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English Translations of Marcus Kästner's Babyblaue - Seiten and Dick van der Heijde's Progwereld reviews are coming soon!!!

I know it's sometimes difficult to get the ideas or absorb what's been displayed on prog rock music in general. At glance, Slychosis sounds similar to somewhat prog giants like Pink Floyd and Spock's Beard have been making. However, as I listen to the music of Slychosis carefully, they are making prog music on their own right. In the beginning of my first listening experience was not convinced enough until I hit very last three tracks that clicked me deeply. Then I go back to their music again and again. Wow, this prog rock trio showcases fascinating song-oriented music with some complex sections and dreamy parts as well. Nowadays, I find out something new every time. Slychosis consists of three prog enthusiasts; such as Gregg Johns (lead vocals, guitars, mandolin & keyboards), Todd Sears (drums, percussion, and vocals), and James Walker (bass guitars). This American prog rock trio enjoys performing that makes smile and being happy. Indeed, their music requires the listener to get into their own rock sounds; in other words, their music does no seem to accept a kind of casual enjoyment for listeners. With careful several listens are recommended to get the ideas of their music, as you encounter Slychosis' music. Indeed, it's worth to delve into their songs like "Innerspace" and "Dreamscapes" featuring hard driving energy and passions through their rocking performance. To me, "Wild Night in Calcutta" has a definitely wild spacey rock feeling that sounds a bit similar to Gong and Daevid Allen. Especially, I was quite entertained by Gregg Johns' keyboard/synth works, and the way he chose the sounds and performing synth solos is quite amusing and very enjoyable. I hope they continue making unique prog music with keyboard-dominated sounds and complex odd-time beats. It's a suprisingly fresh independent prog music. Fans of Relayer and Spock's Beard would get into this. What I am most impressed with their varied song structures and energetic performance.

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Slychosis is one of those bands that I wasn’t sure to expect, mainly because of the cd cover. But as the old saying goes, don’t judge a book by it’s cover, so I popped the cd in my player with my usual open-mind. WOW I was amazed! This band reminded me of what I love about progressive rock. Their music is equal parts Genesis, Yes & Pink Floyd by way of The Beatles and Rush. The amazing part of the outcome is it’s done in such a way as not to come off as a clonish.

Slychosis is a trio, with Gregg Johns taking the role of multi-instrumentalist as well as lead vocalist. Joining Gregg is, James Walker on bass and Todd Sears on drums. It’s always amazes to me, as a fan, to hear a band with so few players sound so big. I know that may come off as sounding like an amateur but remember I’m just a fan not a journalist.

One of the qualities of this cd that makes it special, in my mind, is the perfect usage of narration. Just enough to help tell their story and never wearing out it’s welcome. The other quality I like about this band is the way they merge their influences into something fresh sounding. These guys have more talent than most of the popular progressive rock bands out there. I hope the right people listen to this band’s music and see that Slychosis has all the elements that make up a great progressive rock band.

I don’t have a favorite song on this self titled release because, and this is not a cop-out, I enjoy each of the songs equally. One interesting song is the last track, EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) where the band infuses voices from beyond the grave in with the excellent closure to a great debut.

In closing, I would whole heartedly recommend Slychosis to fans of the afore mentioned bands. I can't wait to hear what the band will give us next!

