Reindel - Mind Probe

Year of Release: 2001
Label: Fossil Records
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 49:27:00

Mind Probe is the second album from Reindel this year (their third overall), the duo of brothers Jim and Tim Reindel. This band is heavily influenced by Rush, but you will also find elements of other bands in their music. The title track occupies about a third of the disk, being a multi-part suite. As with other Reindel releases, the themes used are futuristic, and here Jim posits a future where "[m]ankind has accomplished great technological breakthroughs in medicine. All diseases, viruses and genetic imperfections have been eliminated. This is possible because of super-intelligent cyber doctors known as the Great Ones..." In other words, a utopia. Well, you just know that this perfect world isn't quite so perfect; that this utopia is, instead, a dystopia. While you might think the tale leads to out-of-work cyber docs running amuck, it doesn't, and instead leads to an ending that is recursive.

The "Overture" and the conclusion of "The Black Hole" (first and last of the suite) are the two points that have the strongest Rush influence, as I immediately thought of "Force Ten" from Hold Your Fire - rapid-fire drum spurts and sparse but big guitar strums. In between, we get the story of a young man plagued by visions. The only cure is the Mind Probe...the use of which leads to some rather fantastic (as in fantasy) results. Digitized voices speak-sing on two of the tracks of the suite, "In The Hall Of The Great One" and "Analysis." The latter is sparse musically, as only a single keyboard provides slowly undulating atmospherics. As percussion joins toward the end, this begins to pulse, and leads into "Prognosis: A Universe." One will find they think a bit of "Chemistry" with the lyrics to "Examination," and Jim sounds a bit like a highly processed Phil Collins on "Recovery." "The Black Hole," is a tour-de-force guitar workout, the arrangement twisting and changing so fast, you verily feel that you are being pulled through the black hole, as are the characters of the piece. "Mind Probe (Epilogue)" is a dark, churning instrumental piece, with an underlying sense of tension. At times the percussion comes to the fore, allowing Tim to show what a dynamic drummer he is.

The album itself begins with the cartoon homage "LoOnEy gOOns," the title of which should tell you quite a bit -- imagine all the classic chases: Sylvester and Tweety, Tom and Gerry, Elmer and Bugs, etc. "Groove Tube" is an instrumental guitar workout that does groove. Given the seriousness of the rest of the album (overall), I would have tended to put this track last. It's a cute track and something very uncharacteristic of Reindel. "Rockslide" grooves as well, being a fun, rollicking roller coaster ride of the classic sort -- Satriani comes to mind, as do many other guitars who just let their fingers run free. Another track that is uncharacteristic is "Across The Waves." This is a light, mellow, mid-tempo track - acoustic guitar and flute with minimal percussion. Hearing this you wouldn't immediately think of Reindel at all... "The Other Side" also contains flute and has a more Asian and Middle Eastern feel to it. It is, at first, light, but also contains some heavy passages, where thundering percussion and booming bass add more than a touch of darkness. Jim lets loose with another monstrous guitar solo, before things settle down again. In light of current events -- the arc this song takes is along the lines of peacefulness, war, and then peacefulness...but I don't want to project to much of what is going onto the music, as this was originally released earlier this year. It has been recently reissued via Fossil Records.

This is another strong release from Reindel, showing different sides to the band, different influences. Some might find that their references to Rush are a little much, but I think the homages are just about right... here, they are in perfect balance.

Tracklisting:
LoOnEy GOOnS (1:44) / Mind Probe: Overature - Examination - The Hall Of The Great Ones - Recovery - Analysis - Prognosis: A Universe - The Black Hole (16:29) / Mind Probe (Epilogue) / Groove Tube (2:58) / Awaken To Hell (4:20) / Across The Waves (4:42) / The Other Side (4:37) / Rockslide (3:39) / From Within (4:40)

Musicians:
Jim Reindel - guitars, bass, keyboards, and vocals
Tim Reindel - drums, percussion, keyboards
Vince Vrbancic - guitars (6)

Discography:
The Dominant Theme (2000)
Mere Mortals (2001)
Mind Probe (2001)
Riffed To Shreds
The Christmas Rush

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin US

Added: October 26th 2001
Reviewer: Stephanie Sollow
Score:
Artist website: reindel.worldbreak.com
Hits: 2264
Language: english