Rudess, Jordan - Feeding The Wheel

Year of Release: 2001
Label: Magna Carta
Catalog Number: MA-9055-2
Format: CD
Total Time: 61:46:00

Jordan Rudess = Dream Theater? Well, if anyone out there even fancies the thought of considering that equation true, it's time to come out, all guns blazing, and knock some sense into the poor heretic. A public execution to send out the message loud and clear would not be unbecoming either. After all, with the Juilliard virtuoso having already released a series of albums with other bands and explored a variety of sounds, as well as having dedicated most of his life to music, and most of it outside everyone's favorite prog metal outfit, one can't but expect Rudess to come up with something different on his debut solo album. Not worlds apart from the outrageous keyboard bombast that one would of course be expectant of, but something refreshing anyway.

Wait a second. Did I just mention bombast? Take it not in the literal sense of pretentiousness, but in the oh-so-endearing shade of shifting harmonies, hurricanes of vigorous keyboard activity, focused variance touched up with a very groovy rock edge at times, and, what the hell, a healthy and delicious dose of pretentiousness. In truth nothing quite revolutionary and exorbitantly out of the compositionally ordinary, Feeding The Wheel is nevertheless a quite enjoyable instrumental album that grants Rudess the ability to come out fully into the spotlight for roughly an hour and once again burn his mark right into the brain of the progressive rock collective conscience, just in case he needed to.

Most of Rudess' solo album treads on fiery rock territory, with heady material such as "Dreaming In Titanium" and "Crack the Meter" dominating by means of a number of severely catchy and mind-boggling grooves that jump in playfully malicious spirits all over the map of this musical landscape. Guitars with a mean bite bend testosterones to mind-wrecking levels while the sound of sweaty keys being pressed frantically flies unstoppably across the listener's ears, and one gets absorbed into the shredding while being kept on the ground by a touch of accessibility that keeps everything running like clockwork. Of course not everything is like that, however, or things would be nothing more than the common man's shred fest.

Instead of that, Feeding The Wheel goes through the motions in dreamy atmospheres of new age complacency, lengthy instrumentals with swinging segments of traditional jazz interspersed among the complementary shards in true progressive rock custom, challenging string sections driven by a frantic melody and accelerated pace that get things to a really interesting point, and, highlighting the show with a performance that surpasses even the high standards set by the rest of the album, Rudess reveling in all his glory as gifted piano player capable of playing with the vital coils of classical music in full drama. And while the album does actually have its low points and utterly predictable turns, it will doubtlessly leave all who adore keyboard wizardry with a smile on their faces that will last for months.

Similar artists: Liquid Tension Experiment, Mastermind, Keith Emerson

Tracklisting:
The Voice (Intro) (0:19) / Quantum Soup (11:03) / Shifting Sands (6:02) / Dreaming In Titanium (4:10) / U-Can Icon (5:46) / Center Of The Sphere (1:38) / Crack The Meter (6:13) / Headspace (4:00) / Revolving Door (8:39) / Interstices (4:05) / Feed The Wheel (7:14)

Musicians:
Jordan Rudess - keyboards; guitar (3)
John Petrucci - guitar (2, 5, 9, 11)
Terry Bozzio - drums, percussion
Steve Morse - guitar solos (2, 7)
Eugene Friesen - cello and voice (2, 4, 8, 9)
Billy Sheehan - bass (7)
Mark Wood - electric 7 string Viper violin (2, 5, 9, 11)
Barry Carl - The Voice
Peter Ernst - nylon string guitar (3)
Bert Baldwin - keyboard strings (5)

Discography:
Speedway Blvd. - Speedway Blvd. (1981)
Arrival (1988)
Vinnie Moore - Time Odyssey (1988)
Tom Coster - Did Jah Miss Me? (1989)
Listen (1993)
Annie Haslem - Blessing In Disguise (1994)
Various - Romscape (1995)
Noirin Ni Riain - Celtic Soul (1996)
Various - Steinway To Heaven (1996)
Kip Winger - This Conversation Seems Like A Dream (1997)
Secrets Of The Muse (1997)
Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment (1998)
Jupiter Lee - Jupiter Project (1998)
Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (1999)
A Christmas Carol (1999)
Rudess/Morgenstein Project - Rudess/Morgenstein Project (1999)
Resonance (1999)
Rhonda Larson - Free As A Bird (1999)
Various - Encores, Legends & Paradox - A Tribute To ELP (1999)
Dream Theater - Scenes From A Memory (2000)
Paul Winter And The Earth Band - Journey With The Sun (2000)
Feeding The Wheel (2001)
John Petrucci And Jordan Rudess - An Evening With John Petrucci & Jordan Rudess (2001/2004)
Rudess/Morgenstein Project - The Official Bootleg (2001)
Dream Theater - Live Scenes From New York (2001)
McGill/Manring/Stevens - Addition By Subtraction (2001)
Prefab Sprout - The Gunman And Other Stories (2001)
John Bollenberg Experience - If Only Stones Could Speak (2001)
4NYC (2002)
Dream Theater - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence (2002)
Christmas Sky (2002) (from website only)
Dream Theater - Train Of Thought (2003)
Dream Theater - Live At Budokan (2004)
Rhythm Of Time (2004)
Dream Theater - Octavarium (2005)
Dream Theater - Score (2006)
Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos (2007)
The Road Home (2007)
Dream Theater - Greatest Hit (...And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs) (2008)
Notes On A Dream (2009)
Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009)
Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events (2011)
Dream Theater - Dream Theater (2013)
Dream Theater - Live At Luna Park (2013)
All That Is Now (2013)
Explorations For Keyboard & Orchestra (2014)
Dream Theater - Breaking The Fourth Wall - Live From The Boston Opera House (2014)
The Unforgotten Path (2015)
Dream Theater - The Astonishing (2016)
Dream Theater - Distance Over Time (2019)
Wired For Madness (2019)

Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York (DVD) (2001)
Live At Budokan (DVD) (2004)
Score (DVD) (2006)
Chaos In Motion (DVD) (2008)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin US

Added: August 11th 2002
Reviewer: Marcelo Silveyra
Score:
Artist website: www.jordanrudess.com
Hits: 2122
Language: english