I think all rock fans were surprised when Joe had huge success with Surfing With The Alien, as rock instrumental albums weren’t supposed to be that popular. So there was a bit of pressure on the follow up to see if it was a fluke. Also, the first album was mostly electronic drums so it’s nice to hear a real drummer on this album. If anything, this album is better than Alien.
The opening title track is superb and I love the the melody of the guitar and that driving groove. In fact, the driving factor throughout the record is how well Joe creates guitar melody’s and hooks from what usually would be vocal lines. There are some super creative pieces on here with the use of peddles, sounds, and tones like on the track Headless where it sounds like a harmonica is being used.
Of course the big thing on this album is having tracks with vocals, and the best of those for me is Strange with that off time funky groove. Big Bad Moon has the riff to On The Road Again, only with some serious guitar overload. The best of the instrumental tracks is The Bells of Lal Part Two. The guitar playing is just insane and if you want to know why everyone raves about Joe, then go no further than here. I’m a big fan of Joe and he continues to make great records.
9.5/10 from The Grooveman.
