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: : REVIEW : :
Alien Cowboys is an innocuous little all-instrumental four-piece
which seems content to be just that. No vocals, no keyboards, just guitar, bass, and
drums. The good news is that with such a simple and predictable arrangement, they
were able to get nice production on this album, Analogtherapy. The bad news is that
the music is not at all ambitious, and won’t get much play from fans of more
progressive music.
In its defense, the tracks are all distinct and unique. This
disc proves that you can have plenty of variation between songs even when you have
no variation in your arrangement. A lot of that comes from the guitar production.
The lead always sounds nice, and the rhythm guitar often made me wonder if I was
hearing a synth in the background. (Something like that is definitely going on in
“Rolling Thunder : Buffalo Chant”.)
But in some respects, I could use a lot more variation. The drum parts do little
more than keep the existing beat, when they have the opportunity to be adding to the
composition. Even with a small kit and a straight 4/4 time signature, a drummer can
add so much more to a song than what I’m hearing here. (Heavy Vegetable comes to
mind as an example of what is possible.) Also, the bass lines often follow the chords
pretty directly, when they could be adding a little more to the chord stack (an
exception is the melodic bass part on the song “Castanets”, my favorite on the disc
- although, again, the song is called “Castanets”, gimme some interesting percussion
or something!).
With all of that said, as an album that isn’t meant to be taken seriously or
analyzed, this does a good job. Having this on at a party will keep peoples’ feet
tapping consistently. All these nicely-produced guitar melodies are genuinely
appealing. Some of what I’m hearing would work great as a film score, actually. Or a
TV show theme. There’s no shame in that. However, fans of progressive music
generally crave a little more. It’s not vocals or keyboards that we’re looking for,
but we prefer a little more complex structure than what is offered here.
Rating: 4/10 Keyboards
Bob Amaden
Visit the artist website:
Alien Cowboys
:: DISCOGRAPHY ::
1998: Alien Cowboys (Self Debut)
2000: Analogtherapy
2002: Other Space
You can purchase this CD at: Fossil Records
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