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Mississippi, perhaps more noted for a slightly different style of music, offers us Slychosis, a three piece band of seasoned musicians deeply rooted in the progressive mould. Comprising of Gregg Johns (vocals, guitars, mandolin & keyboards), Todd Sears (drums, percussion & vocals) and James Walker (bass & vocals) eventually manage to produce there debut album. I say eventually as I remember a few years back receiving a self-produced EP from these three musicians under the name of Karma-Kannix. For obvious reasons our Mississippian trio decided to change their name and given this unwanted opportunity decided to concentrate efforts on a full length release. So in 2006 the fruits of their labours are finally with us in the form of this concept album. The story begins with the discovery of a dusty box containing a pocket-watch belonging to a young boy's grandfather. This is explained briefly in the opening narration of Samuel, spoken over a bed of droning keyboards and picked guitar chords. The tempo and feel of the track is restrained in a Floyd-like manner, and introduces us early on to the vocals of Gregg Johns. I suppose the Floyd analogies might also apply to the vocals as although the melody is quite engaging, the delivery certainly didn't appeal. The track picks up pace half way through with a neo-prog sounding keyboard solo before returning to the main body of the track to close. Slychosis wear their Yes influences boldly and Innerspace could well have been a outtake from an early Yes album... although lyrically and musically Innerspace sails a little to close to the edges for my money. This said the track serves as a highlight from the album for me. As is Dreamscapes, opening with a riff straight out of Tull's early repertoire - this song contains one of the strongest hook-lines from the album. Equally catchy is the rocking instrumental Galactic Wormhole with it's SpaceRock influences and infectious harmony guitar themes. It was about this point and after a few listenings that the band's broad spectrum of influences started to drop into place and although the music never plagiarises these bands, their influence becomes more and more apparent. Wild Night In Calcutta and Cyber-Evil with more than a nod to ELP and the Frosted Mini Suite tips it's hat in Genesis' direction - amongst others. In true prog style Glass ½ Full is a splendid acoustic guitar piece with "mellotron" flute and light strings. Meltdown obviously touches on the band's heavier days... So all the ingredients are there, but where Slychosis suffer for me, is not necessarily within the compositions, but more around the periphery of the music. Now I'm not a huge fan of narrations (but that is my problem and I appreciate many do). Gregg's voice is an acquired taste and one that didn't really rest easily with me, although tracks like Innerspace showed that this was by no means a lack of ability in this area. Whilst touching on the vocals I also am tiring (in general) of "effected" vocals and especially the processed mid enhanced one used by so many a band nowadays. Again Slychosis proved they were more than capable of a catchy melody and the harmonies worked well. The drums were another issue for me as they remained a little too plodding for much of the material. We are, however, treated to a mini solo in Wild Night In Calcutta, which again demonstrates that James Walker is certainly capable of more dynamic playing. Lastly the production, although more than acceptable, was a little lacklustre and inconsistent over the entire album. So as mentioned earlier I've lived on and off with Slychosis for quite some time now, and despite my initial reaction (which wasn't great), the album has gradually grown on me. Not immensely, but certainly enough to appreciate the efforts of these three musicians. Despite my somewhat critical review of this album, I hope, inspired by the success of this album, that Slychosis will go on to produce more albums in the future.

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Slychosis: Slychosis

Karma-Kannix, a now-defunct group featuring seasoned multi-instrumentalist cover-band vets Gregg Johns and James Walker, borrowed from Bowie, Metallica, Phil Collins-era Genesis and even Zebra. But their new project, Slychosis, boasts a much cooler name and pays more direct homage to prog-rock masters such as Yes, the Alan Parsons Project, Emerson Lake & Palmer, and Rush. Throw in some modern influences that reflect Glass Hammer and maybe Neal Morse-less Spock's Beard, and you’ve got an intriguing self-titled debut CD that’s both highly listenable and wee disconcerting.

This is an eclectic and meandering concept album about a young boy who finds an old but magical pocket watch buried in his ancestral home and comes face to face with his frightening future. The first half of the 12-track album is more melodic and song-oriented, with the second half devoted to lots of spoken-word and instrumental passages. The middle section is the most bizarre, with distracting sound effects and references to an “Orwellian nightmare" on “Cyber-Evil,” culminating in an ELP-like excursion on the three-part “Frosted Mini Suite” and a walloping guitar clinic from Johns on “Meltdown.” “Until Then” pays tribute to Slychosis’ influences, as evidenced by the trio dedicating the song to “the genius of Alan Parsons, Pink Floyd and Shakespeare.” Then comes “EVP,” short for “Electronic Voice Phenomena,” on which the band claims have used “actual electronic voice phenomenon recordings obtained during paranormal investigations.” I’m assuming those are the harsh alien-like noises strategically fused in between the grooves of this dramatic and heavy closing track. Despite its novelty appeal, the song works as well as anything else on the album – even better, in some cases.

Unfortunately, like Karma-Kannix’s Explorations in Inner & Outer Space, Slychosis suffers from thin production, and more detailed liner notes with lyrics would have helped. Still, the amount of creative energy and musical effort that Slychosis put into this record makes it a worthwhile addition to any independent prog-rock fans’ catalog.

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Prolusion. The American trio SLYCHOSIS presents their eponymous debut CD.

