Warning: This band is probably better than most other bands you like. I don't mean this confrontationally. I don't know the group personally. And maybe I'm wrong, but it would only be because your favorite group is AS GOOD as The Stack at what they do. And that's why I say "probably." Any kind of categorization of this CD as a presentation of "the best high school band Oregon has to offer" or "a classic mix of Zeppelin and Beatles-inspired rock reveries infused with ethereal harmonies and peppy power-driven licks" would be to my mind an unjust attempt to bulls-eye what doesn't merit the self-satisfying, categorizing barbs such arrows, which are usually shot to highlight the reviewer's marksmanship rather than the group's talent, carry. One listen to Slipstream will show that The Stack is entirely fluent in the language of music. They may have a regional accent acquired by influences, but they speak the language perfectly and originally, in a way that very few groups do or ever could. Take "Rocket in the Sky," or "The Tolling Sound," two of the strongest tracks on the disc in my opinion. By structure, they are songs. But in listening to them, one does not sense their form, which is transparent, but rather pure, eternally variable Music. In general, Slipstream's end points and track numbers seem arbitrary. The album's musical ideas flow from each other in flawless sequence, with the consistent and infinite beauty of a turning kaleidoscope. It's a welcome throwback to the era when albums meant something as more than just a collection of singles, but as an experience. Okay, so kaleidoscopes are poetic. Withdrawing a moment from the subjective realm, I will say that technically, this group has nothing to learn. They are virtuosos in the sense that they never give the impression they are making choices limited by their abilities as instrumentalists. Returning to the language analogy, they are not hunting for words they know. They are choosing them according to their own standard of eloquence. Eloquence is of course subjective, but Slipstream features it in such variety as to satisfy a wide array of tastes. Don't like the contours of Moth to a Flame? Try the Apple Song. Or Lost and Found. They might all be considered classic rock, but they are entirely singular to each other in sound and feel. Slipstream merits serious attention from anyone who enjoys Music. Like any album of the Beatles, Slipstream proves the existence of just such a thing, Music - a universal well that all groups draw on to one extent or another. There are those of you who, like me, will find this CD to be one of the most enjoyable musical experiences you will have. There are others that will decide that it is not to their taste. But it will not be because Slipstream can be written off as "too much like X", or not sufficiently mature, or lacking in fundamentals. You may not like French poetry, but Baudelaire is still a great French poet. Slipstream is on the level of Baudelaire - a perfect example of whatever genre you feel best describes it (I would choose Classic Rock.) And for that I cannot recommend it highly enough.