Rocket Science
Ironically, there's not as much rocket science here in terms of hi-tech gear and virtuosic writing as there was on early 1990s Tribal Tech albums. But there's no shortage of the stratospheric activity we've come to expect from this most enduring and creative of fusion bands. That's particularly obvious in the stunning title track, which opens with a delightfully chaotic barrage of metallic, ring-modulated guitar fromScott Henderson, before being soundly underpinned by a solid funk groove from Gary Willis and Kirk Covington and building to a gloriously savage, demonic climax. (Lovers of Henderson's great blues album,Dog Party, will note that he doesn't fail to spotlight one of his mutts here.) Like TT's previous album,Thick, this one's based on studio jams, and if that results in a mite less color than in their composed works, the set shows we don't need the starshipEnterpriseto take us well out of this world.--Mark Gilbert