U.S.A

This is yet another fine recording brought through the upstart Canadian label, Unicorn Records who are proving to have quite an impressive stable of artists in both fusion and progressive music: Spaced Out, Hamadryad, Mystery, Heon & Xinema to name a few. The music of Addison's Project will fit squarely between both prog and fusion, with a little something extra to offer. The band gets its name from composer, producer, bassist Richard Addison, who has a background as a progressive and jazz musician, he has also been involved with the bands Sojourn & Mystery. The Addison Project is the first such release under this bands name, and from the quality of music here, I can only hope there is more to come. Addison enlists the assistance of many other Canadian musicians on this CD, none of which I have heard of before, but I can assure you, they are all high calibre performers, lending well to the highest standards of musicianship displayed on this debut.

About the music, somewhere between progressive rock, and fusion is where the band dwells, highlighting on intricate arrangements paired with the showcasing of certain performers soloing. One might think this is the formula for so many fusion artists these days, but the music has much more going on in the way of compositional definition. It's something of a combination of Zappa's more focused work, with some hints of Miriodir's whacky interplay. There is also a wide spectrum of moods employed they can sprinkle some bits of RIO and metally guitars together with great effect.

The music captivates the senses with its radical personality shifts, it's as if a schizophrenic musical genius was writing on psychedelics. I am not implying that Addison is a madman or a chemically inspired, it is just that his writing skills are borrowing from so many backgrounds. Suffice it to say, the results are nothing but refreshing. He manages to integrate a vast array of instruments and talents, into a dazzling display of complexity and groove. There are not many artists that would dare go to the extremes that Addison has on a debut effort. As the bands bassist, you would think he would have made this a bass-forward recording, but he has cast his ego aside to present a very impressive album of concise and detailed music.

Another great recording from Unicorn here, and as I stated before in this review, hopefully we will get a chance to follow Mr. Addison’s future efforts as well, this is a darn fun CD to crank up.

MJ Brady / Prognosis  - Progressive Rock & Fusion  (July 2003)

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