Review

The triumvirate's fifth outing is full of rich, jazzy, classic-rock-influenced explorations that also have sensual and sonorous sides. -- Musicians News, February 2002

Product Description

Supergroup Niacin's 2002 release on Magna Carta is the incredible (and critically embraced) "Time Crunch" 11 new tracks from 3 of the heaviest hitters in music today. Billy Sheehan lays down the overall vibe for the project: "Well, a lot of the songs that I contributed, I wrote around bass lines, which is kind of cool. It adds a little bit of a different structural quality to the songs, or structural lack of quality if you prefer (laughs). With my writing contributions in the past, I would work with John in his studio. But this time I wrote a lot of stuff in my own studio, so I had to do my own drum tracks as demos, for Dennis to work from. So some of the stuff I put into the computer as drum tracks made sense when you listened to them, but they were kind of impossible for a human being to actually play. But Dennis, being true to what we expect of him, played them anyways (laughs). He did some amazing drum transitions and grooves, which I really would challenge a lot of other players to be able to do at all and still make them sound smooth. He really did an amazing job. And of course the record overall is just a little bit heavier and aggressive than we had gone before, a little bit more toward progressive rock than the fusion or jazz direction. We definitely went more towards some of our late '60s, early '70s prog rock roots, people like King Crimson, PFM, Gentle Giant, early Genesis and of course, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, a classic B-3 band, and one we often get compared to. Both John and I as writers have many, many influences. We've both gone in many directions in our years of playing. And a good part of that is that you have a big bag of tricks to pull from. So we have a lot of things that we can reference or use as inspiration." Fans of progressive rock will enjoy the covers of King Crimson's moody, ominous "Red" and Jan Hammer's elaborate and memorable "Blue Wind."

About the Artist

Each of them legends in their own time, having influenced untold numbers of other players and earning legions of fans worldwide who follow their every musical move, they also boast some pretty impressive credits: Billy Sheehan has recorded & toured with Talas, David Lee Roth's original solo band, and Mr. Big; Dennis Chambers performed with George Clinton, Stanley Clarke, and Steely Dan, among others, while John Novello's credits include Chick Corea, Andy Summers, and John Patitucci., ISBN13:B00005Y1TJ ISBN10:B00005Y1TJ Material Type:audioCD