[music] Mike Keneally & Beer For Dolphins, Sluggo (1998)

Immune Records
Total Running Time - 72:51

Personnel
Mike Keneally - Vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards and synthesizers, bass, drums, percussion; Brian Beller - Bass; Joe Travers, Mike Mangini, Tom Freeman - Drums; Frank Briggs - Drums, synthesizers; Toss Panos - Drums, percussion; Mark DeCerbo, Bob Tedde - Vocals; Jeff Forrest - Parade snare

1. Potato
2. I, Drum-Running, Am Clapboard Bound
3. Why Am I Your Guy?
4. Looking for Nina
5. Frozen Beef (Come With Me)
6. Tranquillado
7. What Happened Next
8. Chatfield Manor
9. Beautiful
10. I Guess I'll Peanut
11. Voyage to Manhood
12. Egg Zooming
13. Own
14. I'm Afraid
15. Cardboard Dog
16. Sluggo

Wow. I haven't had an album rocket onto my top ten of all-time in quite a while. Nor have I been as totally obsessed with an album in perhaps even longer. This is some serious shit. Over time, I've come to realize that the things I tend to look for in the music I enjoy are solid musicianship, good pop hooks, contrast, a sense of humor, and aggressiveness. Sluggo! has all of these in spades. Keneally, who filled the 'stunt guitar' role on Frank Zappa's ill-fated final tour in 1988, has put together a maddeningly cohesive set of tunes, ranging from the super pop hooks of the inane but effective "Potato" to the arching density of "I, Drum-Running, Am Clapboard Bound." And those are just the first two tracks.

From his tenure with Zappa and fellow Zappa alum Steve Vai, Keneally has made a name for himself as quite a technician. While the album has its share of jaw-dropping technical displays, pop sensibility is ultimately what holds everything together. Even when dispensing with the arcane polyrhythms of "Egg Zooming," a tune that makes Zappa's infamous "Black Page" seem like a walk in the park, Keneally divines a melody that won't let go. When he turns that considerable talent on the more straightforward "Own," or "Frozen Beef (Come With Me)," the results are downright intoxicating. Heck, on the very eighties-Yes inspired "Chatfield Manor," Keneally sings directions to the house of his webmaster (Let's go up the freeway/Hang a left/Hang a right/Chatfield Manor). And it works.

The other benefit of that sensibility is that in holding everything together, Keneally is able to present an album that functions as a unit, rather than a collection of songs. There's a strong sense of continuity that is even more amazing when you consider that there are six different drummers playing, including Keneally himself. In and era of random access and shuffle play, this album wants to be heard from start to finish. While there are a few moments where it loses a little steam, the overall effort belies a monumental talent, and proof that technical ability as a means to an end can create powerful, heady, and ultimately pop, music.