Member:
Darksinger
Date:
7/23/2005
Okay, for starters, if I saw this thing sitting on a shelf in a record store, I would most likely have passed it over. The cover, with its paper cut out font and rather flat color, looks more like a world music CD than a progressive rock CD. While it is probably refreshing to some that it did not have the usual prog rock subject matter of dragons, starships and computer generated art, it is also not the sort of cover to draw the attention of a prog rock fan. That is just the beginning of my issues with this offering from 9 on Bali.
The album overall strikes me as inconsistent (although I will admit I am not a ready fan of acoustic progressive music). There seems at times a forced attempt to showcase the diverse influences of this band-all at once. It's as if they want to mix all of the band's influences at once-melding prog with Beatles and alternative-and coming up with an uninteresting, muddied painting. I don't think every song should sound the same, but there is a lack of flow that is present in most music I listen to-a definite direction or purpose is missing.
"My Poor Blue Projector is one of the best tracks on this album and probably one that most prog fans will fall in love with. The song is more driving than its predecessors and actually has interesting hooks to it. The musical elements seem to work together instead of in contradiction to each other. The vocals are more lively. I'm still wondering what is in the background that sounds like an invasion of cats, though. "Gist" follows the "Projector" nicely, although the feedback guitar going on in the background is a bit annoying, but it does not detract from the overall song.
"For Turntable & Orchard" comes across as a weak Ozric Tentacles attempt at first, but it seems to rejoin "Projector" and "Gist" as it progresses. If they could hack off that weak beginning, "Turntable" would be a very good song. "(Radar)" and "At His Cordial Best" are two of the worst tracks on here-uninteresting guitar and clichéd lyrics. There is also an annoying piece called the "Trampoliner" that would have better remained an outtake for a future hardcore Bali on 9 fan boxed set.
Most of the rest of the album sounds like something you would hear from a public radio touting "open-minded" alternative with a lounge act vocals tagged on-nothing great but nothing overly unique-with any prog rock elements seeming like a sore thumb than a complement. 9 On Bali needs to focus on creating a consistent feel to their music and on arranging their music to flow well into each other without either conflicting or becoming boring.
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