The Phoenix of Genesis, or the genesis of a new blue fan!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Addictive, entertaining & rhythmic

Cons: Addictive and now I have to get the DVD & a player to WATCH this being performed!

Author's Review
Since I suffer with fibromyalgia, I am somewhat of an insomniac and often stay awake into the musical portion of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. It was there recently that I was fully rewarded for my sleepless nights with a profound performance art and music set that thrilled me beyond belief!

What had totally captivated me was the Blue Man Group who performed 2 songs and used a very accommodating Robin Williams as a paintbrush to make a fun piece of art to go along with their music.

From that point on, I was totally hooked on the Blue Man Group.

I did research on them and was flabbergasted to learn they had been around since 1988!! Where the hell have I been! Check out their website!

A good friend knew of my newfound obsession and gifted me with the Audio CD for my impending birthday, and I can say that it ranks up there with one of the BEST gifts I have EVER received.

The opening song is "TV Song" and it really does remind me of a theme song for some studly private eye or western law man show.

Next is "Opening Mandelbrot" with heavy drumming and percussions and a prominent guitar. It kind of seems to be an extension of the previous song, becoming very lively and evolving into a techno rock sound. All of the Mandelbrots (Klein Mandelbrot, Mandelgroove) remind me in a way of some old Kraftwerk sounds and are some of the longest pieces on the album.

My three favorite songs on the album are Synaesthetic, Mandelgroove, and PVCIV. The former starts out with some primal drumming sounds and continues throughout the song. It evokes the animalstic nature in me, while Mandelgroove is a fun kaleidescope of drumming and percussive bass. It DEFINITELY gets the blood going and you rocking in your seat. PVCIV always reminds me of seeing them on the Tonight show for the first time. (They playfully percuss their PVC pipe instruments and listen and look carefully at each other while playing this piece.) This is very african sounding in their drumming and would make good travelling music for riding through the desert at night.

"Utne Wire Man" is slower at the beginning and uses some of their angel air poles in this song. It kind of reminds me of some of the slower songs done by Talk Talk. The song "Rods & Cones" reminds me of travelling music, al la Synergy, and is very percussive with those PVC instruments they created. "Tension 2" is a whammy of drumming and guitar and is like it's title: short, very lively & uniquely disturbing too.

"Club Nowhere" is a slower song and very melodic and new age in it's endless flow of music. "Drumbone" is a fun rowdyness of percussion & at 2:44, ends too soon for me. "Shadows" is spunky percussion and almost danceable, while "Cat Video" seems to be an extension of the song "TV Song" in many respects.

The last song "Endless Column" is a slower song and is almost melancholy. It definitely reminds me of Talk Talk's haunting heroin user song "I believe in you".

I don't know why the classify this group and their music as New Age, but I would love to see them become more mainstream than alternative. This CD is engaging and rhythmic enough to make you move even when you don't realize it! A definite eye opener.

Not since the Peter Gabriel days of Genesis have I found a band whose music is so inviting and masterfully performed. I am DEFINITELY making plans to see them at one of the cities where they perform regularly, especially in Las Vegas at the Luxor hotel. This is true performance rock/art at it's best.