Analysis. What makes me feel drawn to this disc is the group's relatively independent approach to songwriting, since only three of the twelve tracks here sound heavily derivative - the first and the last two, these also being the richest in vocal sections. The opening number, Samuel, alternates quite peaceful landscapes evoking Pink Floyd at their most reflective with more intense arrangements within its instrumental interludes where the synthesizer passages are moulded upon those Mark Kelly usually applies on Marillion's mellowest songs. It also needs to be said not too many solos can be found on this cut in general - unlike narrations for instance. Until Then is a sort of tribute to Pink Floyd, now very strongly resembling Us & Them, now something halfway between Astronomy Domine and Another Brick in the Wall. The concluding number, EVP, is Space Rock with a very rough (I'd even say rusty) sound and reminds me of an outtake of some early Hawkwind LP at best. As is hinted above, the other nine tunes contain either few outside references or are entirely free of these, which however doesn't automatically mean Slychosis are pioneers bringing you something altogether new on the remainder either. Melodramatic Neo, classic Sympho Prog, English folk music and Hard Rock are all thrown into the furnace:-) of Innerspace, but only once all those components merge together do they create a really unique musical formation. Nonetheless this composition is notable for some truly interesting instrumental maneuvers and would've been very good if its vocal storyline had not been confined within the cage of a trivial couplet-refrain approach. The singing is generally one of the weakest spots of this creation, but thankfully, the other songs contain concise lyrical content, Wild Night In Calcutta being largely instrumental in all senses. This is the most saturated track in the set - both musically and sonically, standing out for its frequently shifting themes, tempos and moods, complex stop-to-play movements and so on, displaying also the best ensemble work. The song begins in the vein of symphonic Space Rock, which soon gives way to heavy progressive music, whilst later on the picture always retains the outline of classic Art-Rock. Greg Johns is equally masterful when playing guitars (both electric and acoustic this time around) and keyboards, his organ work being probably on a par with that of his benefactor in this field, Keith Emerson. The remaining two songs, Dreamscapes Frosted and Mini Suite, and also the instrumental Galactic Wormhole, are kindred things combining resourceful sympho-prog arrangements with those bringing to mind vintage Hard Rock at its best, each being only a bit inferior to the winner. The four yet unnamed tracks are all instrumental pieces, and two of them, Meltdown and Glass S Full, are also impressive. The former represents heavy Space Rock / Fusion with some occasional electronic sense, in its diversity approaching Hawkwind circa "Astounding Sounds Amazing Music", the guitar work being beyond praise. Just lend an ear to the guitar trills here and you will be amazed at Gregg's ability to make that instrument sound almost like a saxophone. The latter is a moving interplay between acoustic guitar, bass and organ. Space Bass (bassist James Walker's solo number) and Cyber-Evil (featuring a rather long drum solo from Todd Sears) aren't completely bad, but such tricks are usually deployed at concerts. In short, these two are out of place here - this is a studio album after all.

Conclusion. While "Slychosis" deserves to be called a promising debut effort, it still leaves the impression that its makers are most of all interested in demonstrating the width of their musical horizon. It's clear that the guys feel comfortable when jumping from style to style (often within the same song), but what the listener gets as a result of all those maneuvers is a rather inconsistent album. So while this offering seems to be destined for various categories of music lovers, not many will like it in its entirety. Hope the band's next outing will have a much more distinct stylistic vector, and, guys, get yourselves a new singer!

VM: January 11, 2006

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"Gregg, James and Todd (Slychosis) merge classic progrock with art,
psychedelic, and hard rock to great effect, creating music that is intelligent
and accessible with strong musical performances. Oh, and did I mention there
are also ghostly voices from the beyond (E.V.P.)."

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Slychosis was listed as one of the best bands of the week for the week of July 16, 2006 - Thanks Carlos for giving us a positive nod! We are highly appreciative!

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Rawk'n'Roll.Net Bulgaria - Alexander Spasov - (for Bulgarian, click on the flag link)

Slychosis are one of the many American prog-rock bands who have been abandoned by the music industry in expense of the far more easy-listening bands like Spock's Beard, Glass Hammer or Echolyn.

The music of the trio is not easy to classify. The only exception is Innerspace (which gravites around the early Yes) and Until Then (which resembles Pink Floyd sound). The rest of the songs can't be compared to any other well-known bands. The compositions are based around Rush's complicated arrangments, Deep Purple's keyboard solos, the space-rock influeces and gently touching the avant-garde higher ground. Just to keep things simple, we can call the music of Slychosis - weird art rock.

The Slychosis' debut will not make waves in the calm swampy water of the modern progressive rock scene. One thing is for sure - while there's such indie bands this is a sign that deep down under the slime and the toads (which won't turn into princess, no matter how many times you kissed) there's life.

