot of interesting stuff going on here. But at heart it is prog, and I am glad to say that it is totally instrumental, so not to worry about any shit lyrics.
For more information you can visit the Dreadnaught web site at: http://www.dreadnaught.com.
Email at: info@redfezrecords.com.
Contact via snail mail c/o Big Balloon Music; 21908 49th Place West; Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043.
Reviewed by Albert Pollard