5 out of 5 Stars!

A weird, wacky, and wild treat. The music on this album is a schizophrenic mix of styles, with all the songs seeming to take your brain through a demented roller-coaster ride of craziness.  But what exactly is Jumbo made of?

There are brilliant bursts of high-energy symphonic Prog-Rock interspersed with some mellow passages of pastoral beauty. It also sounds as if every musical instrument known to mankind is being tossed into the bowl, while rhythms shift and shimmy to continually jangle the nerves. Meanwhile, the instrumental passages sound like the best ingredients of Gentle Giant, PFM, Van Der Graaf Generator, and Jethro Tull after getting shoved into a musical meat grinder, only to be served at the table of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, who sprinkled their own patented brand of crazy spices on top, especially when it comes to the vocalist, who delivers explosions of psychotic Italian babbling and jabbering and gut-wrenching shrieks to the proceedings. Add a crisp, clear production and some studio wankery and wizardry as if in the hands of Brian Eno to the dish before tossing it into the musical oven, and it’s done.

Definitely doesn’t sound like a recipe for success, does it?

And yet, somehow, it actually works! I’ve never heard another band like this, and probably never will. Bravo!

Get The Album Now!