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Gnosis - Tom Hayes

Slychosis – Slychosis. Perhaps the first progressive rock group to hail from Mississippi, Slychosis demonstrates a studious overview of the bigger name UK and Canadian groups. The band calls out as influences the usual suspects like The Beatles, Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, ELP, Alan Parsons Project and Rush. It’s the latter group that holds the original grasp, starting right off with a Neil Peart-like narration and a hard rock meets progressive follow through. Genesis (or Marillion) and Yes are the early album targets. But fortunately it changes drastically from there. Despite a somewhat generic outlook, Slychosis figured out that the mellotron and organ are cool sounding instruments (even if both appear sampled). But, perhaps even more amazing, is the band has truly carved out a unique sound despite the predictable boundaries. Whether it was intentional or not, Slychosis have tapped into some of the more admirable qualities of space rock. Weird interludes, exotic sampled instruments (e.g. sitar), alien voices, etc... Certainly at least one or two Hawkwind albums made an impression. Also, additional points for the copious use of acoustic guitar. And metal-phobes will like the electric guitar tones utilized here (especially some delicious psych-o-delic soloing on ‘Meltdown’). Not a weak track on the album. They managed to avoid throwing in the requisite pop track, their restraint is to be admired. A very good album and a band that can only get better, especially if they focus on their creative instrumental side.

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Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock, Fred Trafton

Slychosis, from Mississippi, is an evolution of Karma-Kannix, which was Gregg Johns (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, drums, mandolin, banjo, violin, production & engineering) and James Walker (bass guitar, vocals, percussion, engineering, & production). To this line-up, they added Todd Sears on drums and changed their focus from a rock/psych/prog/wave/pop mixture to exclusively prog.

Like Karma-Kannix, Slychosis is obviously a "basement studio band". I really like the musical compositions on their self-titled album, and the lyrics are pretty cool too. The musicianship ranges from excellent to barely passable, depending on which instrument we're talking about, and which part of which song. There's even a couple of places that sound out of tune, and other places where the instruments lag and lead relative to each other. The recording quality, while an improvement over the Karma-Kannix release, still leaves much to be desired, particularly in the drum and vocal micing. The mix also has strange resonances and a fair amount of muddiness.

Now, I must say, I've heard albums where this many difficulties with the recording and execution completely ruins it for me. But in this case, I don't feel that way for some reason. I like Slychosis. It'll never be in my top-10 albums list, but I've heard many albums that boast better production qualities and tighter musicianship that simply bore me to tears. Slychosis is the kind of band that, if they lived in my town, I'd be hanging around during their practice sessions trying to convince them they could use a burned-out old keyboardist and studio man in their band, just because I would really enjoy playing these songs. The tunes are stimulating, the lyrics are clever and the musicianship ... well, they could use a keyboardist. And a producer. That's high praise coming from me, so I hope you'll try this band out! -- Fred Trafton

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Artrock.se Sweden, Conny Myrberg - (for Swedish, click on the flag link)

Symphonic/progressive music inspired from the 70's with some psychedelic input from the 60's, perhaps isn’t the first thing you would expect to pop up from the state of Mississippi. Still, it’s exactly what this three-man project plays, with great enthusiasm.

You only have to take a glance at the cover to get a grasp of the music genre. It seems to be self-produced and it doesn’t really reach up to today’s perfectionism, but that’s pretty much the idea because then you get the feel of the typical sound of yesterdays music.

The group claims to have gotten their inspiration from Yes, ELP, Pink Floyd and Genesis. The more symphonic bits are obviously inspired from the latest mentioned group, but with Steve Hackett by the guitar, as in the song “Samuel” for example. We also get a good piece of Yes where “Innerspace” is the most comparable example, and also one of my favourite tracks on the album.

The completely instrumental track “Meltdown” sounds entirely like the typical rock from the 70's, also including some space rock influences. Here you can find practically everything from straight melodic rock via progressive rock all the way to almost experimental sound. What pleases my own taste the most is the more symphonic bits, like “Space Bass” for example (a lot of Pink Floyd vibes here) and the prologue “Samuel”.

Perhaps I’m a nostalgic, but there are plenty of groups of today with the same influences and with stronger productions. What raises this album from the average ones perhaps isn’t the originality, but the true feeling from these wonderful decades which this album so clearly gives away. This was also the most developing times according to myself.

