The Jelly Jam wins hands-down for most aptly titled band/album of the year so far. This is one extended jam session by three of today's top performers at their respective instruments. Nearly every song ends with all three going to town with their tools, giving the album the feel of a live show.
The line-up has Ty Tabor (King's X) on lead guitar and vocals, John Myung (Dream Theater) on bass, and Rod Morgenstein (Dixie Dregs) on drums. The Jelly Jam is a new incarnation of Platypus (minus Derek Sherinian of Planet X, formerly of Dream Theater), which had released two albums.
This time, without keyboards, they are tighter, more progressive, and have a clearer direction, especially when compared to the first Platypus album, When Pus Comes to Shove, which veered all over the musical spectrum.
"No Remedy" might well have been titled "Platypus Gets Lost in Germany." Like the track from King's X self-titled album, this song is also carried along by a groovy guitar lead (with a wah in this case) and is accentuated with timing breaks, even stopping in one part for pure vocal harmonics before letting Morgenstein loose in a Moby Dickish frenzy.
"Feeling" is reminiscent of Tabor's solo work and also reflects his recent Foo Fighters fetish.
"Reliving" has that heavy, slow, punctuated feel of a "Goldilox" or "Pleiades," but with a haunting vocal echo. It also stands out as a cheerfully nostalgic note in an album for which lyricist Tabor draws inspiration from the heartbreak of his recent divorce.
This is when The Jelly Jam really starts to kick your posterior. The next track, "The Jelly Jam," begins with all three weaving atmospheric masterpieces. A few minutes into the track, Morgenstein starts going off on his own with the sticks, Myung follows with perfect progressive bass fills, then Tabor enters with solos the likes of which only those who have seen him perform live have heard til now. None of his previous work covering more than a dozen albums comes close to capturing it. This one does and that by itself is reason enough to buy The Jelly Jam.
But all three musicians are at their peak in The Jelly Jam. I'd tell you to run and pick it up, but unfortunately this album is too good to be in most stores. You'd have better luck finding it on the Web at CDNow, Cheap-CDs.com or one of those places.
5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth June 2002Reviewed by Brian A. SmithWhen King's X signed with Metal Blade Records, it allowed them to do one thing that Atlantic Records would not permit: the pursuit and release of side projects. Doug Pinnick has done so under the names Poundhound and Supershine. Ty Tabor has released two solo albums, and two more collaborations as Platypus. The world still awaits the upcoming Jerry Gaskill project. Platypus was comprised of…
