EEPS<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\nThe new disc feels in many ways like EEPS Part II<\/i>, as Minnemann, whose past musical cohorts include Steven Wilson, Mike Keneally, Tony Levin and Jordan Rudess, once again offers 18 tracks of proof that he really, sincerely does not care what anyone else thinks. He just plays what he wants to play and leaves it entirely up to you whether or not to come along for the at-times bewildering ride. The end result, like many a hyperactive child, dances down that fine line between exhilarating and exasperating.<\/p>\n
To the extent that there is a core musical theme here, it\u2019s rhythmically complex heavy fusion, muscular math rock with more than a hint of free-form jazz in its complexities and lurching changes of rhythm and tone. But the core is frequently abandoned for detours into such a wide variety of different musical offshoots\u2014a prog mini-epic, spoken word, ethereal chamber pop\u2014that Celebration<\/i> comes to feel at times like an almost random collection of musical ideas strung together. Cohesive, it isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiami\u201d opens things up with a breakneck electric guitar riff that\u2019s quickly joined by drums and\u2026 well, I\u2019m not really sure. It might be a guitar synthesizer that\u2019s been tricked out to sound like a sitar, except when it doesn\u2019t. And then the track morphs halfway through into a pulsing, ominous horror-movie soundtrack. (No, really.)<\/p>\n
The title track is one of a handful here featuring vocals, a tune whose primary feel is eerie hard-rock dirge, although it features a couple of pretty, expansive passages and, for some reason\u2014or, more likely, no reason\u2014bells. \u201cIt Always Seems\u201d plays a similar game, another vocal number with a complex time signature and heavy riffing that suffers some sort of nervous breakdown just before it segues into the shambling 1:55 instrumental \u201cMarch Of The Living Dead,\u201d which features synth and bells, because\u2014well, because he can.<\/p>\n
Next \u201cHow Can I Help You?\u201d enters the fray, a careening cacophony of instruments and melodic phrases that also features car horns and some faintly spectacular drumming. The going only gets rougher as companion piece \u201cWhat Have You Done?\u201d unfolds its schizophrenic wings, but just when the album threatens to run completely off the rails, along comes \u201cGreatest Gift In Life,\u201d a gentle, dreamy, rather sweet song with a very tasteful, rather Steve Howe-flavored guitar solo.<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s \u201cPrint Club,\u201d all 10:55 of it, a mini-epic with more moods than Sybil. First he\u2019s playing a vaguely Eastern chord progression against a backdrop of herky-jerky industrial guitar. Then seven minutes in he goes full-on Jeff Beck \/ Jan Hammer on us, and then there\u2019s a keyboard that sounds like a xylophone and a dreamy melodic closing section. But\u2026 why? <\/p>\n
The second half of the album unfolds in equally challenging fashion. There are two takes\u2014Spanish and English\u2014of a woman delivering a spoken-word performance over gentle contemplative solo piano, jumbled up with several more tracks exploring the outer reaches of heavy fusion. It\u2019s consistently impressive, and intermittently appealing; I just can\u2019t quite figure out what it\u2019s for<\/i>. <\/p>\n
The musical ADD continues with tracks like the odd, beautiful \u201c4000,\u201d the frenetic, hiccupping \u201cEclipse\u201d and the thoroughly bipolar \u201cAmina\u2019s Birthday.\u201d Closer \u201cBetter Place\u201d is a fun vocal number where Minnemann really cuts loose on the drums, which is always a pleasure to hear. <\/p>\n
Bottom line, Celebration<\/i> is a musical adventure into uncharted territory led by a gifted, charismatic and volatile figure. These sorts of quests typically end in either euphoria or disaster. I\u2019ll leave final judgment on that count to you, the listener; for me, while I scratched my head and wondered what the hell he was thinking more than once, I also spent the better part of an hour smiling at the pure skill and audacity Marco Minnemann puts on display here. Much like its predecessor, Celebration<\/i> might be confounding, but it\u2019s never less than entertaining.<\/p>\n
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