Thrash

Nash's first complete album since 1985's American Band-Ages, and his first album of all original songs since 1983's brilliant And You Thought You Were Normal (this CD features a new recording of "Vincent's Crows" from that album). And this CD does not disappoint; if anything, Nash has improved with age. Still essentially a solo artist, Nash collaborated with a couple of lyricists for this outing, and the result is brilliant. Nash continues to write his own unique brand of music, which is still difficult to categorize — rock, dance, ambient, and electronic all mixed together to form a new sound. The songs are full of classic Nash violin solos, and his voice has never sounded better. The music seems to be a bit harder, especially in the percussion sounds, and noisier than one is used to hearing from Nash. And how many artists can use the scream of a large cat (not identified, although it sounds like a panther) to effect in a rock song? But again it works. At the same time, Nash's gentler side is seen in the beautiful, sadly touching "I'll Wait for You." Fans of his music should not be disappointed with this outing, and although the music is somewhat eclectic, adventurous music fans will enjoy this CD. A brief warning: as with most of Nash's output, some of the music is unsettling and downright scary at points ("Theory of the Black Hole"); however, this does not detract from the brilliance of the work.