Gaskill, Jerry - Come Somewhere


Year of Release: 2004
Label: InsideOut
Catalog Number: IOMCD 163 SPV 085-60692
Format: CD
Total Time: 47:55:00

The first thing that came to mind when hearing Jerry Gaskill's debut CD was how reminiscent it is of the Beatles. My second impression was that this is definitely not a clone of Gaskill's permanent band King's X - yet there are definite references to that influential band's unusual take on heavy progressive rock. My third reaction was to play it again because the music is so positive, upbeat, and sunny! There are tinges of cynical humor, and a lot of Beatle-esque 1960s-era happiness that is so sadly out of fashion in today's music. None of these songs will have you reaching for the Prozac - not even the sadder songs like "I Saw You Yesterday."

Jerry Gaskill is the drummer for King's X, and whereas his two bandmates have built active solo and side-project careers, Come Somewhere is Gaskill's first outing. It is a song- and vocals-oriented piece, and no concept or theme connects the 15 tracks which run between 1? and 3? minutes - with just one 4? minute "epic." Jerry handles all drums, piano and vocals, and the guitar work is shared by Jerry and King's X bandmate Ty Tabor. The songwriting is also attributed to Jerry, and Tabor also played bass and handled production.

The songs include a lot of acoustic guitar (strummed, not picked), and most of the electric guitar work keeps rhythm- often in a surprisingly heavy distorted bass that recalls Tabor's King's X sounds. "L.A. Flight" and opening cut "The Kids" are my favorites - but it's hard to really pick out the best songs because they're all similarly pleasing. Whereas this album won't impress die-hard prog fans very much, it has enough variety to impress mellow hard-rock and adult-pop fans who will probably play the record again and again.

The keyword to the songs on this album is "pleasant." The vocals are omnipresent with no extended instrumental passages, the guitars dominate the instrumentation, and you can imagine that Jerry had a lot of fun creating this CD.

The big surprise on this disc is that Gaskill - the vocally silent member of King's X - can actually sing very well. Who knew! So don't be surprised if the next King's X album has another band-member contributing to the vocals.

The more I listen to this, the more I believe in that King's X meets the Beatles reference. And that is meant as a compliment.

Released in North America by InsideOut Music (IOMA 2076-2)


Tracklisting:
The Kids (3:39) / She's Cool (3:22) / Johnny's Song (2:24) / No Love (4:29) / L.A. Flight (2:24) / Faulty Start (3:13) / All the Way Home (3:29) / Crazy (3:18) / Garden Stroll (1:25) / Walk Alone (3:33) / Every Day (2:53) / Gallop (3:06) / Hello Mrs. (2:40) / I Saw You Yesterday (3:53) / Face the Day (3:48)

Musicians:
Jerry Gaskill - guitar, piano, vocals, drums
Ty Tabor - bass, guitars

Discography:
Come Somewhere (2004)

Genre: Rock

Origin US

Added: May 16th 2004
Reviewer: Duncan N Glenday
Score:
Artist website: www.jerrygaskill.com
Hits: 2752
Language: english

  

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