April 14, 2011

The Spectacle intro is long, but I don’t find it terribly interesting in this case. Story is pretty generic dance jamming. Nothing here terribly interesting. The progression right before they start Bombs that they hit is really neat, but probably not worth relistening. Bombs has sort of a “middle” jam here which is basically an extension of the ending section. The Waves jam here is solid for the first several minutes and features some soaring themes from Magner. However, after not too long they switch to DNB for the Spaga transition and what results is less than impressive. Second Spaga jam is pretty basic.

Dribble starts with a short intro jam that’s basically just a vamp into the intro. The first Dribble jam is pretty forgettable for me, as many Dribble jams tend to be. Magner has some nice lead line here but they never go anywhere, a common complaint of mine about Dribble first jams. It almost sounds for a while like they’re headed toward an Air Song intro, but they unfortunately do not. They pick up pace and head to RLH, and the segue in is mostly fine. The first RLH is a head-bobber, plain and simple. The band locks in immediately to a great groove and carries it throughout this jam. The second RLH jam is really nice as well. Again, nothing too outside the box, just solid playing. Barber comes up with a great riff at the 17-minute mark and uses this for several minutes. Pretty good Confrontation peak. The Confrontation jam is nothing unique at all, but Jesus Christ is it hypnotic. It has such a great pocket for much of the jam. I will admit, I was disappointed when Allen dropped the house beat at the 10-minute mark as the previous portion was so ridiculously catchy. The second Dribble jam gets into a bunch of tomwork from Allen and this becomes a pretty unique, unusual jam. The Feeling Twisted jam is immediately cool. Super digital from Magner, and I wish that Allen would drop some e-drums here as they would fit perfectly. The rest of this jam (the return to RLH) is mediocre. The Tunnel jam is bleh. Fiddler jam is okay but pretty much standard.

Highlights: RLH (1, 2), Confrontation*, Dribble (2), Feeling Twisted