A successful debut which, with more tracks like previous mentioned favourites, has the potential of climbing several steps on my personal grading scale.
6,5/10

Conny Myrberg

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Arlequins, Italy - Mauro Ranchicchio (for Italian, click on the flag link)

Born out of the evolution of a progressive rock band called "Karma Kannix", which has a current album titled: "Explorations in Inner and Outer Space", 2004), this Mississippi trio made up by Gregg Johns (voice, guitar and keyboards), James Walker, (bass) and Todd Sears (drums); have independently produced, recorded and promoted their 12 track album.The result of this enterprise has positive and negative effects. From the imperfect recording of the percussion that often appears split when touched by the strong romantic instrumental context that flavors the vocal parts, to the many ingenuities, such as the narrative parts of which I would have done without. The positive effects are found in the absolute absence of polish, leading at times to a crude (unsophisticated) low-fi retrostyle; that in these days due to the technological perfection can often hide sterility of composition which can create the impression of a genuine rustic product.

Unfortunately, even if only focusing on the frankness of the proposal, it is not convincing: the proposal of Slychosis re-enters in the mainstream of the matrix "YES" contaminated with somewhat crude elements of space rock and reminiscent of the "Hawkind" of the past.The album does not lack appreciable moments, such as the opening of "Samuel" with its new-prog stamp, and more precisely "IQ". Nonetheless, never reaching the intensity of the pathos of the "Martin Orford" band. Next, the track "Inner Space" enriched with out-bursting arabesques of "Moog" with the brand of "Wakeman" clearly impressed. Also, the captivating (enthralling) riff of "Roundabout" and of "Galactic Wormhole", spoiled only by a drum sound which I find irritating. Lastly, the melodic and quite declaring of Floyd like style "Until Then" or the "Frosted Mini Suite" of which strained and distant voices evoke the ghost spaceship piloted by Dave Brock. Worth forgetting are the experimental parenthesis of "Wild Night in Calcutta" and E.V.P." Also pale are those in which the soul of hard rock (l'anima hardrock) takes the upper hand in "Meltdown", but it could all be a personal preference ... the undeniable fact is its noticeable lack of direction that takes the band to venture to the multiplicity of styles without apparent logical design. I don't wish to be too severe with a band that deserves our admiration for its tenacity in which it brings forward a discourse that may not bring commercial satisfaction. However, I am not counting this album among those that are making its debut as one which will leave its mark. Nonetheless, you (the reader) can expand your knowledge about Slychosis and hopefully refute my affirmations by downloading clips found in their official website.

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MJ Brady - Proggnosis-

Slychosis is the brainchild of mainly two musicians - Greg Johns, and James Walker, who have played on and off for the better part of their musical careers. Now, as people in the professional non-music world, they have collaborated together to fulfill a lifelong dream, to get their musical ideas and dream released on a recording. A true labor of love, this band represents a lot of folks out there that while wanting to persue their musical aspirations, had to take that left turn at the crossroads of life, for family, financial or professional reasons. Fortunately, the ability to self record, produce and distribute a cd today, has allowed many of these same individuals the ability to make their musical dreams happen.

As for the band, a three piece, with a lot of multi-tasking, particularly on behalf of Johns, who handles the guitars and keyboard, and lead vocal sounds. The music is firmly planted in the 70's, with strong leanings towards the classic symphonic sounds of Yes and Genesis, vocally, they are far more Genesis oriented, with the midranged vocals of Johns. While the band does a good job of staying the way of progressive music, they are not nearly as proficient musically as the best bands in the genre, what they may lack as musicians they attempt to overcompensate with effects and formation changes in the music. I can appreciate the bands' love of progressive music, and they are not hacking away here, yet after generations of hearing the best original bands, and now hearing newer bands taking old ideas to newer levels of musical proficiency, I can't help feeling that this cd may be not quite professional enough to recommend to the more devout fans of the genre.

There are moments of creative flow that catch my attention, and with that, moments of amaturish production (narrations, effects, etc.) Yet in the end, I can appreciate these guys wanting to persue their love of this music, which everyone that has the gift of music should do, as it is part of their genetic code. I am sure that Slychosis has more to offer in the future, they have a true throwback sound to their music, not nearly as polished as what you hear from the major bands doing progressive music these days. In some ways, that is what seems the most unique to me about this band, the fact that they have what seems like a retro, if not post rock feel to them.

So here is a band that wears it's love of classic prog on their proverbial sleeve, but would this cd inspire the fans old or new, of this music? Probably not, as it just does not meet the standards of the other bands that are doing similar things, both old or new. My hats is off to them for their efforts, and there are some enjoyable moments here and there, yet the cd falls short in too many aspects to make them a legitimate force in the already saturated retro/prog category.

