John Lamb Band

It took me a couple of spins to get the hang of LambBone. The self-proclaimed Wild Man of the title, John Lamb isn’t kidding around. Wild Man sounds like what Steely Dan would’ve recorded under the influence of some Summer of Love fumes. Lamb is out of control, slapping together parts of jazz, psychedelia (check out the spaced-out Moog on the title track), Beatles-esque classic rock, Latin pop, and funk. Yet, somehow, someway, Lamb manages to weave the car crash together into a quirky one-man symphony. And who said rock & roll has lost its power to stun, to surprise?

Thankfully, Wild Man is no exercise in studio-musician excess. Lamb isn’t throwing everything into the mix but the kitchen sink just for the sake of it. There are some terrific songs hiding beneath Lamb’s seemingly experimental collages of rhythm and melody. The enigmatic “Object of Desire” has an infectiously toe-tapping beat while the kiss-off “News” disguises its knife-sharp words with percolating tropical grooves. Even the instrumental, “John’s Theme,” moves the heart as well as the mind. It might take a little patience, but Wild Man rewards the ears with every listen.

- http://transeuropexpress.wordpress.com/ by Julian Wilson

Imagine if the Beatles had stayed together and none of them died, continuing to pursue the limits of pop music. They, like LambBone (http://www.lambbone.com) on "Wild Man," would probably remain slightly retro with their melodic instincts yet open to incorporating other styles, such as jazz, world music, funk, and even progressive rock.

Such is the fate of LambBone that they (or he, as in John Lamb) cannot be properly defined at a period in music history that requires artists to be strictly placed in a corner. At one point, Lamb is singing a slow piano piece with the same blue-moon reflection of the Counting Crows on "Hero" and then wailing on a "Lawyer" with a kazoo and stingingly funny lyrics. And let's not forget the opening title song with its jumpy island drums, jazzy textures, and extraterrestrial keyboards.

But it was only 30 or so years ago that artists were encouraged to take courageous leaps of faith that Lamb does here. Inspired by the Beatles' revolutionary late '60s work, not having any creative limitations was considered damn cool, which is why you had Led Zeppelin flirting with folk and blues while dropping heavy metal wherever they went.

Because of his piano playing, Lamb will probably be compared to Billy Joel, early Billy Joel, but certainly not Elton John. While I can't see the masses gravitating towards this stuff, a cult following - maybe he can call them the Chops of Lamb - shouldn't be far behind. - Whisperinandhollerin.com by Adam Harrington