First off, be warned: this ain't anything like The American Standard. Whereas Dreadnaught's "breakout album" (it can be considered that, I think) featured a really nifty blending of styles which the band called "progabilly", this one is more straightforward instrumental prog, albeit with a much-decreased guitar presence. Of course, by "straightforward" I mean "quirky and complex" - and this album is likely to be a treat for the unexpecting, if given a chance to sink in.

Really, though, this is a story of two albums. The first half is fast-paced and intermittently brilliant. Bob Lord's bass, with that same earthy tone as on The American Standard, leads the charge, more often than not carrying the melody along with the futuristic-sounding keyboards (maybe they're just "futuristic-sounding" to me because of the title of the first song, drawn from Isaac Asimov's novels). The only song where that progabilly sound comes back into play is "Northern Pike", which also happens to be my favorite piece on the album by far, with its utterly sweet harmonica soloing. I'm serious. This song is a slow-burning jam, held down by a sweet beat, accented by spacy keys and featuring wicked bass riffing as a backing for the brief but intense harmonica spots. The rest of the first half is more upbeat, with lots of songs that really rock out. It's good stuff, virtually indescribable - somehow these guys have carved out a recognizable niche all their own, although their albums sound very little like one another.

However, after a while comes "Big Cats". This is a piece that tests my patience, big time - some big, melodramatic horn lines lead the way and the keys lose whatever nifty, futuristic sound they had before and become more stereotypically symph-ish - you know, the cliché "lush, sweeping keyboard washes" starts becoming more relevant. This is not a good thing, in this case. Unfortunately, "Big Cats" is a foreshadowing of the second half of the album, which for me (although none of it is as aggravating as "Big Cats" itself) is much less interesting than the first. Things are slower-paced, Lord's bass loses its dirtily appealing tone - entirely, with the sole exception of "The Boston Crab" - and for whatever reason the compositions just fail to hold my attention as well. "The Sirens of Titan" (named for the Vonnegut novel) has its moments, particularly the smooth, melodic violin solo in the second part, but even it can't really get me going.