Monday 5 September 2011

ALBUM REVIEW: DEREK SHERINIAN - OCEANA


Glorious, vivacious prog-jazz/blues from Black Country Communion’s versatile keyboard-player. Derek Sherinian draws on his Dream Theater/Platypus past with his new solo album for a vigorous, virtuosic instrumental workout. Dubbed ‘The Caligula of the Keyboards’ by Alice Cooper, Sherinian’s pedigree sprawls across genres. As such, he has access to a bottomless pit of quality musicians to dip into for his solo projects, this time Toto’s guitarist Steve Lukather and drummer Simon Phillips sprinting elegantly alongside the likes of Tony MacAlpine and Doug Aldrich. Guitars squeal and moan with prodigious ease, particularly from BCC colleague, Joe Bonamassa, who dips in for the bluesy ‘I Heard That’. All the while, Sherinian demonstrates an unfeasible dexterity for all things organ-ic throughout an album that fizzes with unbridled, panoramic joy!

Pippa Lang



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