Jordan Rudess - Feeding the Wheel

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Free Music Notes for Feeding the Wheel

Free Music Review: Dazzling virtuosity _and_ good songs.
Hit: 5 Stars

If you buy this album, what should you be expecting? That's a difficult question to answer...Feeding the Wheel is so musically diverse it can't be easily described. I'd say you can expect a bit of everything: prog, jazz, funk, techno, space rock, world music, classical, and probably more other styles than I even know exist. Guest musicians include the mighty John Petrucci (of course you know who he is, neuhrg), the excellent drummer Terry Bozzio, Steve Morse (awesome guitarist of the Dixie Dregs; plays some great solos on a few songs), and master bassist Billy Sheehan stops by to play some funk bass on "Crack the Meter."

After a voice-only intro, the albums moves into "Quantum Soup," one of the most exciting instruments I've ever heard. The myriad influences come together very nicely, and the great jazz section in the middle is worth the price of the entire CD. The ending is purely majestic. On "Shifting Sands," Rudess' conquering leads, supported by beautiful string synths, carry the song in beautiful directions. "Dreaming in Titanium" (cool name for a song!) is full of quirky percussion, a classical piano solo, and funky riffs. "Ucan Icon" is nuts! Weird industrial techno sounds and bizarre prancing synth patches drives the song towards it's exciting finale, which is a frenzy of leads and others crazy sounds. The funk-driven "Crack the Meter" is pure ear-candy. The keyboard/guitar duels of Rudess and Morse are a delight to listen to. "Headspace" is the "ballad" of the album, with gentle, icy layers of synths and pretty piano lines with quiet percussion. A guy named Eugene Friesen plays cello on this song. "Revolving Door" is one of the album's most insanely eclectic pieces, featuring some beautiful pianos, sinister orchestral movements, crazy solos, and a brief rap interlude! The amazing thing is that it all comes together very well, and though the song is close to 9-minutes long, it goes by fast! "Interstices" four minutes of piano, with a number of different styles all mixed together without a visible seam.

I think the review that said Feeding the Wheel felt like "one long keyboard solo" calls for a rebuttal. Everyone's entitled to either like or dislike the album, but I don't think that statement was accurate in any way. Jordan Rudess is a phenomenal player, and he doesn't hold back. But most importantly, he has written good songs on this album. The melodies are catchy, the songs are entertaining and quirky. Songs often contain a solo or two, and some might say that's "indulgent"...but don't most songs feature solos at their peak of intensity? Yes, of course. The soaring keyboard solos at the finale of "Quantum Soup" are very triumphant in tone and also melodic, so it's not just pointless "wanking." Does the album feel random and weird? No...I think it's just the CD moving to the next track. The individual tunes are each pretty unique, and songs flow logically and are very cohesive.

Any progressive rocker keyboardist that buys this album will be blown away, I'm certain. Fans of Rudess and Liquid Tension Experiment should also be delighted.

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