bristol@houxo.UUCP (N.BRISTOL) (07/27/83)
Eddie Jobson has an album out on Capital called "Zinc - The Green
Album." Eddie plays Yamaha CS 80 and Mini-Moog synthesizers,
that Yamaha electric grand piano, and an acrylic violin.
He also sings.
There are other assorted musicians playing bass, drums, and guitars,
but the only guy that I recognized was Gary Green, the old Gentle
Giant guitarist.
If you are familiar with UK, the album has few surprises. Most
of the tunes are progressive-type rock tunes with lots of
synthesizers, 7/4 and maybe 5/4 time signatures, and parallel fifths.
Nowadays, rock compositions are more simple and basic than they
were back in the 70's. This makes progressive rock sound a
little pretentious, maybe even pompous. The tunes on Zinc
are interesting but they sound dated. If Eddie Jobson
had been born eight years earlier, he probably would have
been the king of the progressive rock keyboard players.
About Eddie's voice, it's thin and strained. He disguises
it with echo, lots of harmony singing, and processing.
It fits the material very well. His lyrics are passable,
but then, I'll tolerate silly lyrics if I like the music.
Eddie's voice sounds a little like Thomas Dolby's. In fact,
the album reminds me of Thomas Dolby.
I'm a die-hard Eddie Jobson fan and I like this album
despite the criticisms that I mentioned. I think
most Eddie Jobson fans will like the album, too.
Gil Bristol
houxo!bristol