Explorer - Duke Robillard Band

Advantages: Superb playing and well-written music, cliche free
Disadvantages: Nothing

...to the music. The Production Top notch again, making the band sound full and rich, which great balance in the solo sections. The Packaging Great booklet, packed with three sets of liner notes. Excellent again! The Verdict Amazing stuff - raucous and fun at times, poignant and sweet at others, this is a glorious big-band album. Every jazz fan should have this, and it's a great intro to the Duke. The numerous bonus tracks make this disc clock in at about 75 minutes, so you're getting your money's worth - I picked it up for an obscenely low £5. Superb in every way, this is an album you'll want to play again and again. No weak tracks whatsoever.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Duchess is one of the best Genesis tracks.
Disadvantages: Some nasty synth-pop and bland tracks

...The three remaining members of Genesis hit the 1980s by starting to write synth-pop songs. Their prog-rock roots hadn't entirely disappeared though. leaving some of the material on this album neither pop nor prog and suffering as a result. Initially they created a suite of songs about "Duke", and then split up the suite and added other tracks, keeping the title for the entire album. Opening with a joyful fanfare, "Behind The Lines" sounds like it is going to be another good Genesis instrumental, however after a couple of minutes it decends into a rather mundane song with only an occasional glimpse of how it started. Luckily the Genesis magic hasn't completely gone just yet as "Duchess" is a glorious track. I love those drum machine sounds and swirling synths. The whole track has a raising-hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck energy... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Five Indispensible Tracks
Disadvantages: The Rest

...After my hatchet job on "And Then There Were Three" for which I cannot apologise, I thought I best rush out another op just to show that, after that terrible album (in my opinion) there was still quite a bit of life left in the band. "Duke" was released in 1980 and still saw the band dominated by Tony Banks' keyboards and Collins vocals, however the sense of adventure also shone through in places resulting in a patchy album which like the curate's egg , is (very) good in parts. After their last studio album, I was extremely wary. The first I heard of it was the single "Turn It On Again", which despite being uncommercial with it's odd time changes and excellent guitar motifs was a hit single reaching number 8 in the British charts. This tempted me into buying the album, and whilst not incredibly happy with it , at least half... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful