BLACK LIGHT SYNDROME

This is one of the absolute finest rock instrumental albums I've ever heard. It boils down to putting three extremely talented musicians together and seeing what joyous madness they come up with. Terry Bozzio and Tony Levin are already giants in their field, so the real surprise here is Steve Stevens, best known as the longtime guitarist for Billy Idol. For someone that the casual fan may regard as a flashy hair rocker, Mr. Stevens is mind-blowing in his abilities. This album as a result is a real treat to listen to, especially if, like me, you sometimes find the vocalist to be an impediment to listening to the rest of the band. There is only one reason and one reason alone that I give Black Light Syndrome four out of five stars, and that is because its successor album, Situation Dangerous, is even better. You will like this!

Bought this CD in 2005 and have been enjoying it and Situation Dangerous ever since. Just came across 3 other tracks from the "Black Light Syndrome" sessions. Just do a Google search for "Walking Dream" and Bandcamp (add Bozzio Levin Stevens if you like). There are two short 2 minute tracks and one 8 minute piece the equal to anything on BLS. Full descriptions at Bandcamp...I was excited to find these as I have been waiting (so far in vain) for them to get together again and record more music...

I first heard this record in the house of a San Fransisco Audiophile. He and his audiophile friends use the track 3 Duende as a demo track.I was blown away by the music and by the sound!! I have the played this track here in Sweden on several HIFI shows and audiophile meetings.I get the same reaction, What was that - I must get that record!I am not so fond about the other tracks but this CD is worth having just for that 7:25 min track.

Love this album - I don't know how I missed it when it was released. This copy was a little pricey, but worth it musically. My only complaint it that it is slightly warped. However, nothing my 'table couldn't cope with.

It's good to listen to a CD from time to time when there is no singing. These three virtusos let their instruments speak for themselves, and what a piece of work. I am most familiar with Steve Stevens's work with Billy Idol in the past, but Terry Bozzio and Levin are no slouches, either. Worth checking out. The follow up, Situation Dangerous, isn't so bad, either.

"Black Light Syndrome" fails to meet the excitement found on their second disc " Situation Dangerous" album. But if unfamiliar with this fine group and wanting a more mellow, classical sound this disc is for you. After the elation of discovering "Situation Dangerous" by a formerly unknown group and their "Jeff Beckish" outstanding musicianship therein, I was somewhat disappointed by their initial debut which seemed to avoid taking chances playing it "straight".

This is one of those albums that is a must listen on the 180 gram half speed vinyl. Iridescent red copies that sound amazing. I am floored by the production and audiophile quality is very high. The music is spectacular.

I had thought about getting this release for quite some time and am glad that I did. Steve is actually really good on this, incorporating many styles. Naturally Tony is incredible and Terry definitely keeps it interesting from the drum throne. If you like to hear world class, envelope pushing musicians dance in step with the muse, you might want to give this a go.

Terry Bozzio met Steve Stevens and they played some flamengo together and found out, that there was musical chemistry that should be developed further. And they asked Tony Levin to join them and he said yes. Well, that's the beginning of the story. The end of it is this great album, improvisation with mixture of styles. Approx. 8 minutes long songs are masterpieces - B+L+S create a landscape of sound and once you start humming along there is a flash of genius and you start wondering how they managed to play that. I like Levin's bass lines, I like Bozzio's singing drums. I liked Stevens from his work with Sherinian, but here he really starts playing, great sound. "Falling in Circles" is my favourite song on this CD.Ohh ya, I still think of this as a competitor of Liquid Tension Experiment. And I like this one lot more. It's slower all right but this music talks and tells stories, it's not a race, it's a real pleasure.

Das erste Album dieser all-star Band ist für jeden toleranten Rock und Jazz Freund ein absolutes Fest! Was Stevens, Levin und Bozzio hier vom Stapel lassen ist schwer zu beschreiben. Die Drei vermengen Fusion, harten Rock und auch (wenn auch nur zeitweise) Flamenco zu einer äußerst interessanten Mixtur. Dabei klingen die Songs -obwohl größtenteils im Studio improvisiert- keineswegs nach typischer "Virtuosen-Selbstbefriedigung", sondern einfach nur frisch und spannend.

Enregistré en 4 jours, le premier album de Messieurs Bozzio (batteur) Levin (bassiste) et Stevens (guitariste) était dans les bacs en 1997. Ces trois grands musiciens ont accompagné de fameux artistes, et ont décidé de réunir leur talent respectif pour nous concocter ce puissant jazz-rock progressif. La frappe de Terry Bozzio est d'une précision implacable et Tony Levin fait vibrer les cordes de sa basse pour donner de l'ampleur à cette base rythmique redoutable sur laquelle Steve Stevens décoche des salves de riffs puissants ou s'exprime dans des envolées de guitare incisives ou aériennes. Le guitariste semble apprécier le flamenco du folklore espagnol avec une composition typique « Duende », chose qu'il récidivera dans le deuxième album « Situation dangerous » en 2000. Son album solo de 2004 « Flamenco a go go » confirmera ce goût pour la musique de la péninsule hibérique. L'album se termine par un formidable « chaos/Control » tout en puissance et cassures de rythme.(7 titres / 66mn30).

Voilà sur le papier un drôle d'équipage, qui ne peut que pousser l'amateur de sensations fortes à tendre l'oreille. Tony Levin, le bassiste de toutes les grandes réunions prog rock, Terry Bozzio, qui a accompagné nombre de délires Zappaesque et ... Steve Stevens ? Pour qui ne connaît pas, le bonhomme n'inspire pas vraiment confiance : on dirait Ron Wood en plus vulgaire et à peine moins laid mais fort heureusement la comparaison s'arrête là, car pépère sait jouer de la guitare, lui.Et c'est la bonne surprise que l'on attend, un hard prog élégant et racé, bien écrit, bien joué, sans fioritures et sans lourdeur, variant les climats et les ambiances sans jamais risquer de perdre l'attention de l'auditeur. Tout au plus pourrait-on regretter la production un peu trop « favorable » au guitariste au détriment de l'immense Tony Levin, mais ne boudons pas le plaisir d'écouter de grands musiciens bien faire ce qu'il savent faire.

Imperdibile sia per la qualità audio del CD che è superlativa che per quella artistica. Il "Trio" offre circa 70 minuti di grande musica. Alcune tracce sembrano ideali per poter testare il proprio impianto audio.