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Niacin - Deep

Artist:	Niacin
Title:	Deep
Label:	Magna Carta MAX-9048-2
Length(s):	65 minutes
Year(s) of release:	2000
Month of review:	04/2000

Line up

Billy Sheehan - bass, rhythm guitar on 12
John Novello - hammond b3 organ, piano, rhodes
Dennis Chambers - drums
and guests
Glenn Hughes - vocals on 12
Steve Lukather - guitar on 12

Tracks

1)	Swing Swang Swung	3.48
2)	Best Laid Plans	4.25
3)	Sugar Blues	5.50
4)	Stompin' Ground	5.03
5)	Blue Mondo	5.56
6)	Panic Button	5.37
7)	Bootleg Jeans	7.00
8)	Mean Streets	5.37
9)	This One's Called...	3.46
10)	Klunkified	2.58
11)	Ratta McQue	3.48
12)	Things Ain't Like They Used To Be	7.25
13)	Bluesion (bouns Track)	4.18

Summary

This is the fourth album of this fusionist threesome.

The music

Swing Swang Swung as the name already indicates is a swinging piece. The bass sounds at times darkly repetitive, but also like a nest of angry wasps. The Hammond B3 organ is the main instrument, the drumming tight but springy. The song has a strong "dated" feel and is strongly bluesy. Best Laid Plans opens with some nice butterflyesque piano work. Then the organ sets in. This is a more likable track, with a more striking theme. Because the Hammond B3 sound is usually on the foreground with the varied rhythm section more in the productional back, it may seem that the music is built around the organ, but the bass takes a prominent place in the melodic section as well, and it is more that instrument laying down the line and the Hammond free to solo around. Sugar Blues is a bit of a laid back piece with meandering Hammond and more relaxed drumming this time. I prefer the previous track. All in all the music seems like something you might here performed live at a blues night, but the music is more complex, although the feel is the same. Especially the drummer is very good. During the current track the drummer and bass player get some space to solo around, but I don't like that very much. I prefer them to shine without the spotlights. Stomping Ground is another Blues title, but again the music goes a lot further. After a very good start, the music dives into a, for this band, typical groovy part with plenty of variation, but in my mind always close to those jamming band of the early seventies, Santana (without the guitar) and more such. Blue Mondo is a bit different: a dark plodding piece with the Hammond B3 turned up a bit. The music is certainly less laid back and rocks much more, evident in sll instruments. Panic Button is back to the groove with some ratehr extensive bass soloing, almost as if playing a guitar. A bit too repetitive this one. Bootleg Jeans is quite a bit longer than the average length with quite a difference in tempo throughout the track. I like this one. The song brims over with energy and in a way it has a slightly Latin feel to it, but without going too far in this direction. A busy one and highly cymbalic. Mean Streets is a Van Halen cover. It doesn't happen to be on one of three Van Halen albums I happen to have, so I can't compare. However, it does seem to be one of the weakest and simplest tracks available, especially where you would expect the vocals to come in. This One's Called... has a good "chorus" if you might call it that. For the rest it is quite similar to the other stuff. Although I wouldn't call ELP a Hammond band per se, the bands name does come to mind, as well as those of the Nice. However these bands get their inspiration oft from classical music, something that is much les true of the blues vibes these guys are spreading. Klunkified is a loop type piece, i.e., with plenty of repetition, but again the main theme is good. The theme on Ratta McQue is not as interesting, but the track has rather a strong ELP feel to it. Things Ain't Like They Used To Be is the only vocal track (by Glenn Hughes) and is also the only track to feature guitar (by Steve Lukather). After all the instrumental stuff, this is a relief. The blues is still there of course, laid back, but intense. This is really a very good song sung with a lot of feel and a sore throat.

Bluesion is the bonus track. I'm not sure with respect to what, but there it is. In this track, which is rather typical for the band, an easygoing part is alternated with a more involved bombastic part in which the drummer really lets them roll.

Conclusion

It is obvious: if you're not into progressive blues or the Hammond organ, this is not for you. If you are into either of these these guys can and do make it swing, without compromising on the songwriting or the "complexity" front. Do not expect bombastic symphonic rock: the overall sound is of the warm, subdued kind with a strong groove and improvised feel to it. The latter does make the music sound selfsimilar. It is in the song that are farthest away from the norm, that they make the largest impression: Best Laid Plans, Blue Mondo, Bootleg Jeans and Things Ain't Like They Used To Be.