Band:	Concept Project
Album:	Concept Project
Style:	Jazz Fusion, Instrumental rock
Release date:	2008

01. Intro
02. Confused Day
03. Don't Cut The Tree
04. B Blues
05. Spanish Smoke
06. Stop The Funk
07. Burn My Hands
08. Zenabi Blues
09. Outro
10. Rock March [Mozart cover]

Instrumental Rock/Fusion Rock
Recorded: Yellow Sheep Studios, Italy 2008
Label: SG Records
Total Running Time: 31:33


Most reviews around here talk about bands that eat, drink and sleep metal. This one is a bit different. This one is about a metal-driven (or at least rock-driven) effort to narrow the gap with other, let's say more "exotic" music genres.

This totally instrumental and above all honest attempt in mild-melding the listener contains elements borrowing from blues, rock 'n' roll, funk and even jazz. It's up to you to decide whether you'll be receptive to these fusions or not. But that's not the only thing you will need a high level of tolerance for...

Although not being the most talented musicians around, these guys are still fairly aware of what they're doing. Still, this was destined to be a risk operation from the beginning. When you know from the start this will hit the scene as a "like it or lump it" kind of record, you can't really afford to cut down on jaw-dropping musicianship and skills. A bit of an unstable appearance concluding in an album clearly lacking charisma is the result. Average, second-class tunes with a bit of a frolic feel to it, that's it. One can only hope these guys can show a little more backbone on succeeding releases. Because, frankly, now they sound like some local band jamming in local bars and pubs, that has had the utmost luck to get hold of a record deal. And this really can't be the way you intended this to sound, now is it?

On Concept Project this trio certainly had a crack at coloring outside the traditional lines. Or at least they tried to. The conceptual ideas and intentions behind this release are pretty decent. Still, the album is in deep shortfall of groundbreaking patterns or at least some more innovative ideas. Talking about being innovative, let's take the band name and album title for instance. "Concept Project - Concept Project"? Really? It doesn't take a master degree in marketing to come up with a sexier name than this, right. It's like these guys aren't even trying. For now there's really no reason to go wild about this project. Perhaps the only thing worth mentioning, besides the nice idea looking good on paper, is the Mozart cover of "Turkish March". The whole thing got transformed into a "Rock March", with a bit of a Trans-Siberian Orchestra feel to it.

But then again, who knows, maybe it's all a bit too wannabe uptown for us? Maybe such a rock-driven fusion just isn't our thing. In a way, it's like taking a bunch of blind people to a fancy strip joint. The material may be deluxe in other circumstances; you're just showing it to the wrong audience.