Hidden MPEG file
author: Long Fella Dred
Whoa!
I found an MPEG video that was hidden on this CD. This was an awesome find!
I got the new CD with the faces at a festival this summer then ordered this CD. I like the song selection on this CD better than the new one but the new one sounds like they polished up the quality. All in all this is a great CD from a relatively unknown band on the Jammin Scene.
Highly Recommended for Dead Heads!
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Great songs and Great jams and Grateful influences
author: Boss Rag
This is the best CD of this Jam Band scene. After the death of Jerry Garcia there has been a wave of releases ready to suck up the Dead Head crowd. A fair majority have bounced out from because of financial backing and industry investments. None of them have really impressed me as much as these kids. One-Eyed Jack has been around for a long time and played those Grateful Dead parking lots. This album is a real good band playing real good music. There are songs with poetic words on this CD and jams that have great musical paths. You usually get nonscence and endless musical dribble with some of these post Grateful Dead acts. This release has been worked on and deserves credit for it. It sounds like a lot of hardships fell around these guys during the recordings. maybe that's what helped the emotion of this album.
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New Jersey’s One-Eyed Jack has been kicking out the jams since the early 90’s, a
author: Stu Fox Revolving Door Magazine
One-Eyed Jack’s
Sunlight Blue Madness
By: Stu Fox
A lot of good bands get lost in the shuffle of the crowded music scene, and the musical landscape is littered with talented musicians trying to make ends meet. Only a handful of groups ever become successful touring acts, and the costs of hitting the road forces many bands to concentrate on the friendly confines of their home stomping grounds. Some of today’s hottest sounds are coming from these relatively unknown musical outfits.
New Jersey’s One-Eyed Jack has been kicking out the jams since the early 90’s, and they’ve honed a very appealing rock sound. The six-piece band rarely performs outside of the coastal corridor, and their major brush with notoriety has come from their efforts surrounding Kristin Laurite, the Phish fan who was murdered at a rest area while on a road trip in the summer of 2000.
The group has released a new album, Sunlight Blue Madness, and they’re hoping it will provide a springboard for their expansion into the regional market. “The new CD and ties with producer Mark Berry has opened a lot of doors for us in the music industry,” says singer and guitarist Joe Boris. “The band is excited about all the exposure, but we are uncertain how this will affect us in how we can connect with a live listening audience.”
There are no guarantees that One-Eyed Jack’s new record is going to alter their status in the music world, but it’s filled with enough high-flying rock grooves to fire up a summer festival audience. The band kicks up a storm of Southern-fried rock on “Copperhead Well,” and chugs through the driving rocker “Time on the Run.” Stinging guitar runs punctuate the rumbling beats of “Kick Away the Blues,” while “The Road” blends soaring blues riffs and psychedelic funk rhythms into some chugging rock overdrive. I was so swept up by this song while driving along a desolate stretch of I 86 this winter, that I suddenly found myself zipping down the darkened highway at ninety miles an hour.
There’s more than driving rock grooves in the band’s musical song bag, and Boris’ polished vocals combines with the provocative imagery of his lyrics to make the softer material shine. The group sprinkles a hallucinatory haze into “Bill Dawson” as they glide back-and-forth between slow melodic passages and up-tempo instrumental parts, and there’s a bouncy jam groove running through “Hard to Find the Time. Splashes of psychedelia float through “No Reasons (Life Once in Time),” and some glistening guitar flashes lights up the ballads “Pride In Your Pain” and “Trials & Tribulations.” Dancing grooves propel their country-tinged rocker “Shotgun Mama,” and the band does a really humorous take on a country tune called “Okalahoma.”
One-Eyed Jack displays a wide range of rock dynamics on their third studio recording. They don’t blast out into a lot of extended soloing, but the crispness of their instrumental passages always finds its mark.
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The sound is an ever-evolving one. So, it's hard to pin down points of reference
author: John Patrick Gatta JamBands.com
Sunlight Blue Madness – One-Eyed Jack
John Patrick Gatta
2001-12-19
The temperature outside is 29 degrees. I had to scrape frost off my car windows before driving it. And I still couldn't see all that well since the defroster took its time heating up. I have a major cold that makes it seem as if the upper half of my skull is stuffed up.
Now, what does this have to do with reviewing the latest by One-Eyed Jack? Listening to the New Jersey act evokes thoughts of summertime and wearing cargo shorts that are filled with concert ticket stubs, loose change and various paraphernalia. I could easily envision being on some grassy field getting off to the effervescent spirits (Pride in Your Pain) and heavy blues workouts (Copperhead Well) that act as Exhibits A and B on "Sunlight Blue Madness."
The sound is an ever-evolving one. So, it's hard to pin down points of references as they shoosh by, which is always a good thing. Nothing wrong with noticing an influence, but it's another to be engulfed by them. One-Eyed Jack doesn't have that problem.
It almost feels dishonest to try to describe the music because it hits at more of an imagistic and emotional level. In general, the album's mood is mellow and coincides with its title for the most part. There is very little "madness" going on here, however.
I thought that there was more than one songwriter involved since dreamy songs that bring to mind open roads and fields of tall grass alternately make room for more potent and hard-driving numbers reminiscent of the Allman Brothers. The country-tinged feel on Shotgun Mama initially seems out of place, but it eventually makes its home among the other 12 tracks. It turns out that the credit for this goes out to Joe Boris who is responsible for all the material. At times, his lyrics move upon familiar ground, particularly the bluesy tunes. But, to be honest, I was too busy letting the music sweep over me to allow these negatives to have much effect.
Of course, the main idea with jam bands is to allow the song to unite with a sympathetic group of musicians who will then create an ongoing source of magic. The guitar work of Boris and Gary Gallagher tend to fixate mostly on lighter touches, which gives the songs a distinctive flavor. The crisp production allows each note to float above the heavens without ignoring the rest of the instrumentation.
Although, the group has been around for nearly 10 years, it has concentrated on the regional circuit. Hopefully, "Sunlight Blue Madness" will be the catalyst for a wider slate of tourdates and I can see if an evening listening to One-Eyed Jack perform live is as pleasurable as I imagined.
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