This previous review is the most misguided to date! This guy needs to learn how to spell "pursue", my spelling of "Gregg" and "amateurish" (maybe more projective and reflective of his journalism skills). We thought our use of narration and special effects were parts of the compositions and had no bearing on our musical proficiency (remember the Beatles?). What else is this guy overcompensating for in his life besides poor spelling and punctuation? At least he got it, we are trying to recapture some of what has been lost from roots prog music. Perhaps in our follow-up cd, we will show listeners that we have the ability to burn musically for more extended instrumentals and how short-sighted, overgeneralized, and asinine such a statement regarding our proficiency really is. We will also try to do this in a melodic fashion unlike some of the more polished acts which take musical gymnastics to a masturbatory level - GJ

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Juan Mellado - La Caja de Musica -

. . . This American trio's album debut provides us with conventional progressive rock references from ELP, Pink Floyd, Yes, and Joe Satriani with a horrible cd cover that simulates a butterfly with a green olive colored head with red eyes. The album begins with the track (1) "Samuel" that mixes the pomposity of ELP with a touch of Pink Floyd and Alan Parsons; this is followed by (2) "Innerspace" in the same line melodies somewhat reminiscent of Yes and ELP. (4) "Dreamscapes" an instumental that has a touch of metal mixed with the ceremony of ELP; (5) "Wild Night in Calcutta" is a track with Indian influences, little originality and we wish to forget as it leads to (6) "Cyber-Evil" an ELP influenced track with good keyboard works. (7) "Frosted Mini Suite" is so named because it is a mini suite with an energetic ELP intro that steps down to a calm section which combines with the energetic part. After this, the acoustic track (8) "Glass 1/2 Full" arrives with Gregg Johns taking free rein on classical guitar, backdrop of peace this follows with the track (9) "Meltdown" that would fit perfectly on the Surfing with the Alien album of Joe Satriani. (10) "Space Bass" is a track that so perfectly resembles Pink Floyd that a lawsuit could be brought to them for illegal copy of all riffs and melodies, however it is listed as a tribute to Pink Floyd. The album ends with one of the fondnesses of Slychosis that is disquieting with paranormal sounds with references to Yes & ELP. Personally, this work is really too conventional with continuous references to ELP, Pink Floyd, Yes and Joe Satriani.

This review is yet another contender for the STUPIDITY AWARD!!! Apparently Juan is cognitively challenged in multiple spheres as he did not visually put together that the "horrible" butterfly on the cover is a comic parody of the band with Todd's head being the head of the butterfly with drumstick antennae and mine and James's heads makeup the wings of the butterfly. The surreal colors give the image the quality of a Rorschach Inkblot and fits with the play of words "Slychosis." There is also the tongue-in-cheek humorous reference to one of our favorite psychological thriller flicks starring Sir Anthony Hopkins. Secondly, Juan has so many omissions and content errors which are totally careless and irresponsible. He erroneously refers to tracks not listed with the wrong preceding or subsequent titles. In order of occurrence, Dreamscapes is not an instrumental and I have to assume that he is referring to the previous track, Galactic Wormhole. I fail to hear ELP as a main influence as do apparently the other reviewers. As far as Meltdown being a Joe Satriani clone, I have never considered Satriani as one of my influences. In fact, someone gave me a vinyl copy of Surfing with the Alien well over 15 years ago which is somewhere in a moldy box in the basement where as it has been ever since. Joe Satriani is a fine musician and awesome guitarist, but I cannot personally claim him as an influence as I do not own any of his other works and have only caught the occasional radio track. Again, none of the other reviewers have heard this reference. In another glaring error, friend Juan implies that Space Bass is a verbatim plagarism of Pink Floyd. I observed James put this track together in a spontaneous and serendipitous fashion. If anything, I hear more of a Tool influenced vibe. So again, it goes to reason that Juan may be referring to Until Then which is clearly and blatantly dedicated to the influences of Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons, & Shakespeare. Although the Floydian elements are abundant and deliberate, I challenge anyone to find a verbatim ripoff of riffs, melodies, etc. Juan, if you lived in the United States, you would be hearing from my attorney regarding a libel lawsuit for such irresponsible and wrong public statements. Needless to say, we will not waste any more airmail postage or cds on friend Juan. In the spirit ofZappa, I know a place where Juan can vigorously place the ugly green olive butterfly - GJ