Ludus reinforce their image of a crazy (cool) band. This one shows a lot of 60s-70s prog/zeuhl/etc influences, with longer tracks that go bonkers and with complex song structures with long instrumental sections. After a kinda meh alb intro, 1's unfold into DnB + bass is quite cool, and after 2:30 the prog evolutions get super cool. This is not playlistable at all, but it has an impressive number of vibe and rhythm changes that make for an sweetly kaleidoscopic track. They retained their jazz fusion feel too. The end of the track is very chaotic and feels like two songs playing at once. 2-3 are much simpler with lots of groove to them but without losing their grit fully. The transition into 4 is incredible, and the track onwards has some friggin cool sections but also some weird experimentation eg. in the midtrack. 5 is the only track here that doesn't excite me at any point really and is just from the get go weirdness for the sake of it. 6 again has a lot of weird instrumental improv? stuff, which feels long after 5 and temporarily drops this to a 3.9, even though the track does a lot better with its weirdness. It takes a specific mood (even moreso than Ludus in general do), but some of it is really cool like the piano starting about min 7. 7 is a much more normal Ludus song and features some great guitars, and 8 is also one of the most readily fun songs here wiht some truly beautiful guitar work before a stunning album conclusion that washes out into a superb lush pad of ambienty reverb (and some screams). Crazy impressive for 1980, and the outro alone gains a point. 4.1
Bump |