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Agent Orange - Beginner's Mind
- Prog Rock Records release of "Beginner's Mind" is Agent Cooper's 2004 follow up to their 1999 self-titled release. This group has done six albums now and they display marrying progressive with modern pop/rock. The Atlanta-based band's members include Doug Busbee on guitar and lead vocals, Frank Fontsere on drums, Sean Delson on bass and Eric Frampton on keyboards and vocals.
The sound of the band ranges from progressive rock to uptempo rock. For example, track#1 "East Indian Sun", starts the CD out in a fantastic way with the exotic instrumentation sounds from India in the beginning. The song then blends in a progressive rock feel with great guitar play and heart felt, emotionally driven vocals from Doug. I could imagine being in India for sure. Track #2 "Shallow Disease" keeps the fast-paced riffs coming with a harder start than the opening track. This is the headbangers track with the guitars, drums, and vocal action. This was one of my favorite songs on the CD. It grabs your attention and does not let go.
Even the more mellow times in the track had me wanting more. Selection #3, "...In The Bottle" starts out aggressive and turns out to sound more like an 80's hit. Not a bad transition of sound from the first two songs. Track 5, "Timing Crucial" was okay for me in terms of the high points to this track. It is enthusiastically all over the place with lighting fast passages broken up by adept and tasteful instrumental interaction. When it broke up, it sounded like a totally different song during that time.
The alternative sound of #4, "Taipei" was good in terms of placement. It gave me the feeling of more singing and medium tempo music. The pop/rock track #10, "You Know" was slow and mellow driven even with the singing. Selection #7 "The Heat" is up-tempo rock with a funk/fusion feel. The bass playing in this track is incredible. Sean Delson keeps a break-neck pace with the main theme of this tune. I think this track is a taste of Busbee taking solo opportunities to add overdriven muscle to the progressive leanings.
Frampton does a nice job on keyboards as well, supplementing Busbee's solid guitar work. If you'd like to experience a group influenced by Kansas, Peter Gabriel, and Rush, without sounding like any of them, check out Agent Cooper. This CD is full of rock in just about ever version from heavy riffery with a pulsing chord crunch to a slow tempo, heart in your hand type of sound.
Reviewer: SaiSean Jones
new
Reviewer's Rating: 8
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
Added: 21-Feb-2006
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